Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Pretty Practical Stuff Here

Advice for Future Corpses by Sallie Tisdale

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BINGO: Reading the TBR (purchased in October 2018) Best for: Those who know someone who is dying, or those who may die themselves one day. In a nutshell: Palliative care nurse Sallie Tisdale offers thoughts on both the reality of accepting (or at least acknowledging) one’s own mortality while also providing seriously practical suggestions and examples for what to expect. Worth quoting: “Our image of Grandpa at home in his own bed assumes that Grandpa likes his bed, that his house is safe and quiet, […]

If you’re going to ban Harry Potter, at least come up with a better reason

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling

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Bingo 23 Banned Book The Harry Potter series has been challenged for many things including glorifying witchcraft, encouraging bad behavior like disobeying rules and lying, and for being un-Christian. This recent ban though is almost laughable, but it did make the international news (click for link): Reverend Dan Reehill, head St Edward Catholic School in Nashville, Tennessee, apparently decided that the spells presented in the series were real. He supposedly consulted the Vatican on this, and had the books removed from his school library so […]

No mothers, no food

Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal

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Bingo 22 (Not My Wheelhouse) I don’t do well with contemporary fiction or modern literary fiction as a rule, but when Kitchens of the Great Midwest showed up in the 50% off bin at an indie bookstore I’m fond of, I decided to take a chance. The book then sat on my shelf for eight months. I picked it up to address the Not My Wheelhouse Bingo square. I was hoping this might be a rare exception to my bad luck with best-sellers off the […]

September is Halfway There, Ooo-ooo Livin’ On a Bingo!

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It’s September Check-In time for the CBR11 Book Bingo Reading Challenge! I’m sorry it’s late. I have a terrible cold, but I am hopped up on cold medicine so let’s do this thing.   There are 46 Cannonballers playing, and you have posted over 450 reviews. This post is a place for you to ask questions, ask for recommendations for categories, and find a review buddy if you need one. You can always post your questions in our Facebook group – Cannonball Read Book Chat, […]

Riding the Rails

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

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CBR11Bingo – AWARD WINNER: Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction AND the National Book Award This was not what I expected. Nearly everything I read or heard about this lauded novel focused on the unusual conceit at its heart, that the “Underground Railroad” we’re all familiar with from history was not a metaphorical railroad, but a real one, with locomotives and tracks and all the accouterments. Based on that I was expecting magical realism akin to Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I was, at least, expecting […]

I Love This. Always.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling

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Cbr11bingo I love this. When the first Harry Potter book came out, I read a review of it in the New York Times and thought it sounded like a fun series for kids. After The Chamber of Secrets came out, the Quality Paperback Book Club (of which I was a card carrying member) offered a deal to get both volumes in hard cover, so I took advantage of it. Like millions of people around the world, I fell in love the the stories and their […]



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