Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time
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About Ale

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I'm TAing in creative writing, and I'm in the midst of editing my first novel. Along with CBR, I have book reviews published with "The Literary Review," short essay with "Fiction Southeast" and a forthcoming publication with "The Book Smuggler's Den." CBR has definitely helped my writing skills since now I know what readers are looking for for in their works. So, thank you, CBR! Hopefully someday, we'll be able to review my novel on this blog. :) (Learn more about this Cannonballer: Ale's Quick Questions interview.)

Ale's Reviews:

Book exchange!!!

December 13, 2017 by Ale 1 Comment

Thank you so much to bonnie for these awesome books! They’re going to be super helpful with ny TA position next semester!

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Ale's CBR9 Review No:0 · Genres: Uncategorized · Tags: ·
· 1 Comment

Trust Me, I’m Telling You Stories

December 12, 2017 by Ale 4 Comments

Why have I never heard of Jeanette Winterson before? And why has it taken me so long to find her? This little unassuming book totally took me by the heartstrings and destroyed me. Now, it wasn’t Gaiman levels of destruction, but it still did a number. The Passion follows Henri, a soldier in Napoleon’s army, and Villanelle, a remarkable woman from Venice as they weave a story back and forth that we aren’t sure whether we’re to believe at face-value, or take as metaphor. I can’t […]

Filed Under: Fiction Tagged With: bonaparte, jeannette w, passion, Venice

Ale's CBR9 Review No:30 · Genres: Fiction · Tags: bonaparte, jeannette w, passion, Venice ·
Rating:
· 4 Comments

Sometimes We Know the Closest to Us the Least

December 8, 2017 by Ale Leave a Comment

I would never have picked this book up on my own, but I’m glad I stumbled upon this read. Mothers and Other Strangers looks at the relationship between mothers and daughters in a new and interesting way. Elsie is the only child of a narcissist mother with a compulsive lying issue. We start the story at the end, when Elise is called back to her hometown to find that her mother died of a heart attack. Elise has had a less-than-healthy relationship with her mother […]

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Canada, Gina Sorrell, mothers, Strangers

Ale's CBR9 Review No:29 · Genres: Uncategorized · Tags: Canada, Gina Sorrell, mothers, Strangers ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

A Little Book On Demon Possession

November 7, 2017 by Ale Leave a Comment

Whew! This little book was a ride. Clocking in at only 190 pages, our story follows Amanda, an architect with a happy, boring life that she loves. She’s a young, married professional with a nice loft and an aspiring future until little things start happening…..hearing noises, a sudden desire to start smoking, unexplained purchases, an intense need to steal….but things still easily explained away, or so Amanda thinks. Gran’s delightfully minimal style weaves us through the mind of a woman unraveling. Told in the first […]

Filed Under: Fiction, Horror Tagged With: demons, possession, sara gran

Ale's CBR9 Review No:28 · Genres: Fiction, Horror · Tags: demons, possession, sara gran ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

King Gansey

November 4, 2017 by Ale 2 Comments

  I always find it hard to review the last book of a series, mostly because I so hate knowing that I’ve spent over 1,000 pages with a cast of characters that I have to leave behind. And I will absolutely miss the Raven Boys and their psychic battery, Blue. Stiefvater’s greatest feat was creating such lovable and relatable characters out of personalities that could have easily wandered into cliche or become incredibly annoying. But they never do, even as the plot goes literally crazy […]

Filed Under: Young Adult Tagged With: fantasy, Maggie Stiefvater, psychic, raven cylce, YA

Ale's CBR9 Review No:27 · Genres: Young Adult · Tags: fantasy, Maggie Stiefvater, psychic, raven cylce, YA ·
Rating:
· 2 Comments

Big Issues Beautifully Packaged

October 24, 2017 by Ale Leave a Comment

So far my favorite book in the Raven Cycle, Blue Lily, Lily Blue begins to bring all the loose threads of this epic tale together. I blew through it in two days, and could literally find nothing about it that I didn’t like. The characters continue to be their wonderful selves, with a focus on Adam that I really enjoyed. He begins coming into his own in this third installment, accepting his newfound powers and finally accepting that his friends have only ever wanted to help […]

Filed Under: Young Adult Tagged With: fantasy, Maggie Stiefvater, Raven Boys, raven cycle

Ale's CBR9 Review No:27 · Genres: Young Adult · Tags: fantasy, Maggie Stiefvater, Raven Boys, raven cycle ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments
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