Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“They wear red bandannas knotted around their necks, as if their throats have already been cut.”

Rednecks by Taylor Brown

by Leave a Comment

When the coal miners of West Virginia attempt to unionize for better working conditions, the resulting conflict escalates close to the level of civil war – and a Lebanese-American doctor caught in between must choose where his allegiance lies. I’ve read about the Battle of Blair Mountain and the West Virginia Mine Wars before, but only in vague detail in high school history courses. Now, of course, I know a lot more – indeed, feel as though I saw it with my own eyes. Though […]

The Randomness of Food Trends Past at the Antique Store

The Southern Junior League Cookbook by Ann Seranne

by 5 Comments

I don’t especially care for antique stores, but sometimes they do have interesting books, especially things like The Southern Junior League Cookbook. This book dates to the late seventies, and has recipes from about 30 different Junior League cookbooks from North Carolina to Florida, and Georgia to Texas. A lot of it is the sort of thing you’d expect, home cookery recipes and what we might now call ‘hacks’ for most of your basic categories from Appetizers and Soup to Meat and Poultry to Grains-Beans-Peas […]

So much of the tension is lost in the first chapter

The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher

by Leave a Comment

BINGO – Pandemic (because who doesn’t love a little supernatural horror to take your mind of the very real, natural horror of the world). Mouse and her dog Bongo hit the road for small town in rural North Carolina. Mouse’s grandmother has just passed away, and Mouse has been tasked with clearing out her grandmother’s old house so that it can be sold. When Mouse arrives, she learns that her grandmother was a hoarder: newspaper, plastic storage containers, antique dolls, and more are stuffed full […]

“There is nothing nice about Southern ladies!”

The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix

by Leave a Comment

BINGO – LIBATIONS [TW: sexual assault/rape] It’s the early 1990s, and Patricia Campbell lives in a suburb of Charleston, South Carolina with her husband, two kids, and mother-in-law. She does what she can to be a picturesque Southern lady: exceptional manners and hospitality, exquisite outfits, pristine home, and exemplary family. She is a perfect Southern peach, and she’s bored. The only outlet she has that is solely for herself is her book club filled with other women just like her. To escape their lives, they […]

Their Eyes is a 1930s novel that is still entirely relevant today

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

by Leave a Comment

I don’t know why it took me this long to read this book. It was lyrical beauty. Their Eyes Were Watching God follows Janie Crawford through her three marriages in the 1930s South all while she explores her own sense of self, her identity, and her relation to her community. The dichotomy of dialogue and prose narration and description is a marvel. The dialogue is written in a Southern dialect full of life and energy. While it might take some time getting used to (unless you’re […]

If Big Little Lies Met To Kill A Mockingbird

The Night the Lights Went Out by Karen White

by Leave a Comment

I can’t claim the title of this review as my own. The cover of The Night the Lights Went Out features a pull quote from a review stating, “If Big Little Lies met To Kill a Mockingbird.” As much as I love Karen White’s books, I instantly thought, “Yeah, right.” I’m pleased to say I was wrong. This book is pure entertainment. I couldn’t put it down. I get the reticence to compare a beach-y read to a literary classic, but let’s roll with it this […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo