Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“The ace world is not an obligation. Nobody needs to identify, nobody is trapped, nobody needs to stay forever and pledge allegiance. The words are gifts. If you know which terms to search, you know how to find others who might have something to teach.” (Bingo Blackout & Cannonball!)

Ace: What Asexuality Reveals about Desire, Society, and the Meaning of Sex by Angela Chen

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Books have answers, and that is one of the reasons I love them. The past few years I’ve spent some time digging into me, and how I work, and how much of what I have presented to the outside world was authentic, and how much was what I had been expected to do. I had some knowledge of aces and asexuality before reading this particularly as one of my friends is ace and has been out for at least the decade I’ve known her, probably […]

I read the first book in this series back in 2012

A Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Whalen Turner

Thick as Thieves by Megan Whalen Turner

Return of the Thief by Megan Whalen Turner

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CBR13 Bingo: Old Series (the first book in the series came out in 1996. The first book in this review came out in 2010 – it’s taken a long time for Whalen Turner to complete it) A Conspiracy of Kings Rating: 3.5 stars Sophos, the heir to Sounis, is rusticating with his mother and sisters, having been sent away from his uncle’s court for generally being considered a disappointment. He keeps ignoring his tutors and weapons training, which turns out to be a problem when […]

Wished I’d read this back when I first put it on my TBR!

Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce

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CBR13Bingo: White Whale For CBR’s white whale challenge, I’m going way back in the time machine to a book that’s been on my TBR (eventually) list since I was in middle school. Tamora Pierce’s work, especially her Alanna books, were often recommended as a read-alike to Robin McKinley’s The Blue Sword, which was a hugely formative book for me a kid, mainly I guess because both were books by women starring heroines with swords. For whatever reason, my local library didn’t carry it so I gorged myself […]

“But life isn’t all misery, and finding a path through hard, hard lives to joy is tough, clever, meaningful work.”

Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade

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CBR13Bingo: Cityscape First off, wow, that cover. A book featuring a clinch with a beautiful plus-sized heroine? Epically gorgeous. This is a masterwork of outgrowing toxic family, of being your true self, and a love letter to fandom. I absolutely adored it. April is simply one of my favorite heroines ever. One thing I love about Olivia Dade’s work is how well she writes fat characters. Sure, there is some fatphobia in the book from other characters, but April herself loves herself and her body, […]

Magical realism at its most wonderful

The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina by Zoraida Córdova

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BINGO – Flora (there’s a small flower at the center of the cover and Orquídea means ‘orchid’ in Spanish) The Inheritance of Orquidea Divina is told with two narratives: one of the past life of Orquídea Divina, matriarch of the Montoya family and the other of the Montoya family in present day. Orquídea is dying and she summons her family to her home to receive their inheritance. The family gathers and soon realize that no one is getting the family cuckoo clock or heirloom jewelry. No, Orquídea […]

If you haven’t already but you are able to do so, please get vaccinated. And get a flu shot.

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

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BINGO – Book Club (CBR Book Club selection for 2020) A pandemic has wiped out most of the population of Earth. Very few survive to see the world collapse, but there they are. Some go wild. Some dive head first into fringe religious belief. Some take refuge in music and theater. Everyone, though, in one way or another, is trying to do more than just survive. Told through a multiple timelines, points of view, and narrative styles, Station Eleven tells the story of how people cope with […]



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