Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

No Wings Needed, but Maybe a Better Editor?

We Need No Wings by Ann Dávila Cardinal

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cbr17bingo – Rec’d (found on a list of book suggestions for National Hispanic Heritage Month) I’m going to let the first line of the book do some heavy lifting here: “The first time Tere Sánchez levitated, she was in the garden.” Tere is a 60-year-old widow who has been grieving her husband’s death for the past year while taking a leave from her work as a professor. Understandably, the levitation freaks her out. She recalls that her family is distantly related to Saint Teresa of […]

Wedding Guests Bring the Drama

The Wedding People by Alison Espach

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Finishing this book also meant finishing my first buddy read with my mom, which was a fun experience, and I enjoyed the book. In a time of crisis, main character Phoebe has booked an expensive hotel, and upon arriving learns that due to a hotel oversight, she is the only guest who is not there for a wedding. Phoebe is grieving the end of her marriage, among other losses, and soon comes into contact with the bride, Lila. Through Lila, Phoebe slowly becomes sucked into […]

Not Bad, but Not for Me

Intermezzo by Sally Rooney

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This was not a bad book, but it has confirmed that I am not the right audience for Sally Rooney. I didn’t really care for Normal People but thought I’d give this a chance because some people who didn’t like Normal People did like this one. And I did indeed prefer Intermezzo, but not as much as I’d hoped. A large part of the problem is that I disliked Peter, one of the POV characters. His self-pity, while realistic in its duration, grew old, and I didn’t care for […]

Amazing Emotional Story

One Blood by Denene Millner

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Oof, this is a seriously intense and emotional story, but so compellingly told. Told through the experiences of three women – Grace, LoLo, and Rae – it chronicles the ties of family and motherhood as Black women and the ways intergenerational trauma ripples and impacts people moving forward. Grace is a teen when her mother is murdered by her boyfriend and her grandmother is taken away for claiming a white woman’s baby was white and not a product of an affair with a Black man […]

Sometimes the Hype is Real

Yellowface by R. F. Kuang

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I don’t love reading books that have all the buzz. The ones on all of the must read most anticipated best of lists. That get picked for all of the book clubs. I’m not inherently opposed to popularity. If anything, I find myself too swayed by all of the opinions. I’m overcritical or underwhelmed usually. It helps if I let some time pass, so it doesn’t feel so in my face. Library hold lists make this easier. My hold for Yellowface came in and I […]

The Serial Killer Book I’ve Been Waiting For

Notes On An Execution by Danya Kukafka

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I went in to this book so wary! I’m not a huge fan of serial killers or the true crime mania that glorifies men who murder (mostly) women. So even though I’d seen glowing review after breathless recommendation of Notes On an Execution, I doubted I’d get past 20%. I am never so pleased to be wrong than when it comes to loving an unexpected book. The premise of this one is simple, it is the day of Ansel Power’s execution. There are brief chapters […]



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