Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Updating the classics

Much Ado About Nada by Uzma Jalaluddin

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Smart Bitches Summer Bingo: Retelling (modern retelling of Jane Austen’s Persuasion) CBR16 Bingo: Bollywood (set in Canada with desi protagonists) The absolutely last place Nada Syed wants to be is the big annual Muslim convention in downtown Toronto. She is nearly 30 years old, single and lives at home with her parents and two brothers. If she goes to the convention, there is a high chance that she’ll run into her old mentor, formerly her mother’s best friend. She might also run into her mentor’s […]

I need more stars

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

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Trigger Warning for abuse, violence, depression, suicidal thoughts, drug abuse, addiction I’ve had a copy of this book for years, knowing from its blurb and from what I’ve read about it that I would probably love it, but at 960 pages, it’s a brick and a bit intimidating to start. I finally decided to tackle it, and I finished it in less than a week. I would have finished within days if not for the pesky need for sleep and doing laundry and the like. […]

Some really beautiful moments don’t necessarily add up to a masterpiece of a novel

The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles

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CBR16 BINGO: Détente, because Billy is always trying to keep the peace Amor Towles is an undeniably talented writer. Having fallen in love with A Gentleman in Moscow and being charmed by Table for Two, I came to expect that I would adore just about anything he wrote. And certainly, there is a lot to like in The Lincoln Highway. At times I would be cruising along like the old Studebaker in the story when a particular turn of phrase or small vignette would stop me […]

“ He left you the fortune, Avery, and all he left us is you.”

The Inheritance Games: A Novel by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

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Cbr16bingo Games, Bingo Blackout This book is the start of a YA series that promises to be fun to follow. The main characters are mostly teens, mostly very wealthy, and all involved in a strange and dangerous game that seems to have been contrived by Tobias Hawthorne. Hawthorne was a billionaire who was fond of games and inventions. He loved puzzles and riddles, and constantly challenged his grandsons to match wits with him. Tobias has died, and his two daughters and four grandsons expect to […]

“Pleased to meet you, hope you guess my name…”

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

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3.5 stars Nowhere Books Bingo: Banned books (Wasn’t published until 27 years after Bulgakov’s death, and only then in a censored version. ) CBR16 Bingo: Cult (cult classic, and there’s the whole Devil and his entourage as a central plot point – that’s pretty cultish, right?) I can’t remember exactly how long The Master and Margarita has been on my TBR list, but it’s certainly more than twenty years. A quick glance on Goodreads shows me that 15 of my friends have rated it four […]

Runaway bride

Three Reasons to Run by Jackie Lau

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3.5 stars Smart Bitches Summer Bingo: Free space Disclaimer! This was an ARC from the author, it has not affected my review in any way. Leo Mok (younger brother of Max, from Four Weddings to Fall in Love) is late for his cousin Carl’s wedding because he got a speeding ticket. He’s not exactly thrilled to be going, since he’s had a crush on the bride since he first saw her at a family gathering two years ago. He’s about to leave his car when […]



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