family – Page 165 – Cannonball Read 17

cbr12bingo – Repeat (and TWO Bingos!)

Luster by Raven Leilani

September 13, 2020 by andtheIToldYouSos Leave a Comment

Raven Leilani has exploded into the scene like the chestburster in Alien. Fully-formed, unapologetic, covered in blood, and completely in control while annihilating the guts of a mediocre man. Luster has been racking up well-deserved accolades, and I truly cannot wait to see what she does next- although I am relieved that this is her debut, and there isn’t a back catalog waiting to destroy me hiding just out of view. Not only is her work fantastic, but it also allows me to knock two “bingos” (Money, […]

From Reality Star to Kick Butt Author!

Hilo: The Boy Who Crashed to Earth by Judd Winick

Hilo V02 Saving the Whole Wide World by Judd Winick

September 9, 2020 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

Do you ever look at a book and think, “Well that’s not going to be for me?” Then one day, you find it on the library shelves (or in my case the website and I could put in a request for curbside pickup) and you didn’t want to waste your five-limit book allotment, so you pick it up? And did you then ask yourself, “Why did I wait so long to read this?” Okay, I might have been in the right humorous mood, but I […]

A really long review that has spoilers

Becoming Beatriz by Tami Charles

September 9, 2020 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

This review is long as this book brought out a lot of feelings. Feelings of remembering books I read as a kid and didn’t get “the point” of. Feelings of current events. Feelings of not liking characters. And a lot more. This is a book you experience and YMMV. Becoming Beatriz is the companion novel to Like Vanessa. It starts on the day Beatriz turns 15 and the night her brother is murdered by a rival gang. Like this incident was a sidebar in the […]

A semi-autobiographical debut novel that opens up a world

Like Vanessa by Tami Charles

September 9, 2020 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

Like Vanessa is a sweet and realistic story of liking yourself, while finding your home, family and who you truly are. Tami Charles bases her character Vanessa on some of her own experiences making this an interesting combination of fact, fiction, history and contemporary issues. In 1983 Vanessa is a dark-skinned girl living in the inner city. Vanessa, her cousin, her beloved grandfather Pop-Pop and her father live in a small apartment. But they could not be farther apart if they live in a mansion. […]

Any day she’s with Dad is Father’s Day

Papa Brings Me the World by Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw

September 9, 2020 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

I did not think I was going to like Papa Brings Me the World. When I picked up Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw’s book, I was in a less than great mood when reading it (which always colors my feelings of a book) but instead of me thinking it was “too sappy” or “too cute,” it put me in a better frame of mind. It just looked like it could be dull or overly preachy (or both). And, without reading, I assumed it was going to be […]

Two reviews for the price of one post

Baby Monster by Andrea Pfeiffer

I Want to Sleep Under the Stars by Mo Willems

September 9, 2020 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

It is that time of year again: New reader copies. And two that found their way to my reading desk were a picture book called Baby Monster and an early reader called I Want to Sleep Under the Stars! (Unlimited Squirrels V03). They have nothing in common except I read them the same day and knew a 250 review each would be hard. Andrea Pfeiffer created Monster Baby. It is an amusing and rhyming text story about a couple (of scientists) who made a bundle […]

Zirza on A Gothic Classic for a ReasonIt's one of those wish-you-could-read-it-again-for-the-first-time books. I loved it.
Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

Help Our Mission