Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

A complex story about race, class, family and history

The Wedding: A Novel by Dorothy West

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Cbr15bingo politics, racial politics in particular On a summer day on Martha’s Vineyard some time in 1950s America, beautiful Shelby Cole is getting ready to marry the man she loves, and in the 24 hours leading up to the wedding, the reader of Dorothy West’s 1995 novel The Wedding becomes privy to the complicated class and racial politics that swirl around what should be a happy day. West, a leading figure of the Harlem Renaissance, captures generations’ worth of “striving to succeed while black in […]

It seems I can love horror

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

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CBR15 BINGO: Dwelling. Hill House is not only integral to the story but also a character in itself. Like many American high school students, I read Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” in ninth grade and then proceeded to ignore Jackson for the majority of my book-consuming life. First published in The New Yorker in 1948, “The Lottery” was shocking for its twist and has been banned or challenged in school districts for being, among other things, anti-family. Given the influence Jackson had on American literature, I’m […]

CBR15 Bingo-Week 10 Check-in

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Welcome to the Week 10 wrap-up! How was your week? My week was long and difficult so I’m at the burrito stage.   You can view the kick-off post with the categories, rules and card here. The Players: ardaigle – 7 reviews BlackRaven – 25 reviews, BLACKOUT carmelpie – 19 reviews, 4 Bingos Carriejay – 9 reviews CoffeeShopReader – 16 reviews Debcapsfan – 3 reviews Dome’Loki – 4 reviews drmllz – 4 reviews ElCicco – 9 reviews elderberrywine – 5 review Esme – 1 review faintingviolet – 4 reviews Flimflamingo – 1 review GentleRain – 8 reviews […]

São Paulo and the Gates

Paradise City by Joe Thomas

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Read as part of CBR15Bingo: South America. The story takes place (and is largely a commentary on) the city of São Paulo, Brazil, which is located in South America.  There’s a specific kind of fevered, conspiracy-addled, crime fiction that only works in the right hands. Told in a postmodern, often repetitious style that many find grating (including, often, me). And the endings are often ambiguous, incomplete, or complete in a way that you cannot possibly accept or understand. You have to be willing to go […]

To boldly go where no (wo)man has gone before!

The Six: The Untold Story of America's First Women Astronauts by Loren Grush

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CBR 15 Bingo – Strange Worlds: The titular six (and I) jet off to the strange worlds of NASA and outer space in this book. It was many years after the inception of NASA and the space flight program that women were allowed to become astronauts. Though not all of these initial six women are household names today, they all worked to advance both space exploration and women’s rights in their own ways. It rather surprises me that I’m not very interested in space exploration – […]

A family’s struggles…and successes

Becoming Nicole by Amy Ellis Nutt

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I went on the search for an informative book about transgender issues after an argument with my husband. We’re both pretty liberal, but I’m more idealistic and he’s more into political games. After a political discussion with his brother, my husband decided they’d figured out transgender politics. I disagreed with his assessment, but our argument really highlighted how ignorant both of us were on the subject [although–for the record–he was more ignorant than me 🙂 ] I decided I needed a book, and so my […]



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