Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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About drmllz

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I'm a literature and media studies lecturer and researcher at a university on the south coast of England (my reviews are absolutely not meant to be taken in my professional capacity nor reflect the views of my institution). I've participated in some early CBRs and then came back for CBR 14 onwards. Much like every year, I'd like to do more reading for fun, especially of contemporary fiction, and less crashing in front of Netflix. In 2021 I had a cancer diagnosis and surgery--it really helped following along with CBR reads and Facebook chat and knowing there were people out there enjoying reading books and supporting cancer research and patients even amid all the pandemic chaos. (Learn more about this Cannonballer: drmllz's Quick Questions interview.)

drmllz's Reviews:

“It’s a role I play.” Max shrugged. “Just as you do.”

The Agency for Scandal (2023) by Laura Wood

April 10, 2023 by drmllz Leave a Comment

The Agency for Scandal (2023) is a children’s/YA late-Victorian set romantic romp with a dash of adventure and a feminist core. Isobel Stanhope has inherited her father’s talent for lock-picking but also his debts–which she must keep a secret from her delicate mamma and her younger brother, conveniently away at school. She is recruited to a mysterious agency called The Aviary, led by Miss Finch, a group of women dedicated to righting the wrongs that patriarchy inflicts on their sisters, and often using rather sneaky […]

Filed Under: Children's Books, Fiction, Mystery, Romance, Young Adult Tagged With: CBR15, children's fiction, drmllz, historical fiction, historical romance, Laura Wood, mystery, YA, Young Adult

drmllz's CBR15 Review No:3 · Genres: Children's Books, Fiction, Mystery, Romance, Young Adult · Tags: CBR15, children's fiction, drmllz, historical fiction, historical romance, Laura Wood, mystery, YA, Young Adult ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

“Like any dealer he was watching for the card that is so high and wild”

Every Gift a Curse (2023) by Caroline O'Donoghue

February 18, 2023 by drmllz Leave a Comment

“I can feel our bravery fall away as we journey into the wood. We are not built for this. We are not the folksy teenagers you see in adventure stories. There is no one who’s a dab hand at archery, or who can chart our journey by looking at the last few visible stars.” (371-372) Every Gift a Curse is the third and final in Irish author Caroline O’Donoghue’s YA ‘Gifts’ trilogy, following All Our Hidden Gifts (2021) and The Gifts That Bind Us (2022). […]

Filed Under: Fantasy, Fiction, Mystery, Speculative Fiction, Young Adult Tagged With: Caroline O'Donoghue, CBR15, drmllz, Fiction, magic, YA, Young Adult

drmllz's CBR15 Review No:1 · Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Mystery, Speculative Fiction, Young Adult · Tags: Caroline O'Donoghue, CBR15, drmllz, Fiction, magic, YA, Young Adult ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

‘A million girls would kill for this job’

The World's Worst Assistant (2022) by Sona Movsesian

November 14, 2022 by drmllz 1 Comment

CBR bingo square ‘funky’, because…Sona Movsesian seems like a funky and groovy person, and Conan O’Brien used to do a funky little ‘string dance’ with his hips, and Max Weinberg and the Max Weinberg 7 were pretty funky back in the day, and Sona Movsesian is Conan O’Brien’s assistant. If I haven’t horribly misjudged the time difference and therefore deadline or missed something else egregious, I believe this review completes a bingo for me. ‘A million girls would kill for this job’ is, of course, […]

Filed Under: Biography/Memoir, Comedy/Humor, Non-Fiction Tagged With: cbr14bingo, Conan, drmllz, sona movsesian

drmllz's CBR14 Review No:11 · Genres: Biography/Memoir, Comedy/Humor, Non-Fiction · Tags: cbr14bingo, Conan, drmllz, sona movsesian ·
Rating:
· 1 Comment

Foiling spies and spying foils

The Ministry of Unladylike Activity (2022) by Robin Stevens

November 14, 2022 by drmllz Leave a Comment

CBR Bingo ‘Font’ square–the title on the cover embeds a cool little plane, a magnifying glass, and a fluttering blackout curtain in its lettering, while the print text inside is interspersed with lists and notes that look like handwriting. Robin Stevens’s ‘Murder Most Unladylike’ series (2014-2021) is rather marvellous; it starts off in a very English boarding school in the early 1930s, where the very English Honourable Daisy Wells befriends Hazel Wong, a new girl from Hong Kong who is trying to find her place […]

Filed Under: Children's Books, Fiction, Mystery Tagged With: cbr14, cbr14bingo, drmllz, historical fiction, robin Stevens, wartime

drmllz's CBR14 Review No:10 · Genres: Children's Books, Fiction, Mystery · Tags: cbr14, cbr14bingo, drmllz, historical fiction, robin Stevens, wartime ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

“My boy was a montage”

The Summer I Turned Pretty (2009) by Jenny Han

November 1, 2022 by drmllz Leave a Comment

This is for the Adapt/Camel cbr14bingo square; the book and its sequels have been adapted into a series on Amazon Prime, and narrator Isabel ‘Belly’ Conklin has to adapt to her changing body and growing up and the things and people she’s taken for granted changing around her. “My boy was a montage / A slow-motion, love potion/ jumping off things in the ocean / I broke his heart cause he was nice”, sings Taylor Swift on ‘Midnight Rain’, the sixth track of her new album. […]

Filed Under: Romance, Young Adult Tagged With: after that summer nothing would ever be the same again, cbr14bingo, contemporary young adult, drmllz, Jenny Han, love triangle, YA, Young Adult

drmllz's CBR14 Review No:9 · Genres: Romance, Young Adult · Tags: after that summer nothing would ever be the same again, cbr14bingo, contemporary young adult, drmllz, Jenny Han, love triangle, YA, Young Adult ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

“As far from God, as heaven is wide”

The Language of Bees (2009) by Laurie R. King

August 13, 2022 by drmllz Leave a Comment

CBR Bingo square: Minds: Sherlock Holmes and his wife Mary Russell are solving the mystery of Sherlock’s missing daughter-in-law and granddaughter; minds are vulnerable to influence by the predatory; Damian Adler is a surrealist artist who rejects reason in his paintings. I was given The Beekeeper’s Apprentice (1994), the first in Laurie R. King’s ‘Russell and Holmes’ (yes, that Holmes) series for my birthday last year, and read it in the weeks following my surgery in May. It was a hot and arid few weeks, […]

Filed Under: Mystery Tagged With: cbr14bingo, drmllz, historical fiction, laurie r. king, mind square, sherlock holmes inspired, the language of bees

drmllz's CBR14 Review No:8 · Genres: Mystery · Tags: cbr14bingo, drmllz, historical fiction, laurie r. king, mind square, sherlock holmes inspired, the language of bees ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments
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