Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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:

For the birds

Angel Catbird Vol. 1 by Margaret Atwood, Johnnie Christmas, Tamra Bonvillain

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Cbr15bingo strange worlds Yes, in this final month of CBR bingo I am in a rush to get as many squares checked off as possible. As a result, I am scouring our home bookshelves for anything that can help me fill in my remaining squares. Angel Catbird Volume 1 is a graphic novel that has been sitting on the shelf for years. I remember when it came out, I was kind of excited to see that Margaret Atwood had written it. I am a fan […]

“All it takes is one voice, singing in the darkness.”

Rainbow in the Dark: The Complete Saga by Comfort Love and Adam Withers

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Cbr15bingo nostalgia, bingo This 2013 graphic novel would fit a number of categories for bingo, but given its overall message, I am using it for “nostalgia.” Rainbow in the Dark takes place in a world that looks like ours but that has been taken over by a dark force called the Gloom. The people are unaware that they are in its grip until a band of warriors frees them. Their response to that freedom is what drives the narrative forward and makes the story relevant […]

Chocolate used to be considered a health food. Where did we go wrong?

Great Moments in Chocolate History by Howard-Yana Shapiro

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Cbr15bingo edibles (bingo) Back at the beginning of May, my younger son asked me what I would like for Mothers Day. I told him that anything related to books, coffee or chocolate would be nice. He hit two out of three with this book, Great Moments in Chocolate History, published by National Geographic (2015). Howard-Yana Shapiro is a plant scientist and chief agricultural officer for Mars, Inc. This is a guy who knows chocolate science and provides a lot of interesting facts in relating the […]

Who died and made you king?

Unruly: A History of England’s Kings and Queens by David Mitchell

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Cbr15bingo Europe I’m not sure how my husband got his hands on the official UK version of this book; the US version is out tomorrow (Oct. 3) with the subtitle as shown in the photo, not the subtitle on the UK version which I have put in the title bar. But he knew I would love it because we are both fans of David Mitchell from the various British panel shows he has been on. Mitchell describes himself as a comedian, and he is, but […]

“…sometimes, best friends feel like killing each other.”

The Girl With The Golden Bouffant: An Original Jane Bond Parody by Mabel Maney

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Cbr15bingo On the road This is the second, and as far as I can tell, final Jane Bond/James Bond parody novel. This time, the action takes place in swinging 1966 Las Vegas at a convention for the accident prone that is actually a gathering of top spies, and at a “bake-off” competition that involves more intrigue and inventiveness than the spy gathering. James Bond is still out of commission and so Her Majesty’s Secret Service once again turns to his lesbian twin sister Jane to […]

An aptly named memoir

Scattershot: Life, Music, Elton & Me by Bernie Taupin

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Cbr15bingo on the air I like Elton John’s music. I know people who are super fans, and I am not one of those, but growing up in the 1970s with older siblings, I heard his music all the time on the radio or on our stereo at home. Between my sibs and me, we probably had most of his albums from the 1970s, and then with the ’80s and MTV, you couldn’t miss his videos. Recently, I heard part of Marc Maron’s interview with Bernie […]



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