Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

‘lines of a story I’ll rewrite and understand on a future rereading’

Sidewalks by Valeria Luiselli

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CBR11bingo: The Collection My first experience with Mexican writer Valeria Luiselli was her evocative, heart-wrenching run-down of a questionnaire she had to translate when interviewing children seeking asylum in the US for the New York court system. I still think of Tell Me How It Ends frequently, which is what pushed me to seek out more of her writing. Sidewalks is a collection of her essays (heyo, first Bingo square!!), translated from Spanish by Christina MacSweeney. Much of Luiselli’s writing feels very nostalgic, almost like she’s […]

You’re in a Cult — Call your dad! And other life advice from Karen and Georgia

Stay Sexy & Don't Get Murdered: The Definitive How-To Guide by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark

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Where my Murderinos at? Part self-help book (kinda), part memoir (mostly), and all kinds of things you didn’t know about Georgia and Karen (and probably weren’t afraid to ask), Stay Sexy & Don’t Get Murdered is a breezy, easy read with some serious points underlying all the humor — a lot like the “My Favorite Murder” podcast only written down in a version you can hold! We have gone from living inside your headphones to pouring ourselves out onto the page like a couple of […]

Beloved by Roxane Gay, Rebecca Solnit, and America Ferrera

Eloquent Rage by Brittney Cooper

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4.5 stars. Loved this book! True to its title, Brittney Cooper writes with very eloquent rage. I cannot wait to read more from her because she is a true force and her already strong writing is only going to get stronger. Very intersectional, Cooper is a good place to start for anyone wanting to learn more about intersections of privilege and why black women are (or have the right to be) so angry. Her style is very approachable because she is smart as hell and […]

Shoulder Shrug – The Destiny Thief: Essays on Writing, Writers, and Life

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Richard Russo is one of my favorite authors, so when I saw this on the “HOT PICKS” shelf at my library I was intrigued. It was fun to get some insight into his life, inspiration and musings, but I won’t be recommending this as much as I recommend his fiction. I enjoyed the stories on writing and life, in particular where he shared the graduation speech he gave to the graduating class of 2004 of Colby College. As that is also my graduation year that […]

My favorite book of 2018

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It’s official: I have the yips. I finished reading this book three weeks ago, but every time I’ve tried to write a review, I freeze, not because I have nothing to say but because I can’t seem to calm my mind enough to write the review this book deserves.  For you see: Alexander Chee’s How to Write an Autobiographical Novel is my favorite book of the year. Chee shares essays about his life and writing career, keeping the subjects separate at first, then integrating them […]

Nowadays I know the true reason I read is to feel less alone

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Changing my mind is an essay collection by Zadie Smith. There is a new one out called Free, this is the one she wrote before Free, (back when Obama was still president. This fact will depress you). The collection of essays is a mix between articles, lectures and auto-biographical snippets. As far as essay-collections go this is a pretty mixed bag. It deals both with authors, film, her father, and her blackness. “Nowadays I know the true reason I read is to feel less alone, […]



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