Cannonball Read 13

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.

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Have you ever thought of books as “small flattish boxes… packed with mystery and threat”?

A Judgement in Stone by Ruth Rendell

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“Eunice Parchman killed the Coverdale family because she could not read or write.” I have to say, I found it weird that Ruth Rendell would start a murder mystery by eliminating the mystery in the very first sentence. It’s been a while since I read any Rendell, but I have always found her murder mysteries to be absorbing and unsettling, which is where the fun is. One would never describe her mysteries as “cozy.” The fact that we readers know the who and the why […]

“…isn’t it simpler to believe that we are all of us what we assume to be?”

The Lady Vanishes by Ethel Lina White

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It never occurred to me that the Hitchcock film The Lady Vanishes, which I have not seen, was based upon a novel. I forget how I even came across this one, but I like a good mystery and figured this would not disappoint. Turns out, this mystery is an amazingly suspenseful thriller, with the threat of evil and psychological imbalance on nearly every page. The Lady Vanishes, originally published in 1936 as The Wheel Spins, keeps both the reader and the story’s protagonist guessing until […]

Stand Tall and Reach Deep

Wishtree by Katherine Applegate

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Wishtree is a lovely and charming story for children ages 8-12, but I’m 56 and adored it. I heard about this book from a friend whose little girl loves it and reads it repeatedly. I can totally understand why that is. Wishtree is about friendship, community, diversity, and acceptance of those who are new in our “messy garden.” It’s full of delightful characters, gorgeously detailed ink illustrations, and an important message about speaking up for your neighbors. The narrator of Wishtree is a 216-year-old red […]

“White supremacy … is gravity. It is a ceaseless pressure intended to keep blackness ground-bound and sick.”

What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker by Damon Young

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Damon Young is a Black Pittsburgh writer who has gotten national attention thanks in part to a blog he co-writes called Very Smart Brothas (now part of The Root). I started following it on social media a few years ago and have found it to be funny, entertaining, informative and a source of sharp social criticism. The local story that really put Damon Young and VSB on my radar had to do with a local white female newscaster who stepped in it with some horribly […]

“…I hunt monsters. And I got a sword that sings.”

Ring Shout or Hunting Ku Kluxes in the End Times by P. Djeli Clark

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P. Djeli Clark continues to amaze me with his writing. In this short novel, he leaves behind the “steampunk” and adds plenty of horror to a story set in 1922 Macon, Georgia. As with his previously reviewed works, Clark creates a world where magic is real and plenty of strong women of color stand ready to wield it. Ring Shout or Hunting Ku Kluxes in the End Times focuses, unsurprisingly, on American racism and white supremacy. I think we all accept that Klansmen are monsters, […]



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