Cannonball Read 15

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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Passionate reader. Sketchy writer. Have pug, will travel. (Learn more about this Cannonballer: esmemoria's Quick Questions interview.)

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When an Entire Book is a Spoiler

Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson

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Peter Swanson’s Eight Perfect Murders is a fantastic mystery/psychological thriller, but be warned: if you aren’t a hardcore mystery buff you may find a slew of classic mysteries spoiled for you. Malcolm Kershaw is the owner of a bookstore specializing in mysteries. One night he receives a call from an FBI agent about a series of murders that may be connected to a blog post Malcolm wrote in the past called “Eight Perfect Murders.” In the blog post Malcolm listed eight books that feature what […]

Aimless Dud

Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator by Roald Dahl

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In my review of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, I was excited to re-read the sequel, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator by Roald Dahl. I haven’t read the sequel since I was a kid, so I was hoping it was as magical as the first book. It was not. There are basically three sections to the book. In the first section, Charlie, Willy Wonka, and Charlie’s family rocket to outer space in the chocolate factory’s glass elevator, not that that was their initial plan. […]

Thank you S.S.!!!!!

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I was so delighted with my holiday exchange package, I don’t know where to start! I am excited to read the books you sent, especially because they are completely new to me and they are your personal recommendations. The blank journal was a bonus (and you’re right, all avid readers have a collection!) I wasn’t sure of your screen name, so forgive the initials in the title. A huge thank you for such a generous gift.

Still Holds Up (Now with Less Racism)

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

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Roald Dahl was an awful, awful person. He was wildly antisemitic, racist, and so disagreeable one of his wives called him “Roald the Rotten.” He’s a classic case of “separate the artist from the art,” because his whimsical, captivating (but always with a dark side) books seem to bely his misanthropic personality. I thought about this the whole time I was reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Charlie is a sweet, good little boy who lives in abject poverty with his parents and four grandparents. […]

Bringing Her Back for a Speedy Read

Never Lie by Freida McFadden

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Yes, my friends, I’m back with another Freida McFadden thriller. My strategy to get to a Cannonball is picking books I can get through at a brisk pace. McFadden has never let me down in this department. As I once wrote, her books are like potato chips: compulsively readable and bad for you. McFadden’s newest book (man, she churns them out) Never Lie has a similar set up to many of her other books. The chapters flip-flop point of view, which I enjoy for the […]

Running Joyfully Amok at the Plaza Hotel

Eloise by Kay Thompson

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I haven’t been able to read for a couple of months. I’m so close to a Cannonball, but I’m not sure I’ll make it with how scattered my concentration is. So I decided to pick a short, effervescent book: Kay Thompson’s Eloise. Eloise is a mischievous, imaginative, busy little girl who lives in NYC’s Plaza Hotel with her nanny. There is no mention of her father, but her mother is rich and constantly traveling, leaving Eloise to run charmingly wild. The book is Eloise describing […]



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