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We ARE the Sharpest Knives in the Box: Recapping Cannonball Read 6

By Mswas Sawsm | Books | January 12, 2015 |

By Mswas Sawsm | Books | January 12, 2015 |


Over 250 of the sharpest, wittiest book reviewers I know crossed the finish line of the sixth Cannonball Read on December 31 with 2,385 books reviewed in AlabamaPink’s name. Did you miss the race? Don’t fret, Cannonball Read 7 started where six left off, and there’s still time to sign up!

The first person to reach 52 books and win Cannonball Read 6 was Travis J Smith, who did so in January - what a tremendous effort! Travis went on to review 157 books in 2014, a triple Cannonball. We had four double Cannonballs completed by Malin (138), badkittyuno (131), bonnie (119), and Valyruh (104); and don’t forget narfna who just missed posting her last two reviews (sorry narfna!!!) to make it to a double and ended at 102. Also a big shout-out goes to our junior Cannonballers, Ewandini, bunnybean, abby awesomeness, and joemyjoe. All four of them were able to post at least one review, and Ewandini reviewed 13 books (a quarter Cannonball). Congratulations Ewandini! See our full tally at the bottom of this post. If you have different numbers, please get in touch with me.

Author Interactions and Social Media

First I must give my own thanks to emmalita and scootsa1000 who have been helping out with CBR on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram. Their help in promoting CBR has been greatly appreciated. Please visit those channels and like/fan/follow us.

As you can imagine, we love hearing from authors, even if it’s just a retweet. Sometimes we get really lucky and have a longer conversation or comment. Badkittyuno had author M.A. Harper comment on her book review of The Worst Day of My Life, So Far. Michael Kostroff commented on anotterchaos’s review of his book, Letters from Back Stage. On Twitter, Narfna had a nice little conversation with Abigail Tarttelin, author of Golden Boy, which I must note is a most excellent book.

We also heard from the following authors - see the links on their names for their tweets:
Jack Skillingstead
Colleen Gleason
Max Blumenthal
Ryan Dunlavey
Susan Piver
Alexia Casale
Jean Kwok
Lisa Jewell
Emma Healey
Emily St. J. Mandel
Jojo Moyes
Sherri Duskey Rinker
Fred Minnick
Graeme Simsion
Kseniya Melnik
Brett Helquist
Deborah Heiligman
Paula Hawkins
Caitlin Doughty
Not to mention thanks to Mrs. Julien from Cannonball Read favorite, Courtney Milan. (swoon!)

The most reviewed author in 2014 was Rainbow Rowell, which is no surprise since she was a CBR darling in Cannonball Read 5. The second most reviewed author on the list was RL Stine. Surprised? Don’t be. Tyburn Blossom embarked on a quest to review all of the Fear Street novels from her childhood. That makes 21, in case you were counting. Another cool personal goal was Vangie13’s run of the first 52 Star Trek novels. To find the best and worst of Cannonball Read, visit our star ratings.

The authors whose books were reviewed 10 or more times include:

  • John Green
  • Courtney Milan
  • Neil Gaiman
  • Laini Taylor
  • Diana Gabaldon
  • Jim Butcher
  • Joe Hill
  • Agatha Christie
  • George R. R. Martin
  • Ilona Andrews
  • Gillian Flynn
  • Kim Harrison
  • Allie Brosh
  • Amy Poehler
  • Terry Pratchett
  • Connie Willis
  • Susan Elizabeth Phillips


No Ordinary Author

During past Reads, we’ve been offered free books by many authors, but one this year stood out. R. C. O’Leary, who, along with donating several copies of his book, also put his money where his mouth is and made a monetary donation to Cannonball Read. Whether you’re a fan of his book or not, you have to appreciate his generosity. Thank you, R. C.!

Thanks to this and other generous folks and ad-clickers, Cannonball Read was able to make three donations during the year to the American Cancer Society in 2014 totaling $430. I’m also happy to report that December 2014 was also one of the biggest months for the CBR Buy Hole (Amazon affiliate link), so we’ll get $124 from that month alone. The more visits (and clicks!) you make to the blog, the more ad revenue we generate too. So keep visiting our affiliate links and the group blog, and we’ll continue to generate money to help fight cancer in AlabamaPink’s name.

Here are the final standings of Cannonball Read 6.

TRIPLE Cannonball (156 Books or more)

Travis_J_Smith 157


Double Cannonball (104+ Books)

Malin 138
badkittyuno 131
bonnie 119
Valyruh 104

Whole Cannonball (52+ Books)

narfna 102
Mrs. Julien 86
alwaysanswerb 80
Sophia 65
faintingviolet 60
popcultureboy 58
Lollygagger 58
The Chancellor 56
Bothari43 56
Caitlin_D 55
scootsa1000 54
NTE 53
Fiat.Luxury 53
AamilTheCamel 52
competitivenonfiction 52
Renton 52
Robyn Robotron 52
mathildehoeg 52
Jen K 52
ElCicco 52
anevilweasel 52
Vangie13 52
Captain Tuttle 52


Half Cannonball (26+ Books)
KayKay 42
Jenny S 40
ModernLove 34
Lisa Bee 31
Holly 26
Nylotte 26
teresaelectro 26
Doombiscuits 26
Caitlin 26
ardaigle 26


Quarter Cannonball (13+ Books)

Fofo 25
thewheelbarrow 24
xoxoxoe 21
TyburnBlossom 21
Willynillyone19
elecamel 19
genericwhitegirl 18
Orleanas 18
allibaba77 17
Rachie3879 16
emmalita 16
Incandenza 16
Marc 15
Siege 15
Berry 15
Sara Habein 15
KimMiE" 13
Ewandini 13
omegajjj 13
MelBivDevoe 13
omegajjj 13

Cannonballers who wrote between one and twelve reviews, listed alphabetically:

alannaofdoom
Alexis
Aquillia
anotterchaos
AskImagine
Beth Ellen
BrittaneyNichole
bunnybean
FyreHaar
HillaryM
Honey Bee
Jelinas
joemyjoe
KatSings
Kinoumenthe
KM Bezner
lefaquin
Lizbth
llp
Miss Kate
MyySharona
PandaLove
Rachel S
reginadelmar
Robert
sistercoyote
Sweetpsychosis


Find more excellent reviews at the Cannonball Read group blog, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram.