Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time
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About Merryn

CBR12 participant
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Merryn's Reviews:

“Just because you don’t experience prejudice in your everyday doesn’t stop it existing for the rest of us.”

The House in the Cerulean Sea by T J Klune

September 1, 2023 by Merryn Leave a Comment

Bingo: Queer Lives;  Passport: Sweet weird It’s no spoiler to say that it was obvious how this book was going to end right from the start, or at least from the moment in protagonist Linus Barker’s train journey when “the gray darkness gave way to a bright and wonderful blue like Linus had never seen before”. Linus is a caseworker in the drab and regimented Department in Charge of Magical Youth, an inspector of orphanages for children gifted, or afflicted, with traits of myth and […]

Filed Under: Fantasy, Fiction Tagged With: CBR15, cbr15bingo, CBR15Passport, sweet weird, T.J. Klune

Merryn's CBR15 Review No:17 · Genres: Fantasy, Fiction · Tags: CBR15, cbr15bingo, CBR15Passport, sweet weird, T.J. Klune ·
· 0 Comments

Watching Beckett while the world burns

The Performance by Claire Thomas

August 26, 2023 by Merryn Leave a Comment

Bingo: Bodies;  Passport: Contemporary fiction On the stage a woman is buried up to her waist in a hill of parched grass, desperately cheerful under the blazing light.  In the theatre three women watch, their thoughts sliding between the performance, their surroundings and their lives outside.  Margot sits with her “expensive, unobstructed view of the stage” trying not to think about the meeting with the dean, when the prospect of her retirement was spoken aloud.  Margot is tense, envious of the woman’s offstage husband and […]

Filed Under: Fiction Tagged With: CBR15, cbr15bingo, CBR15Passport, Claire Thomas

Merryn's CBR15 Review No:16 · Genres: Fiction · Tags: CBR15, cbr15bingo, CBR15Passport, Claire Thomas ·
· 0 Comments

“Even the afterlife is designed to keep the masses stupid.”

The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka

August 25, 2023 by Merryn Leave a Comment

Bingo: Asia/Oceania; Passport: Sri Lanka Maali Almeida is dead.  He can’t remember exactly what happened, and it takes a while for the reality of his situation to sink in.  Death is confusing, a bureaucratic maze with rules that everyone seems to expect him to already know, and forms that must be filled in before his seven days are up and he must choose what happens next. Maali desperately wants to know how he died.  He can follow his body through the ghost-ridden streets of Colombo […]

Filed Under: Fiction Tagged With: booker prize winner, CBR15, cbr15bingo, CBR15Passport, magic realism, Shehan Karunatilaka, Sri Lanka

Merryn's CBR15 Review No:15 · Genres: Fiction · Tags: booker prize winner, CBR15, cbr15bingo, CBR15Passport, magic realism, Shehan Karunatilaka, Sri Lanka ·
· 0 Comments

Coming soon to a screen near you

Damascus Station by David McCloskey

August 25, 2023 by Merryn 3 Comments

Bingo: Politics, Passport: Syria This is a book that’s begging to be made into a movie, or maybe a prestige mini series.  It ticks all the boxes.   Author David McCloskey, is a former CIA agent, so will have some great anecdotes for the promotional tour. Main character Sam Joseph would be a great role for someone trying to break into the action hero gig before the old guys hog all the lead roles forever using CGI to stay young.  There are also strong female characters […]

Filed Under: Fiction Tagged With: CBR15, cbr15bingo, CBR15Passport, David McCloskey, spy thriller

Merryn's CBR15 Review No:14 · Genres: Fiction · Tags: CBR15, cbr15bingo, CBR15Passport, David McCloskey, spy thriller ·
· 3 Comments

“He hated this place. He loved it.”

Babel by R F Kuang

August 18, 2023 by Merryn Leave a Comment

Bingo: History;  Passport: China Babel is historical fiction stirred with magic, the story of imperialism set in a world just a sidestep from our own told through the eyes of an outsider awakening to harsh realities. We meet Robin as a small boy who has survived a cholera outbreak that has killed his mother and ravaged his birthplace of Canton and is taken to England by his mentor.  His Chinese name is unimportant to Professor Lovell, so we never learn it.   Robin’s skill with language […]

Filed Under: Fantasy Tagged With: alternative history, CBR15, cbr15bingo, CBR15Passport, R.F. Kuang

Merryn's CBR15 Review No:13 · Genres: Fantasy · Tags: alternative history, CBR15, cbr15bingo, CBR15Passport, R.F. Kuang ·
· 0 Comments

Handing trauma down the line

Denizen by James Mackenzie Watson

August 12, 2023 by Merryn Leave a Comment

Bingo: Violence; Passport: Bush noir Denizen is one of the most disturbing books I have ever read.  I bought it thinking I was getting another “bush noir” – an Australian crime subgenre focussed on rural murders. What I actually got was a lot more interesting, but also much more confronting.  I think my Kindle skipped over the warning at the front that “this book depicts mental ill health and self harm” as its dark turn took me by surprise.  The narrative has a familiar crime […]

Filed Under: Fiction Tagged With: bush noir, CBR15, cbr15bingo, CBR15Passport, James Mackenzie Watson, rural life, thriller

Merryn's CBR15 Review No:12 · Genres: Fiction · Tags: bush noir, CBR15, cbr15bingo, CBR15Passport, James Mackenzie Watson, rural life, thriller ·
· 0 Comments
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Recent Comments

  • Emmalita
    on Fairy Tale Group Therapy
    Sounds like the kind of thing where you partner with someone who has that area of expertise covered.
  • Liz
    on Fairy Tale Group Therapy
    I completely agree with that, and have even had thoughts of some kind of Romantasy homage fairy tale collection! But...
  • Emmalita
    on Fairy Tale Group Therapy
    This sounds amazing. I saw some discussion today about contemporary monster romance being the descendant of fairy tales.
  • Pooja
    on CBR18 Book Bingo Reading Challenge Begins
    I'm so excited! I've been looking forward to Book Bingo, and the prompts all look great!
  • narfna
    on Yes, hello, we are here, perched on the balustrade, biding our time and being magnificent.
    "The book is not 100% perfect" hard disagree, but i still think you are really smart and i enjoyed your...
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