Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

About KimMiE"

CBR 5
CBR 6
CBR 9
CBR10 participant
CBR11 participant
CBR12 participant
CBR13 participant
CBR14 Participant
CBR14 Bingo Badges
CBR15 Participant
CBR16 Participant
CBR17 Participant
CBR18 Participant
CBR18 Levels
CBR18 Comments

I love reading nonfiction books, especially ones about nature, zoology, brain chemistry, and psychology. I also love the classics, especially Victorian lit. Mysteries are my go-to relaxing reads, and I read fantasy and sci fi when they come recommended. I'm definitely open to new genres! (Learn more about this Cannonballer: KimMiE”'s Quick Questions interview.)

KimMiE"'s Reviews:

Frat Boys and Mean Girls, Gilded Age Edition

House of Mirth by Edith Wharton

by Leave a Comment

CBR BINGO 14: Scandal, because heroine Lily Bart is undone by scandals The House of Mirth has been on my list since I first fell in love with The Age of Innocence a quarter of a century ago. Nobody writes the glamour and treachery of Old New York as deliciously as Edith Wharton. I’ve been putting off writing this review because I wasn’t sure how I felt about the novel. I definitely prefer it to Ethan Frome, but it falls short of my favorite Wharton. Yet as time […]

Two mysteries for Flavia. . .well, maybe one and a half

I Am Half-Sick of Shadows by Alan Bradley

Speaking from Among the Bones by Alan Bradley

by Leave a Comment

Cozy mysteries are a great solace during troubling times, which makes me wonder why I’ve bothered to read anything else since 2017. I started reading the Flavia de Luce series at the end of 2020 and finally got around to picking it back up a few weeks ago. (Thanks, ‘Murica!) For those unfamiliar with the series, it stars an 11-year-old girl named Flavia de Luce who is an aspiring chemist and amateur detective. No doubt she would take offense to both the “aspiring” and “amateur” […]

He had me at apostrophes

Dreyer's English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style by Benjamin Dreyer

by 3 Comments

On page 36 of Dreyer’s English, author and Random House copy chief Benjamin Dreyer makes use of the fearsome CAPS LOCK key to make a point about never, EVER using an apostrophe to pluralize a word. Having been driven to contemplate felonies by the sight of signs saying, for example, “DVD’s for sale,” this was enough to win my loyalty. However, Dreyer goes on to explain that in Britain these unnecessary punctuation marks are called “greengrocer’s apostrophes,” because you’re likely to find them on signs […]

“Men were too often nervous to learn of things that contradicted their dearest falsehoods.”

The King at the Edge of the World by Arthur Phillips

by Leave a Comment

You know that feeling you have when an author you love has a new novel out? When you scoop it up and get to reading, because previous novels have dazzled you? When you dig in with excitement and anticipation because you know it’s gonna be great? And then you get to the last page and realize it was. . .  fine? Arthur Phillips has written two of my favorite novels of the 21st century: The Egyptologist and The Tragedy of Arthur. Granted, Kim’s Favorite Novels […]

“It’s a calming thing, to learn there’s a word for something you’ve felt all your life, but didn’t know was shared by anyone else.”

The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows by John Koenig

by Leave a Comment

That sentence from the introduction of The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows sums up what this book is about. A dictionary of “made-up” words (I know, as if there are words growing naturally in the wild somewhere), it gives voice to the thoughts and feelings that we have every day but didn’t know anyone else shared. Part linguistics, part philosophy, part self-help, and a (very little) part humor, this book will make you feel, above all else, that somebody out there gets you. Author John Koenig […]

“We knew it was coming, but we behaved inconsistently.”

Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

by Leave a Comment

Reading Emily St. John Mandel is like falling asleep to the sound of rain: The words wash over you and a steady drumbeat of beauty lulls you into something like perfect contentment. Just reading the loveliness of her sentences would be enough, but then she continues to dazzle by leading your thoughts into new possibilities about the universe, as your mind is apt to drift to questions of cosmic import in the moments before sleep, while those steady drops beat against your windowpane. It’s hard […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo