immigrant experience – Cannonball Read 17

Family legacy and family secrets

Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson

March 23, 2025 by Jen K Leave a Comment

I think I picked this when I first saw previews for the Hulu show but never got around to reading it (or watching the show). However, since her other book is the March selection for my book club, I thought I might as well check this out first. After Eleanor Bennett dies, her two adult children meet with her lawyer and find out that she has left them one last black cake in the freezer and a recording that they must listen to together. Benny, […]

“Now and then the images from those years come into alignment, and I see something…”

Darkroom: A Memoir in Black and White by Lila Quintero Weaver

June 27, 2023 by GentleRain Leave a Comment

I tend to think I have a pretty good handle on the state of the graphic novel/comic scene, which is why when I stumble across a great book like this that I missed, it thrills me and makes me think about what else is out there that I haven’t found yet. This was a random find at a used bookstore, which is often my favorite way to find a book. It’s like a little gift that suddenly pops into your life! I wonder if part […]

And the daughter who had no choice but to keep them all out of jail

Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto

September 12, 2022 by carmelpie Leave a Comment

Ma’s hand flies to her mouth again. “Did I get boy killed because I say I want to eat his eggplant?”― Jesse Q. Sutanto, Dial A for Aunties This is the story of a loyal daughter, who accidentally murders her date, and the group of aunties who have no choice but to help her cover up the crime while running an over-the-top Indonesian Chinese wedding. It’s Dial A for Aunties. I bought this book while on vacation. Although I didn’t read it until I got […]

Dangled and Suspended in America

The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears by Dinaw Mengestu

January 26, 2022 by storiaallineare 5 Comments

First review ever and a confession! As a recovering humanities graduate student, I’m using CB14 as a way to re-teach myself how to read for pleasure, though that phase sits uncomfortably with me. I’m not sure ‘reading for pleasure’ really covers the full scope of what reading used to do for me and what I hope it will do in the future. The feeling of pleasure doesn’t capture at all what I experienced after finishing Dinaw Mengestu’s The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears, and that […]

“I have learned that sometimes the simplest things are the hardest things to say. That sometimes there is no word for what you feel, no word in any language.”

Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga

November 20, 2021 by faintingviolet Leave a Comment

I read Jasmine Warga’s debut My Heart and Other Black Holes in 2016, and its one of the books that has stayed with me most as it contained some of the truest descriptions of being a teenager that I have ever read. When I was hunting for a book to fulfill the Muslim Middle Grade novel task for the Reading Women challenge and came across Warga’s name I decided that Other Words for Home would be the book I read, without looking any further into […]

“The space between two shores is the ocean and being caught in between feels like drowning.”

The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen

April 21, 2021 by cosbrarian Leave a Comment

A new forever favorite! If you like your fairy tales dark, and reading other cultural versions of them, read this book! If you like your graphic novels lush, detailed, and darling, read this book! If you like compelling family stories, immigrant stories, and queer characters, read this book! In the forefront of Trung Le Nguyen’s graphic novel is the story of a middle schooler named Tiên who is quietly dealing with coming out and his crush on a friend. Alongside that is his mother’s story, […]

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.

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