Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“I made promises to you that I’m not sure I can keep.”

Forever... by Judy Blume

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Most years I try to read a banned or challenged book as part of Banned Books week (which I’m VERY late for this year). There are many reasons I do it, but one of the most important is that I want there to be library requests in my system for these books as its one way to help keep challenged books on shelves (there are lots more suggestions for actions in this Book Riot article). This year I was having a tough time deciding what book to choose as I’ve been struggling in the past few years […]

“What would happen if we spoke the truth?”

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel

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Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic had been on my to read for a bit as one of the more visible challenged and banned books since its publication in 2006  (31st most challenged  in the decade 2010-2019 according to the ALA) that I hadn’t gotten to yet, but moved higher up as it was challenged locally to me twice since 2020 (it’s been retained both times). So, it found its way to my September reading as my personal choice for Banned Books Week 2024.   As […]

“Intentions always look better on paper than in reality.”

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

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Another review of a Book Club choice, 2017’s The Hate U Give. A peek behind the scenes: this one almost got left off the voting, having been popular over the years but as it’s the 30th most challenged book of the decade 2010-2019 and the fifth most challenged in 2021 the argument to include it felt justified. This YA novel was challenged and banned in school libraries and curriculums because it was considered “pervasively vulgar” and because of drug use, profanity, and offensive language. Other […]

“It’s time for the world to let queer black boys unpack their shit.”

All Boys Aren't Blue by George M. Johnson

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When we had our book club vote for September, I was secretly hoping that All Boys Aren’t Blue would be one of the ones we chose. I was flabbergasted that in November of last year the memoir had a criminal report filed with the Flagler County Sheriff’s office by a member of the Flagler County School Board arguing that the book’s inclusion in three district school libraries violated state obscenity laws because it contained sexually graphic material. It has also been removed from school libraries […]

“Ultimately, the reason Harvey Weinstein followed the route he did is because he was allowed to, and that’s our fault. As a culture that’s our fault.”

Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators by Ronan Farrow

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There is something particularly powerful about reading someone’s accounting of their dogged pursual of truth, of what is right, of what matters and we are treated to just that in Catch and Kill. In his second book Ronan Farrow reckons with the institutional powers and societal inequities that create the sort of stories he’s worked on reporting for the past few years at The New Yorker. Part memoir, part investigative report, Catch and Kill is an imminently fast read, jumping from one unbelievable if it […]

“I took a step toward her. ‘It is my right to reside in my own mind. It is my right,’ I said.” (CBR11Bingo)

Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado

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Her Body and Other Parties is all about expectations – both the ones on the page for the characters Machado created and for the reader as they come to the much hyped but little described work. I knew going in that the book was pushing boundaries, igniting conversations (the husband stitch, for example), and refused to stick to one genre at any given time, let alone for the entire collection. Having completed the book I understand why reviewers have, one the whole, been relatively mute […]



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