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:

Part Little House, Part Russian Tale

The Snow Child: A Novel by Eowyn Ivey

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Cbr18bingo craft (a husband and wife craft a child out of snow) The Snow Child is an engaging novel that combines life on a harsh frontier with a fanciful, magical fairy tale. Both can be quite grim and yet it is not a foregone conclusion that harsh reality will ever prevail. Withstanding the storms requires personal strength and the willingness to reach out to others and form bonds. A certain amount of risk is involved, which can be both terrifying and exhilarating. Eowyn Ivey sets […]

“We are rootless …we are landless. And worse than that, we are at the beck and call of the enemy.”

Land: A Novel by Maggie O’Farrell

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Cbr18bingo Map I am a great admirer of Maggie O’Farrell’s novels, but she is the literary personification of “You guys wanna see a dead body?”. O’Farrell does not hesitate to get into the ugly, nitty gritty of life: complex family dynamics, betrayal, grief, sorrow, and violence. She also is comfortable in a variety of time periods: Renaissance Italy, Elizabethan England, 20th century England, and in Land, 19th century Ireland. Yes, this time O’Farrell brings the reader to the Great Famine and its aftermath. That piece […]

Regret

When the Cranes Fly South: A Novel by Lisa Ridzen

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Cbr18bingo Season This book hits hard right in the gut. If you have experience with a loved one who suffers from dementia and/or is near the end of life, much of what is here will be achingly familiar. Lisa Ridzen was inspired to write this novel after seeing her grandfather’s caretakers’ notes after his death. When the Cranes Fly South is set up as a series of such caretaker entries followed by the main character’s reflections on his life. Main character Bo is an elderly […]

And now we wait

This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me: Maggie the Undying I by Ilona Andrews

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Cbr18bingo 26 (published in 2026) This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me is the first volume in what I hope will be a multi-volume series by Ilona Andrews. I loved this story full of magic, mystery, danger and possible romance. It starts with a familiar trope —  the protagonist finds herself plunked into her favorite fantasy novel series where her actions can change the direction of the story and her life is in danger. I’ve enjoyed Sarah Rees Brennan’s The Time of Iron series which has […]

I don’t want it to be over

Blood of Dragons: Volume Four of the Rain Wilds Chronicles by Robin Hobb

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Cbr18bingo Versus Blood of Dragons is the thrilling conclusion to The Rain Wilds Chronicles featuring the showdowns readers have been waiting for: men versus dragons, old ways versus new, and that nasty, greedy abuser Hest versus Alise and Sedric.  The traders of Bingtown and the people of the Rain Wilds made a pact with the dragon Tintaglia years ago: Tintaglia would protect them from the warlike Chalcedean Kingdom and in return, they would serve her and any fledgling dragons that emerged from their cocoons. But […]

“I think it’s when two people separate that the things they’ve learned through their friendship can really blossom.”

Hooked: A Novel of Obsession by Asako Yuzuki

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Cbr18bingo Friends I reviewed Asako Yuzuki’s novel Butter: A Novel of Food and Murder a few months ago and was very much struck by her portrayal of Japanese society — the sexism, the fat shaming, the anti-feminist sentiment — as well as by her riveting story-telling and characters. Hooked: A Novel of Obsession is even better, in my opinion. This is a novel about relationships amongst women, the difficulties of making friendships once you’ve moved beyond school, and the impact that patriarchy and sexism have […]



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