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:

Sometimes the ones we call our heroes are the greatest monsters of all

Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse

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cbr11bingo Cannonballer Says/Bingo #4 & 5 I think this book has been reviewed by a few Cannonballers, most recently by TeresaElectro. It’s the introductory novel to what is going to be a fantasy series centered on the Navajo or Diné who have survived an apocalyptic event known as the “Big Water.” Rebecca Roanhorse, who is Indigenous American, has won Hugo and Nebula Awards, among others, for her sci-fi/speculative fiction. Trail of Lightning was nominated for a 2019 Hugo in the best novel category. It features […]

Hold on tight to your dreams

The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline

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Cbr11bingo Own voices Author Cherie Dimaline is a Canadian Metis writer, that is, her heritage is a mix of Indigenous American and European. In The Marrow Thieves, she imagines a grim future where environmental disasters, both man-made and natural, and disease have broken the Earth and most of its people. Government, science and religious leaders turn to Indigenous people for survival, but not in a way that involves respect and collaboration. As they have done throughout history, they aim to take something vitally important from […]

Fun, witty mystery set in a grim era

The Scandal at Bletchley: A Hilary Manningham-Butler Mystery (#1) by Jack Treby

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Cbr11bingo Summer Read The Scandal at Bletchley * is the first in what promises to be a fun mystery series featuring an unorthodox detective. Sir Hilary Manningham-Butler is a former employee of Britain’s spy agency, MI5, now married conveniently if not happily to the daughter of a wealthy industrialist. In October of 1929, as the world’s stock markets are on the verge of collapse, so is Hilary’s life. It is discovered at a weekend reunion of some MI5 veterans at Bletchley Park that a murderer is […]

Maybe not his best, but not terrible either. Bingo #3

Midnight Sun by Jo Nesbo

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Cbr11bingo TBR/Bingo #3 There’s nothing like a book sale to help me stock up on a ton of books that I would probably never have given a second glance to otherwise. Last spring, our local library’s book sale coincided with the going-out-of-business sale of the local Warehouse Books. This is how I ended up with Midnight Sun. I recognized Jo Nesbo’s name and figured this was a good opportunity to familiarize myself with his work. Midnight Sun does not feature Nesbo’s well known detective Harry […]

It’s about the Monkey Trial but so much more

Inherit the Wind by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee

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Cbr11bingo History/schmistory Inherit the Wind, the play by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, was inspired by the “Scopes Monkey Trial” of 1925. That real historic event brought the attention of the nation to the small town of Dayton, Tennessee, as two titans — William Jennings Bryan and Clarence Darrow — battled in a courtroom over the place of Darwin’s theory of evolution in the classroom. This matter, sadly, is still debated today, which makes the play as timely as ever. Yet, Inherit the Wind […]

Do you believe in Magic?

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

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Cbr11bingo Youths I’m not sure I ever read this century-old classic of children’s literature when I was a kid, but I can understand why readers have loved it over the decades. It’s got everything: orphans, woodland creatures, an immense mansion on the moors of Yorkshire, and lots of secrets! And the overall message is a timeless one that really can’t be repeated enough — mental health and physical health are closely related and spending time in the natural world is good for the soul. The […]



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