Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“There are only three forms of high art: the symphony, the illustrated children’s book and the board game.” (CBR10Bingo)

Saga: Volumes One through Four by Brian K. Vaughan (writer), Fiona Staples (artist)

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Other than clocking everyone’s rave reviews (nope not Cannonballer Says square yet) I have been staying away from the world of Saga on purpose. I have an inclination to wait for series to be near its conclusion before I pick it up. But I’m not made of stone. My friend Gina hand delivered the first eight volumes to me while we were on vacation last month. It seemed Saga’s time had arrived. These books are *fantastic*.  I always knew they would be: the swath of […]

I hate everything you say, but not enough to kill you for it.

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CBR10Bingo – Banned Book   Not only was this a banned book…it’s almost THE banned book. Maybe I am cheating here, but rather than focus on a book banned by America, I am choosing a book that was not even allowed to be published in its own language before being translated several different times in different countries. Pasternak was already a very famous and renowned poet for a long time before starting to write this book. The book itself is a kind of Russian Romantic […]

“Now we have to somehow un-fuck everybody.”

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

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Quick Review: This is a very good YA debut by Angie Thomas and it is important reading to be done in this cultural climate in the United States. Thomas clearly, and evocatively, brings the reader into the layered life of a black teen in today’s United States with its systemic racism. It reminded me of of my own history, and my lived experience, and grew it out. But it isn’t a primer in the way that Between the World and Me is, it is a […]

Banned Book Week Selection

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Over the past few years I have begun to pay attention to reading books by or about members of the LGBTQ community. In general, I’ve tried to be more aware of my reading habits and expand them generally. It was a boon to me then that one of the tasks for Read Harder challenge was read a book by or about a person who identifies as transgender. I shortlisted three, but decided to go with Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out by Susan Kuklin as […]

Cannonball With a Book Club Book!!

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, art by Ellen Forney

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Normally I have my Cannonball book picked out in advance. I know what my goal book is for the big reviews. 2016 hasn’t really worked out that way, so as I was packing my bags for a quick 48-hour trip to visit my family I had just finished book 51 and knew the next one would be *the* cannonball book. I of course grabbed our Book Club pick, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. Can I just say that you […]

Allende is a Goddess

The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende, translated by Magda Bogin

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There is so much that Isabel Allende weaves into her writing, it is simply astounding. There is so much history, allegory, and personal stakes woven into the story of one family that it is almost impossible to know where to start. How have I not read this before? Why the holy fucking hell did I have to read Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis when this existed in the world. I COULD HAVE DEMONSTRATED THE STUDY OF LITERARY WORKS IN CONTEXT THROUGH THE STUDY OF WORKS IN […]



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