Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

More Memoir-Manifestos, please!

All Boys Aren't Blue by George Matthew Johnson

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CBR Bingo – Bodies, because this book is all about how the author came to accept his identity – his life in his queer, Black body – it’s a letter of acceptance for everyone who might need it, which includes all of us. I loved this memoir – this vulnerable, beating heart of a book – which explores the life of a young, queer Black man growing up in New Jersey. Johnson describes how he came to accept himself even as he struggles with two […]

Essential Story, Essential Voice

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

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Both heartbreaking and illuminating, The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas tells the story of Black teenager Starr, who witnesses the murder of her best friend at the hands of the police during a traffic stop. We are all too familiar with the role the police play in the lives (and deaths) of Black people, particularly Black men. This awful familiarity makes The Hate U Give hit hard. Thomas has written a searing account of how such deaths affect those closest to them and the […]

#CannonBookClub September Book Club Announcement

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Our September Book Club will be discussing Banned or Challenged Books on September 16-17, just ahead of Banned Book Week (September 18-24, 2022). Forty years ago, Banned Book Week began as a response to a sudden surge in book challenges in 1982. With the current push to limit access to books dealing with sexuality, gender identity, and race, we asked you what you wanted to read; and we’ve tallied up the votes for the top three. The books selected for our discussion come from a […]

Voting for September #CannonBookClub – Banned Books

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For our September Book Club we’ll be discussing Banned or Challenged Books on September 16th – 17th just ahead of Banned Book Week (September 18-24, 2022). Our plan is to celebrate our freedom to read by reading a selection of challenged books for this discussion. We’ll be doing a ranked vote to narrow our selections down to three with an eventual Discussion Post for each. As usual I hope you find more than one interesting selection in our group below. Make sure you scroll all […]

Book Club Discussion Post: Last Night at the Telegraph Club

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Welcome to our our AAPI-themed Cannon Book Club discussion of Malinda Lo’s Last Night at the Telegraph Club! In this National Book Award-winner, Malinda Lo challenges popular perceptions of the 1950s, including stereotypes about Chinese Americans, the invisibility of the lesbian and gay community, and the role of women in the space program, particularly as computers. For those of you returning or who might be joining in for #CannonBookClub for the first time (hello new friends!) all are welcome, you don’t have to be registered […]

Who are you going to be, Lily Hu?

Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo

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Very happy that I’m getting my review in just under the wire! This is not a book that I probably would have picked up on my own, but I’m very glad that I read it. Lily Hu is a good Chinese daughter, living in San Francisco’s Chinatown in 1954 with her parents and two younger brothers. Lily studies hard, has a Chinese best friend, Shirley, and dreams of working at the Jet Propulsion Lab with her Aunt Judy. But Lily doesn’t quite seem to fit […]



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