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:

Fanfic — Classics Edition

The Song of Achilles: A Novel by Madeline Miller

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Cbr12bingo Gateway BINGO horizontal (Gateway to Shelfie) I first read The Song of Achilles for CBR4, and for me, it is the gateway to a genre that I will call “reimagined classics” or perhaps “fanfic: classics edition.” This is the first book I can remember reading that is based on a classic story, in this case The Iliad, expanding on a part of it and telling it from the perspective of a minor character. Re-imagined classics allow authors to go into more detail on aspects […]

An argument for the arts

The Night Circus: A Novel by Erin Morgenstern

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Cbr12bingo I wish… Bingo (vertical from Roaring ‘20s) When I chose to read The Night Circus, I had planned to use it for the “Cannonballer Says” bingo square. It has been a very popular book among Cannonballers since its release in 2011, but as I got pulled into the story, I found that this is definitely an “I wish” book. Who wouldn’t want to visit le Cirque des Reves? The sights, the sounds, the smells and the fantastical exhibitions have drawn fans from around the […]

Get your priorities straight!

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson

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Cbr12bingo Happy This short book could count as a “how-to” as well as a “happy” category book. The title might lead the reader to think it’s a funny send-up of self-help books, and while it is frequently funny, it is actually a very helpful discussion about finding the right values to guide you in life. It’s about prioritizing and recognizing that a good life is not an easy one and that you shouldn’t strive for easy. This is really a great book to be reading […]

Was Tracy Flick the proto nasty woman?

Election by Tom Perrotta

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Cbr12bingo adaptation, Bingo #3 (vertical, Music to Violet) The movie version of this novel came out in 1999, and I have never seen it in full so I cannot tell you how faithful it is to the book. But I can say that this is a really fun read, and pretty quick. Author Tom Perrotta employs a variety of characters as narrators recalling the events of a few short weeks in the spring of 1992. One might not think that a high school election for […]

Say Their Names

Six Days in Cincinnati by Dan Mendez Moore

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Cbr12bingo No money I received this graphic history as a gift recently. It’s a short book about the race riots that rocked my hometown Cincinnati in 2001 and about the systemic racism that runs throughout our country still. Writer/artist Dan Mendez Moore was a high school student in Cincinnati when police violence led to public demonstrations, riots and a curfew. This story, first published in 2012, revisits his experience of those days and provides the point of view of key community leaders who were also […]

The bridge is love

The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder

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Cbr12bingo Roaring Twenties I know I read this book in high school, but I didn’t remember much about it before re-reading it this week. I think it’s the kind of novel that means more to you the more you’ve lived and seen of the world, and reading it in our very troubled times was a kind of balm for the soul. The Bridge of San Luis Rey, published in 1927 and winner of the 1928 Pulitzer, is the fictional story of five people whose lives […]



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