Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

More Nostalgia, Less History

Canyon of Dreams: The Magic and Music of Laurel Canyon by Harvey Kubernik

by Leave a Comment

It is obvious from the get-go that Harvey Kubernik, a veteran music journalist who hails from Laurel Canyon, loves his subject. The problem is that love, and the love of his version of the Canyon, may have artificially narrowed his view of his subject. This is no small book, while its dimensions don’t quite fit the definition of ‘coffee-table book,’ it is a large and difficult book to hold that is chockfull of photos which make it a good choice to casually peruse at a […]

“The privilege of living now is that I can seat myself at the master’s table – the table of my white ancestor, a slaveholder – and interpret his world, and he has no say.”

The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South by Michael Twitty

by 5 Comments

I think to understand what The Cooking Gene is, you have to have a picture of its author. I’ve known Michael Twitty on Twitter for about a decade, Museum Twitter can be a small space sometimes in the best possible ways. Besides being a hoot to spend time with during political debates, Twitty is also a Culinary Historian focusing on the foodways of Africa, enslaved African Americans, African America and the African and Jewish diasporas. Basically, he’s one of the people you want to talk […]

“Brown-eyed sublime being. She of soft, deep cardigan pockets. Bubble-bath taker. Pool jumper. Cheese provider. Sunset glower. Heaven sent.”

Second First Impressions by Sally Thorne

by 10 Comments

I can see how Second First Impressions, Sally Thorne’s third book, isn’t going to be a five-star book for many readers – heck it wasn’t for me until quite near the end. But this book hit me in the feelings and had just the right kind of relatively low stakes, emotions are the plot set up for me. I was delighted; I understand if you were not. In this outing Thorne is playing with opposites, both in her protagonists and in the thematic work she […]

“Maybe things can always get better between people who want to do a good job loving each other. Maybe that’s all it takes.”

People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry

by 7 Comments

One of the reading groups I am part of chose People We Meet on Vacation for our August read. I quickly poked around my library catalog and saw that it had a stunning number of holds and put in my request immediately, expecting it to take a month or so for a copy to make its way to me. Surprise, surprise, I somehow got a copy in a week (I think I managed to get lucky with my local branch). I grabbed it as I […]

“No. You are divine. You are impossible to get enough of. Perhaps some people would disagree, but those people don’t especially matter, because you’re mine.”

Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert

by 4 Comments

I absolutely adored Act Your Age, Eve Brown. I *think* Take a Hint, Dani Brown is my favorite of the Brown sisters series, but this one certainly gave it a run for its money. In similar fashion to Get a Life, Chloe Brown we are in an enemies to lovers romance (which has grown on me considerably over the past few years) but in Hibbert’s hands it’s really much closer “you annoy me but once I actually get to know you I’m enamored of you” […]

Being informed is so much better than not being informed.

What Fresh Hell is This?: Perimenopause, Menopause, Other Indignities, and You by Heather Corinna

by 1 Comment

I received What Fresh Hell is This? as an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. It publishes June 1, 2021.  What Fresh Hell is This? Perimenopause, Menopause, Other Indignities, and You came to my attention following emmalita’s positive review of it earlier this month. The title alone intrigued me, what fresh hell is this is something I say in my day-to-day life, so an author that chose to use it as their title would very likely be an author I’d want to […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo