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:

Nothing’s fair in love and war

Buckeye: A Novel by Patrick Ryan

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About a hundred pages into this book, I considered DNF’ing it. The characters didn’t interest me much and the small town America setting bored me. But then things started to get interesting — new characters, intrigue, trauma and secrets. This is a story of multiple generations of families in a small town in mid-20th-century Ohio and of the pains inflicted/secrets withheld that could tear them apart. The main families involved in Buckeye are the Jenkinses and the Salts. Cal and Becky Jenkins are natives to […]

It’s like Austen meets Wodehouse

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion Vol. 2 by Beth Brower

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Volume 2 of this delightful series covers May through June, 1883. During those two months, Emma is intent on finding ways to supplement her income so as to hold on to Lapis Lazuli House. Simultaneously, she must keep her elder relatives out of her way and help her dear cousin Arabella (and formidable Aunt Eugenia) negotiate the social season and find the right husband. Along the way, Emma has a number of interesting encounters with handsome young men – two who are wealthy, one who […]

A little French romance

The Red Notebook: A Novel by Antoine Laurain

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The Red Notebook was a recommendation from the owner of the bookshop down the road from me. It is a charming little love story that starts with a rather dark event. As the story progresses, the main characters give the reader glimpses of their past loves and losses, their fears and hopes. Set in Paris and featuring art, literature and a bookstore, this really is a cozy story for the cooler days and longer nights ahead. On her way home from a friend’s one evening, […]

Shout out to the crones!

Nettle & Bone: A Novel by T. Kingfisher

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According to the book cover, this is the story of a princess who dreams of killing a prince rather than marrying one. Just in time for spooky season, this murderous tale has ghosts, witches, goblins, skeletons, fairy godmothers, and curses. And a little bit of romance, too. Nettle & Bone was a funny, exciting read that actually deals with some serious subject matter — spousal abuse — so trigger warning for that. Marra is a princess, the third daughter of the queen of the Harbor […]

Looking forward to getting to know Emma

The Unselected Journals of Emma M Lion Volume 1 by Beth Brower

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Volume 1 of this multi-volume series is set in March and April of 1883. Emma M. Lion is 20 years old, nearly 21, and has recently returned to her family home, Lapis Lazuli House in the St Crispian’s neighborhood of London, a quirky place with fine homes, a Roman ghost, a handsome young pastor with rowdy friends, and some charming neighbors. The novel is set up as a series of diary entries that introduce us to Emma and the various dilemmas she will face over […]

The Persistence of Memory and of Vengeance

Assassin’s Fate: The Fitz and The Fool Trilogy Book 3 by Robin Hobb

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Welp, I’ve completed my Hobb-a-thon, the entire 16-volume Realm of the Elderlings series, and Assassin’s Fate was, of course, a beautiful and bittersweet ending to this epic story. I knew that there were going to be tragedies, heroism, and possibly deaths of beloved characters. But even when you know it’s coming, when you know who is going to die (maybe even why and how), somehow Hobb delivers it in such a way that you are completely gutted. You weren’t as ready as you thought. Hobb […]



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