Cannonball Read 11

Sticking it to Cancer One Book at a Time

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octothorp

I buy books faster than I can read them.

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octothorp's Reviews:

If you see Johnny Football Hero in the Hall…

The New Republic by Lionel Shriver

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I haven’t loved every Lionel Shriver book I’ve read, but like T.C. Boyle and Margaret Atwood (other authors for whom I’d read the phone book if their name was on the cover) even her misses are so well crafted that I’ll likely get around to reading her complete works eventually. Shriver’s strengths are on display here, with well crafted characters she’s not afraid to make truly flawed, bordering on unlikeable. In part because she’s unsparing, casting light on parts of humanity that are both incredibly relatable and also difficult to confront, her books can be a tough sell, so I […]

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Buy the following on Amazon and help our mission to stick it to cancer, one book at a time:

We pay for our website first, and then all proceeds above and beyond those fees are donated to the American Cancer Society in AlabamaPink's name. Find out how else you can help support our mission.

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4/14/2019 | 's CBR11 Review No:26 |

Too safe?

How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu

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I can’t remember why I wanted to read Charles Yu, but I must have had a reason. After finishing up the Old Man’s War books, I had a “not-so-serious-science-fiction” itch to scratch and picked up this one as the best looking of the author’s works at Barnes and Noble. I don’t know if this book just wasn’t my cup of tea in general or if it just didn’t satisfy my craving for John Scalzi’s brand of “take a trope through to its logical conclusion” sci-fi, but this book left me cold. I think part of it might be a complete […]

Help Support Cannonball Read

Buy the following on Amazon and help our mission to stick it to cancer, one book at a time:

We pay for our website first, and then all proceeds above and beyond those fees are donated to the American Cancer Society in AlabamaPink's name. Find out how else you can help support our mission.

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4/11/2019 | 's CBR11 Review No:25 |

I keep wanting these books to be Dataclysm and it’s not their fault they aren’t.

Uncharted by Erez Aiden, Jean-Baptiste Michel

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Cool cover, no? I wish the book was as fun, but I will admit I’m not an unbiased party.  In finding the amazon listing for the CBR link I read a review that complained that it was a victim of the Freakonomics trend, books that want to make typically staid topics irreverent and funny, and I actually wished it was more Malcolm Gladwell-y.  It’s the second book I’ve read on big data recently that I’ve hoped was going to be like the excellent Dataclysm and been disappointed. That book actually extracted social truths out of aggregated data (mostly from the […]

Help Support Cannonball Read

Buy the following on Amazon and help our mission to stick it to cancer, one book at a time:

  • Uncharted by Erez Aiden, Jean-Baptiste Michel

We pay for our website first, and then all proceeds above and beyond those fees are donated to the American Cancer Society in AlabamaPink's name. Find out how else you can help support our mission.

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4/7/2019 | 's CBR11 Review No:24 |

Prospero Atwood

Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood

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Oh my god.  How was this THIS good? This book shouldn’t have been this good.  The premise sounds insane. A retelling of The Tempest where our Prospero is an exiled theater director setting his own (previously thwarted) adaptation of The Tempest in a corrections facility.  It’s the definition of Should Not Work. Not only does it, it’s one of her best. Atwood intelligently uses meta text throughout the book, which made this (more than the other Hogarth Shakespeare I’ve read so far) feel more like interpretation rather than a simple retelling of the play. Willie Shakes does love his plays […]

Help Support Cannonball Read

Buy the following on Amazon and help our mission to stick it to cancer, one book at a time:

We pay for our website first, and then all proceeds above and beyond those fees are donated to the American Cancer Society in AlabamaPink's name. Find out how else you can help support our mission.

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3/31/2019 | 's CBR11 Review No:23 |

I guess it shouldn’t have been surprising

Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler

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I am a sucker for a good modern retelling of a classic tale; I was an impressionable teenager in the era of Baz Luhrman’s Romeo and Juliet, and the innumerable “what if Shakespeare … but in high school!” movies that were an exercise in diminishing returns. With, of course, the exception of Ten Things I Hate About You. Sure, the poem that inspires the title is hokey as shit for a girl who’s as pretentious as Kat is, and it is SO VERY teen movie (parties, prom, dating the main character for ulterior motives), but it’s not just the best […]

Help Support Cannonball Read

Buy the following on Amazon and help our mission to stick it to cancer, one book at a time:

We pay for our website first, and then all proceeds above and beyond those fees are donated to the American Cancer Society in AlabamaPink's name. Find out how else you can help support our mission.

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3/28/2019 | 's CBR11 Review No:22 |

Good Feeling Gone

The Rules Do Not Apply by Ariel Levy

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Well, in much the same way I wanted to start the In Shock review on a positive note, I’ll start with the good.  This is beautifully written. Levy is an engaging writer, and I want to read a book about fluffy bunnies and lollipops by her. This is not that book. I may need an adult. This was like Dr. Rana Awdish’s book, but without the medical degree that gave her tragedy the ability to inform others’ care in addition to the benefit of sharing loss by expressing grief eloquently.  Levy’s writing may be more vivid, more stark, more beautiful, […]

Help Support Cannonball Read

Buy the following on Amazon and help our mission to stick it to cancer, one book at a time:

We pay for our website first, and then all proceeds above and beyond those fees are donated to the American Cancer Society in AlabamaPink's name. Find out how else you can help support our mission.

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3/27/2019 | 's CBR11 Review No:21 |

My favorite potter on reread

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling

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I think this was the book in the series I had the hardest time putting down the second time through.  After Harry Potter and the Whiny Depression that was Order of the Phoenix, this felt like a return to form.  We have the adventurous Harry from the earlier books back, with the adult stakes that rise with each series entry. The central mystery – who is the Half Blood Prince – managed to be just as exciting the second time around, even if I remembered who actually owned the book with all the impressive annotated spells that Harry benefited from. […]

Help Support Cannonball Read

Buy the following on Amazon and help our mission to stick it to cancer, one book at a time:

We pay for our website first, and then all proceeds above and beyond those fees are donated to the American Cancer Society in AlabamaPink's name. Find out how else you can help support our mission.

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3/25/2019 | 's CBR11 Review No:20 |

Good Omens meets NPR

Miracle Workers by Simon Rich

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You guys, you guys! Read this book! Read all of Simon Rich’s books, but read this one first.  I hadn’t known until finishing this one that he wrote for the Simpsons, but it made sense. This is witty without being highbrow, fun without being lowbrow. I read it in one sitting (or as close to one sitting as I get these days, I read it in two kraken naps in a 24 hour period so I’m calling it.) It’s like first-ten-season-Simpsons mixed with NPR had a baby with Good Omens, and I’m not sure I could praise something more if […]

Help Support Cannonball Read

Buy the following on Amazon and help our mission to stick it to cancer, one book at a time:

We pay for our website first, and then all proceeds above and beyond those fees are donated to the American Cancer Society in AlabamaPink's name. Find out how else you can help support our mission.

Share the post "Good Omens meets NPR"

3/24/2019 | 's CBR11 Review No:19 |


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