Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

When White Allies are Enemies

Our Nig by Harriet E. Wilson

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Full title: Our Nig; or Sketches from the Life of a Free Black, in a Two-Story House, North. Showing That Slavery’s Shadow Falls Even There Edited by Henry Louse Gates, Jr. with an Afterword by Barbara A. White In the early 1980s, the eminent scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr., established that the 1859 novel entitled “Our Nig” was in fact written by an African American woman named Harriet E. Wilson. Previously, it had been assumed that the story was written by a white woman but […]

“Rumors are born with legs that can run a mile in less than a minute. Rumors eat up dreams without condiments. Rumors do not have expiration dates. Rumors can be deadly. Rumors can get you killed.”

Monday's Not Coming by Tiffany D Jackson

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Jeez. And I thought Sadie was a dark and bleak YA offering. In Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany Jackson, dark and bleak would look pretty good. This book is tough to get through. But not because of the writing, which was beautiful at times. Its tough because its is painfully realistic, and real life doesn’t always have a happy ending. After a summer away visiting her grandparents, Claudia comes back to school, excited to see her best (and really, only) friend, Monday. But Monday doesn’t […]

A surprisingly educational celebrity autobiography

Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah

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In this very engaging autobiography, Trevor Noah opens up about growing up in South Africa, born from a black Xhosa mother and a white Swiss father at a time when this was literally a crime punishable with several years in prison. The Apartheid regime ended while Noah was still young, but his childhood was still deeply affected by the fact that he was a mixed race child in a society where the races were not supposed to mix at all, to the point where his […]

A wholly satisfying ending to a great fantasy trilogy

The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden

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Spoiler warning! This is the third and final volume in the trilogy, and the action starts immediately after the second book. This is not the place to start. If you are not caught up, drop everything and start from the beginning with The Bear and the Nightingale.  Vasilisa “Vasya” Petrovna managed to defeat one enemy, but at a great cost. Releasing the legendary firebird has caused much of Moscow to catch fire and the citizens, spurred on by the vengeful and jealous Father Konstantin are looking for […]

Whelp, at least I know what I don’t like

A Knot in the Grain by Robin McKinley

The Door in the Hedge by Robin McKinley

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I thought I liked Robin McKinley.  I remember reading Deerskin and thinking it was really weird, but I thought I read other stuff by her that I liked.  I wonder if it’s a case of seeing her stuff around for a long time and assuming that I had read and liked it.  Well, I can now say I’ve read it, can’t say I’ve liked it. “The Healer” Lily is born mute, but with the gift of healing.  She can communicate some things by whistling, but […]

Harry is a bad, bad man

Harry Clarke by David Cale

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Oh, man.  This play.   This is a one-man play, and it is definitely not for everyone.  I’m still trying to decide if I liked it or not. I think I did, but then I also think that might make me a bad person.  Oh well! Harry Clarke doesn’t exist.  Not really. He’s a character that Philip creates for himself at the tender young age of eight.  Philip, a born-and-raised Indiana boy, only feels like himself when he speaks with an English accent.  So he […]



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