Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

An argument for the arts

The Night Circus: A Novel by Erin Morgenstern

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Cbr12bingo I wish… Bingo (vertical from Roaring ‘20s) When I chose to read The Night Circus, I had planned to use it for the “Cannonballer Says” bingo square. It has been a very popular book among Cannonballers since its release in 2011, but as I got pulled into the story, I found that this is definitely an “I wish” book. Who wouldn’t want to visit le Cirque des Reves? The sights, the sounds, the smells and the fantastical exhibitions have drawn fans from around the […]

A country without a language is a country without a soul

The Speckled People: A Memoir of a Half-Irish Childhood by Hugo Hamilton

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The speckled people is a memoir of a childhood in Ireland in the 1950’s, growing up between languages. Hugo’s mother is a german emigrant and his father is an Irish nationalist determined that his children will revive the Irish language. Hugo himself is just a boy who wants to fit in with the other kids – who all speak English. The book is written in a soft language, floating in and out of the memories of a young boy. His father is a brutal tyrant […]

It was comforting to return to an established world: cbr12bingo “Yellow”

King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo

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I love this gorgeous cover, from the golden yellow to the intricate details referencing elements of the story.  I’ve been looking forward to reading this, so I was delighted that it fits the yellow square!  Three colors now crossed off on my bingo card. After going through three long books, two of which were challenging and thought provoking, requiring close attention and processing of what I was reading, the other a chonker of an epic fantasy, I was ready to return to something familiar.  This […]

Considering Winnie the Pooh

Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne

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Bingo Review 23: Roaring 20s I didn’t feel like a lot of drama right now; calm reading is good right now for me. So what to do for this square? Like a lot of people, I suspect, I know who-what Winnie-the-Pooh is, but I can’t remember ever having read any of the original stories, the first volume of which came out in 1926. I feel like I must have, but upon picking up that first volume of stories, Winnie-the-Pooh, they weren’t too familiar seeming; unless […]

cbr12bingo – Gateway (plus two “bingos” and a Double Cannonball!)

Coyote Doggirl by Lisa Hanawalt

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Are you familiar with Lisa Hanawalt? If not, how is that even possible? She is a brilliant cartoonist, show-runner, writer, illustrator, podcast host- the list goes on forever and ever. She designed the entire look of Bojack Horseman, has created comics for Lucky Peach (RIP) and Drawn and Quarterly, and is the creator and show-runner of Tuca and Bertie. You may not be entirely familiar with her work, but you must have seen her brightly colored and lovingly created plant and animal people at least in passing- she is everywhere! […]

cbr12bingo – The Roaring 20s (and two more “bingos”)

The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

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Oh, Hemingway. You dirty old dog. I have a soft-spot for the Lost Generation, and a sentimental attachment to The Sun Also Rises. While plenty of this novel- and his writing in general- has aged poorly, there is still value to be found. Hemingway was plenty of things as both an author and a man, but here I will choose to focus on the story and the broken people within- and the story of my attachment to this book. My first read was back in […]



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