Cannonball Read 11

Sticking it to Cancer One Book at a Time

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vel veeter

I want to read more older things and British things this year, and some that are both. Oh and I’ll probably end up reading a bunch of Italian and French writers this year too. I think.

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vel veeter's Reviews:

Ariadne could tell the time by its closeness, three o’clock.

Blood Tie by Mary Lee Settle

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This novel won the National Book Award in 1977. I have read and reviewed a handful of Mary Lee Settle novels, many of which take place in Virginia and West Virginia in various times in the history of those states. She is most well known for writing what is called the Beulah Quintet–five novels that tell the history of a county in West Virginia, starting with the original settlers being forced out of England during the English Civil War and moving toward the incorporation of the county, strikes related to coal mining, and through contemporary de-industrialization and automation. This novel […]

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4/17/2019 | 's CBR11 Review No:194 |

She would not wish anyone violently dead but, since it had happened, one might as well make the most of it.

A Mind to Murder by PD James

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So the only PD James book I’ve read before this one was The Children of Men, and while I did like that one for a lot of reasons, it’s hardly preparatory to read a one-off sci fi novel 30 years into a writer’s career to try to figure out what their mystery writing is like. So this one came across my Overdrive, and even though it’s the second in the series, I figured it was close enough. It’s a lot like the Martin Beck novels of Maj Slowall and Per Waloo in that it’s a very stripped down mystery with […]

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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.

Share the post "She would not wish anyone violently dead but, since it had happened, one might as well make the most of it."

4/17/2019 | 's CBR11 Review No:193 |

But he just did other things to upset me…

Queenie by Candace Carty-Williams

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I think this one will be popular here. First, it’s got a tremendous cover. Don’t read the promotional material because it makes a too neat but unsatisfying comparison for this novel that deserves more. We might Queenie, the narrator of this novel, in flux. She’s visiting a doctor and being informed she’s recently had a miscarriage, which is vexing for her because she’s on a “break” from her longterm boyfriend/fiance, Tom. This news, and her current emotional turmoil, her group of friends, and her boredom at work send her into a kind of spiral. She’s a Black woman trying to […]

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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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4/15/2019 | 's CBR11 Review No:192 |

All around the wall, there were tusks.

Speedboat by Renata Adler

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It’s hard to spell out exactly what this book is, but in a lot of ways it reads like a well-crafted Twitter account. That’s not a knock or a limitation, because the book is presented in 100s of mini-musings, mini-narratives, floating bits of conversation, passing moments, and other little snippets of life. So the effect is almost trying to piece together someone’s life from a Twitter account that you’ve joined well into the lifespan of the account. The book, though, as interesting as all that is, is not that compelling to read. Or at least, I didn’t find it so. […]

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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4/15/2019 | 's CBR11 Review No:191 |

Small children and babies ought to be plump.

The Pillow Book by Sei Shonagon

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I love this book! I didn’t realize I was going to at first. I tend to react to older texts (this one is about 1000 years old) generally with a kind of academic respect and deference–seeing the historical value of older works and the academic interests they allow for. But I will be honest, this book is a joy. So this is the daily journal/daily musings and minor events in the life of a Japanese noble lady. It turns out that while the concerns occasionally feel small, they speak to a life lived in a such a clear and vivid […]

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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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4/15/2019 | 's CBR11 Review No:190 |

I am a bloodsucker.

Seasons of Sacred Lust by Kazuko Shairashi

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This is a collected/selected set of poems by the Japanese poet Kazuko Shiraisha. This is the first of its kind, regarding this specific poet, and because of these limitations, this collection is less good than it could be. Two specific issues arise here: one, translated works are already fraught with potential issues, and poetry especially. Two, a selected/collected poetry collection often places ill-suited poems side by side as opposed to one written in a given space of time or related set of themes. So this collection has two kinds of poems: shorter poems that often take on animals themes and […]

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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4/15/2019 | 's CBR11 Review No:189 |

Almost as if part of him enjoyed telling her this.

The Good House by Tananarive Due

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Aside from classic books like Dracula, Frankenstein, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, I have not read a lot of horror books not written by Stephen King. I’ve read almost every thing that he has written without fail. I think I am about 5 shy of completion. I also have read a half dozen Anne Rice books. And I think it stops there. So this book is a departure. I’ve been interested in Tananarive Due novels for a while, but I haven’t had access to the first of her vampires, so picking up a one-off helped me out there. I […]

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 "Almost as if part of him enjoyed telling her this."

4/15/2019 | 's CBR11 Review No:188 |

Genetics is a science full of gods, Mr. Sanchez.

The Story of My Teeth by Valeria Luiselli

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This was a very interesting and much different book from what I expected going in. For the most part, that was both a good surprise and a good result. Because of the ways I’ve seen Valeria Luiselli has been promoted I was thinking this was more going to be more like a memoirish story. But! It turns out that this was a more post-modernish novel in chunks with a disruption of narrative expectations and a literary reflective point of view. Here’s what I mean by this. This is a book a lot like Roberto Bolano in some ways, and in […]

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 "Genetics is a science full of gods, Mr. Sanchez."

4/15/2019 | 's CBR11 Review No:187 |


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