Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time
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“Sometimes it seems like writing is the only way I keep from hurting.”

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

November 1, 2022 by Malin Leave a Comment

CBR14 Bingo: Verse (the whole book is written as poems) Xiomara and her brother Xavier (who Xiomara mostly refers to as Twin) are miracle babies, born late in life to their parents, who never believed they would have children. Growing up in Harlem, New York, they’re nevertheless part of the Dominican culture of their immigrant parents. Their mother is deeply religious and was possibly going to be a nun before she met their dad, whose wandering eye meant he got around plenty before marrying. While […]

Filed Under: Fiction, Poetry, Young Adult Tagged With: cbr14, cbr14bingo, coming-of-age, contemporary fiction, culture clash, elizabeth acevedo, family, Immigration, Malin, poetry, slam poetry, the poet x, verse, Young Adult

Malin's CBR14 Review No:35 · Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Young Adult · Tags: cbr14, cbr14bingo, coming-of-age, contemporary fiction, culture clash, elizabeth acevedo, family, Immigration, Malin, poetry, slam poetry, the poet x, verse, Young Adult ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

Growing up brown in Norway is no picnic

Hør Her'a! (Listen here!) by Gulraiz Sharif

July 27, 2021 by Malin 2 Comments

CBR13 Bingo: Free (borrowed at the library) Official book description (translated by me): It is summer vacation and fifteen-year-old Mahmoud is imagining long days on the bench outside his building with his friend, one-eyed Arif. This summer will be different, however, because the family is getting a visit from Uncle-ji from Pakistan and Mahmoud’s job will be to show his uncle around. Uncle-ji is very surprised at what he sees in Norway, and what is going on with Ali, Mahmoud’s little brother, who is not […]

Filed Under: Comedy/Humor, Fiction, Young Adult Tagged With: CBR13, cbr13bingo, contemporary fiction, culture clash, free, Gulraiz Sharif, Hør Her'a, Immigration, LGBTQIA, Malin, Norwegian, Young Adult

Malin's CBR13 Review No:25 · Genres: Comedy/Humor, Fiction, Young Adult · Tags: CBR13, cbr13bingo, contemporary fiction, culture clash, free, Gulraiz Sharif, Hør Her'a, Immigration, LGBTQIA, Malin, Norwegian, Young Adult ·
Rating:
· 2 Comments

lovely, stinking, brutal, sunburned, magical, and filthy.

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell

March 28, 2021 by andtheIToldYouSos Leave a Comment

Jacob de Zoet is a young man of meager means. He has hitched his hopes to the Dust East India Company- he’ll spend several trading seasons on Dejima- about as far away from home and his fiancée as he can physically be. What is Dejima? Why, I’m glad you asked! The year is 1799, and Japan is very strict in regards to foreign interference and influence. Following disasters interactions with the Spanish and Portuguese decades earlier, Japan is a closed empire. Dejima, a man-made island […]

Filed Under: Fiction, History Tagged With: 19th century, class, colonialism, cult, culture clash, David Mitchell, Dutch East India Company, Edo Japan, historical fiction, Japan, magical realism, trade

Genres: Fiction, History · Tags: 19th century, class, colonialism, cult, culture clash, David Mitchell, Dutch East India Company, Edo Japan, historical fiction, Japan, magical realism, trade ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

Sadly, one of my biggest disappointments of the year

Gul book (Yellow Book) by Zeshan Shakar

December 27, 2020 by Malin Leave a Comment

Official book description (any errors in translation are mine): Mani is a newly graduated economist and has just secured a job at the Ministry of Education and Research. He is a young man who lives with his father in a flat at Haugenstua, in the east of Oslo, and has a girlfriend he thinks he’s going to marry someday. Preferably, he’d like to use his abilities in the private sector, where the prestige and the money lies, because he’s painfully aware that both his girlfriend […]

Filed Under: Fiction Tagged With: #ownvoices, cbr12, contemporary fiction, culture clash, Gul Bok, Immigration, Malin, Norwegian, Yellow Book, Zeshan Shakar

Malin's CBR12 Review No:86 · Genres: Fiction · Tags: #ownvoices, cbr12, contemporary fiction, culture clash, Gul Bok, Immigration, Malin, Norwegian, Yellow Book, Zeshan Shakar ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

A very sweet YA romance with queer characters

Tell Me Again How a Crush Should Feel by Sara Farizan

July 23, 2019 by Malin Leave a Comment

#CBR11 Bingo: Rainbow Flag (author is a lesbian, as is the main character) This book would also fit nicely into the “Youths!” and “Own voices” squares on the bingo card. Official book description: Leila has made it most of the way through high school without having a crush on anyone, which comes as something of a relief. Her Persian heritage makes her different enough; if word got out that Leila liked girls, life would be twice as hard. And what would her parents think? It’s bad […]

Filed Under: Fiction, Romance, Young Adult Tagged With: #ownvoices, cbr11, cbr11bingo, coming-of-age, contemporary fiction, culture clash, friendship, LGBTQIA, Malin, Rainbow Flag, Sara Farizan, Tell Me Again How a Crush Should Feel, Young Adult, Youths!

Malin's CBR11 Review No:50 · Genres: Fiction, Romance, Young Adult · Tags: #ownvoices, cbr11, cbr11bingo, coming-of-age, contemporary fiction, culture clash, friendship, LGBTQIA, Malin, Rainbow Flag, Sara Farizan, Tell Me Again How a Crush Should Feel, Young Adult, Youths! ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

An excellent follow-up to a successful debut

The Bride Test by Helen Hoang

July 17, 2019 by Malin 1 Comment

From Goodreads: Khai Diep has no feelings. Well, he feels irritation when people move his things or contentment when ledgers balance down to the penny, but not big, important emotions—like grief. And love. He thinks he’s defective. His family knows better—that his autism means he just processes emotions differently. When he steadfastly avoids relationships, his mother takes matters into her own hands and returns to Vietnam to find him the perfect bride. As a mixed-race girl living in the slums of Ho Chi Minh City, […]

Filed Under: Fiction, Romance Tagged With: autism, cbr11, Contemporary Romance, culture clash, Helen Hoang, Immigration, Malin, The Bride Test, The Kiss Quotient

Malin's CBR11 Review No:42 · Genres: Fiction, Romance · Tags: autism, cbr11, Contemporary Romance, culture clash, Helen Hoang, Immigration, Malin, The Bride Test, The Kiss Quotient ·
Rating:
· 1 Comment
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