Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

On racial, ethnic, and cultural identity development

Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? by Beverly Daniel Tatum, Ph.D.

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First, I am white. It is important to mention that so that I can also identify all the privilege that I brought with me to reading this book. In the twentieth anniversary edition of Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? Tatum starts with a 72 page prologue detailing all the ways that race, racial identity development, and race relations have played a part in modern history since the original writing of the book. It is extensively research and meticulously organized. […]

Maybe You Should (EVERYONE SHOULD) Read This Book! (Bingo – Happy)

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, HER Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed by Lori Gottlieb

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Well hellooooo. I am three reviews behind which for me is an albatross of sorts that I let guilt me into not reading until I get caught up, because um, reasons?? What an appropriate book to HAPPILY dive back in with, a bit of psychotherapy. This might be my favorite book of the year WHICH MAKES ME HAPPY. I’m presently in therapy and think everyone could benefit from it. If you are similar, than you’ll likely take to this book like a duck to water. […]

CBR12 Book Bingo – Red

The Last Flight by Julie Clark

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The Last Flight is a deliciously suspenseful thriller that kept me on the toes from start to finish. I didn’t want to put it down. My only complaint is that the ending felt abrupt. The action was starting to get really intense when the last chapter swiftly stepped in to wrap up the book. It’s not that I felt the ending was bad, I just think it could have been drawn out a little bit more. Or perhaps I simply didn’t want the book to […]

My First Rainbow Rowell

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

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CBR12 BINGO: Nostalgia? For the Nostalgia BINGO square, I googled “books set in the 80s” and Eleanor & Park came up. Having seen many positive reviews for Rainbow Rowell on CBR, I decided to get it from my local library (hooray for curbside pickup!). Young Adult isn’t my usual genre. While I always appreciate good storytelling and can admire an author’s attempts to create characters that are relatable to teens, I rarely love a young adult novel. I can enjoy YA, but I’m not often […]

“Somebody always leaves a banana-skin on the scene of a tragedy.”

Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene

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In Cuba, shortly before the end of the Batista regime, James Wormold, a vacuum cleaner salesman, is recruited for the Secret Intelligence Service by an ambitious agent. He begins to fabricate information in order to earn money for his daughter’s education, but soon finds himself in more dangerous waters than he expected. This is a pretty good black comedy that makes fun of intelligence services and is genuinely hilarious, with the standout scene for me the one in which the agent who recruited Wormold notices […]

Controversial but compelling

My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell

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My Dark Vanessa is a complicated and controversial book- it is akin to a modern retelling of Lolita from Lolita’s perspective.  Oprah picked it for her book club (cbr12bingo!) and then dropped it when controversy arose- after American Dirt she maybe wasn’t keen for another controversial book so soon (FYI: the controversy was due to allegations that Russell had stolen the real life story of a Latina woman- since disproved via Russell disclosing her own childhood abuse). The story is a first person narrative that […]



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