Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Trust me when I say you need to read this book

Elena Knows: A Novel by Claudia Pineiro

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Cbr16bingo Liberate (bingo)  This is a short but very powerful story that deals with women, their bodies and bodily autonomy. This is the kind of book that is difficult to review because saying too much spoils it for the next reader. Elena Knows was shortlisted for the 2022 International Booker Prize. It was originally published in 2007, but the English translation by Frances Riddle came out in 2021. While set in Buenos Aires, the subject matter will resonate with readers the world over.  Elena is […]

Really Side-Eyeing The New York Times Over Their Choices

Pastoralia by George Saunders

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This was one of the New York Times 100 Best Books of the 21st Century? This? Friends, I loathed this book. 160 pages was probably 150 pages too many. There were few if any likeable characters, no one had a unique voice, and the crassness wasn’t shocking in an absurdist way, it was just unpleasant. I picked this up because of the New York Times list and because it fit one of this year’s PopSugar Reading Challenge prompts: a book with a one-word title you […]

A Reflection on Grief & Culture

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

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I’ve read many books over the years that have made me cry, novels and memoirs both. Few books made me cry while also making me hungry from the incredible depictions of food that tied so closely to the emotional heart of the story. And yet Crying in H Mart had my nose running and stomach rumbling throughout. Written by Michelle Zauner of Japanese Breakfast, Crying in H Mart is a memoir about the cancer diagnosis, failed treatment, and subsequent death of her mother. It is […]

“You just have to roll with the abuse, otherwise you’re a crazy bitch.”

I Have Some Questions For You: A Novel by Rebecca Makkai

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Cbr16bingo Scandal This is a brilliant, riveting novel that deals with predators, sexual abuse, childhood trauma, bullying, and complicity. It also has an interesting narrative point of view. The main character Bodie Kane tells the story but not to us; she is talking to someone specific and we learn at the end of the first chapter that it is Mr. Bloch. Who Mr. Bloch is and why Bodie addresses him will become more obvious as the story progresses. This is a fictional story that deals […]

Now I Want a Three Sisters Garden

Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

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Have you ever read a book that made you incredibly sad while still filling you with hope? A book that was knowledgeable and beautiful and made you want to go outside and bury your fingers in the dirt? That’s what Braiding Sweetgrass is to me. Robin Wall Kimmerer is a Potawotami botanist and professor at SUNY’s school of Environmental Science and Forestry. This nonfiction book combines scientific knowledge of agriculture with Native practices and wisdom, but it is so much more than that. Throughout the […]

Gothic Horror in the Mexican Countryside

The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas

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Beatriz is the only child of a Mexican general who was executed in the aftermath of the Mexican war for independence. After months of depending on the generosity of her mother’s extended family, Beatriz latches on to Don Rodolfo Salorzano as her best chance of escaping the capital and having a home of her own. The hacienda is prosperous, but the house itself has seen better days. Rodolfo’s sister Juana, used to having the run of the hacienda, is scornful of Beatriz and her plans […]



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