Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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About ElCicco

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Married, mom of two, history PhD, feminist. I've been participating in Cannonball Read since CBR4. I love to read, and writing reviews keeps me from reading without thinking. I feel like I owe it to the authors who entertain me to savor their creations. It's like slowing down and enjoying a delicious meal instead of bolting your food. (Learn more about this Cannonballer: ElCicco's Quick Questions interview.)

ElCicco's Reviews:

When the walls come tumbling down

The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother): A Novel by Rabih Alameddine

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This is a surprising and wonderful novel, managing to bring some light and humor to a grim setting. The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother) is indeed about main character Raja and his mother Zalfa, but it is also about the modern history of Beirut and its people. Back in the 1980s when I was in high school and college, Beirut was constantly on the news due to the violence and chaos that seemed to be a part of normal life […]

This is a story about friendship but guard your heart

The List of Suspicious Things: A Novel by Jennie Godfrey

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This debut novel by Jennie Godfrey was inspired by her childhood in Yorkshire in the 1970s when a murderer stalking women came to be known as the Yorkshire Ripper. Godfrey’s father had actually been an acquaintance of the man later arrested for the murders. In The List of Suspicious Things, main character Miv is a 12-year-old Yorkshire girl who decides that she is going to conduct her own investigation into the identity of the Ripper. Through Miv, her family, friends and neighbors, Godfrey reveals to […]

A captivating tale based on a myth

Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan

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Special thanks to NTE for gifting me this book in the last holiday book exchange! I had mentioned enjoying retold myths, and Daughter of the Moon Goddess is one of NTE’s favorite such stories. It is based on the Chinese myth of Chang’e, the Moon Goddess. This was a myth I was completely unfamiliar with, but I loved learning about this tale. Sue Lynn Tan takes the reader into a colorful, enchanting and dangerous world where immortals engage in subterfuge and violence to promote their […]

Don’t worry about a thing because every little thing is going to be alright

The Neddiad: How Neddie Took the Train, Went to Hollywood, and Saved Civilization by Daniel Pinkwater

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I picked up The Neddiad from the used book shelf at the local bookstore just because I loved the cover. It’s a charming, humorous story, full of fascinating facts and eccentric characters. Written for 10-12 year olds, The Neddiad is the story of a kid named Neddie Wentworthstein in post-WWII America as he journeys across the country and acquires a small object of great value. The significance of the object is revealed to Neddie and his friends as they are pursued by some bad guys. […]

Keep the change

Fool’s Fate: The Tawny Man Trilogy Book 3 by Robin Hobb

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I am completely satisfied with the end of this trilogy but sad nonetheless that it is over. In Fool’s Fate, we pick up with Prince Dutiful and his coteries of Skill users and of “Old Blood” witted folk as they set sail on the Prince’s quest. In order to win the hand of the Narcheska of the Narwhal clan, Elliania, Dutiful has made an oath before his nobles and the representatives of the Outislander clans that he will deliver to the Narwhal clan the head […]

Fathers, sons and found families

Golden Fool: The Tawny Man Trilogy Book 2 by Robin Hobb

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This second book in The Tawny Man Trilogy was every bit as excellent as the first. Most of the action takes place at Buckkeep castle, where Fitz and the Fool grew up and first got drawn into court intrigue. Given the years that have passed and the changes in their appearances, the two men are not recognized by any who would have known them before, and the fact that Fitz is masquerading as Tom, the servant to the Fool’s Lord Golden, gives him further anonymity. […]



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