Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

The Stories of Vladimir Nabokov

Bottom of the Barrel by Vladimir Nabokov

Nabokov's Dozen by Vladimir Nabokov

A Russian Beauty and Other Stories by Vladimir Nabokov

Details of a Sunset and Other Stories by Vladimir Nabokov

Tyrants Destroyed and Other Stories by Vladimir Nabokov

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It’s always been true that most of Vladimir Nabokov’s literary output has been a family affair. Vera Nabokov was always his first reader, editor, “muse” and of course ran his life’s affair, as he was a kind classic European aristocratic effete, something he adored. In the United States, he was of course no better. These stories might be the most family affair as not only did Vladimir translate all of them with his son Dmitry, who also translated most of Nabokov’s Russian writing with his […]

Patrick Melrose

Never Mind by Edward St Aubyn

Bad News by Edward St Aubyn

Some Hope by Edward St Aubyn

Mother's Milk by Edward St Aubyn

At Last by Edward St Aubyn

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Never Mind We’re asked very soon into this novel to do a few things. One, accept that the novel will take up the space of only a few hours in a weekend getaway of group extremely rich British uppercrust. Two, we’re also asked to sometimes follow the thoughts and wisps of a young boy, the son of the estate-owner. And we’re asked to the deal with the fallout of a tremendously cruel and awful act of sexual violence, all the while the cutting insights of […]

“You’ll see. It’s good here.”

Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka

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It has taken me a while to write this review, in part because I needed some space from reading the book before I felt I could begin (and also in part because spring break is over, but my new-found love of Breath of the Wild is just starting).  In between searching for shrines and attempting to tame wild horses, I finished this haunting novel. Right after finishing this book, I watched Undercurrent, about the murder of journalist Kim Wallis. And here in my home state, […]

Fun world, solid structure and writing, stop after two “Whys”

I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You by Ally Carter

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When you’re a student at a school for spies, which is disguised as a tony all-girls academy, and by the way your mom is the headmistress … falling for a townie is a little tough. I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You is the first in a series about the students at Gallagher Academy — the Gallagher Girls. I’m not sure if all the books in the series focus on the same protagonist (Cammie, the daughter of the headmistress), but […]

“You must remember, mijo, even people who were once your sails can become your anchors.”

Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez

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Olga Dies Dreaming is a debut novel, getting a ton of buzz in library circles. Set in 2017 Brooklyn, our main characters are Olga, a wedding planner to the very rich, and her brother, Prieto, who represents their largely Puerto Rican (but gentrifying) neighborhood in Congress. But hovering over every page is their mother, Blanca. Blanca was a radical in the Young Lords, who abandoned her school-aged children to be a militant activist all over Central and South America. This abandonment fundamentally shaped both Olga […]

Sand and worms and spice oh my!

Dune (Dune #1) by Frank Herbert

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My dad read this book a long time ago.  It was originally published in 1965, but he read it in 1983.  I’m sure he told me about it later (I was only 2 in 1983), because I remember him talking about it.  I also have vague memories of watching the original movie.  They aren’t good memories.  I guess they’re not necessarily bad, they’re just weird.  I remember the worms, and I remember a very large bad man.  I guess I also remember the blue eyes.  […]



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