Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


Join the CBR18 Book Bingo Reading Challenge—Now Underway!   

Ironwood by Michael Connelly

Ironwood by Michael Connelly

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I don’t know what to say about this one outside it wasn’t that great. It’s just a ho-hum novel/3 stars and honestly it’s because of a lot of things that I will go into below that showed why this would be a solid three stars. I hoped that Connelly would shake off whatever is going on in his Ballard books with this one. But unfortunately, I think that this needed more time to marinate and to just have these books be their own thing. Instead, […]

“I think it’s when two people separate that the things they’ve learned through their friendship can really blossom.”

Hooked: A Novel of Obsession by Asako Yuzuki

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Cbr18bingo Friends I reviewed Asako Yuzuki’s novel Butter: A Novel of Food and Murder a few months ago and was very much struck by her portrayal of Japanese society — the sexism, the fat shaming, the anti-feminist sentiment — as well as by her riveting story-telling and characters. Hooked: A Novel of Obsession is even better, in my opinion. This is a novel about relationships amongst women, the difficulties of making friendships once you’ve moved beyond school, and the impact that patriarchy and sexism have […]

How far would you go to change history?

11/22/63 by Stephen King

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CBR18 BINGO: Repair, because the main character goes back in time to try to repair the damage caused by JFK’s assassination I had a high-school English teacher who mused that she didn’t think Stephen King would ever be counted among the “classics” because the sheer volume of his output inevitably led to some substandard attempts. Plus, there was the whole tie in with movie deals that undermined his legitimacy (this was back in the ’80s, when it wasn’t necessarily a given that a popular book […]

bingo means time to hit the backlog…

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

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CBR Bingo: One, for Austen’s first book! Whilst watching the superlatively wonderful Emma Thompson/Ang Lee Sense and Sensibility on a very successful (if I say so myself) Book Group On Tour weekend in Bristol, it occured to me that I’d never read the actual novel on which it was based. Looking to rectify this, I procured this copy at a local bookstore and then proceeded to gnash my teeth over it for what feels like AGES but probably was only a week or so? This was Austen’s […]

Well, It Helped the Airplane Ride

The House Across the Lake by Riley Sager

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Bingo: Summer. This book takes place at a summer getaway by a lake. I am terrified of flying. Having to fly to New York from my home in San Francisco, I brought along a stuffed pug (plush, not taxidermic) and The House Across the Lake to distract myself. The pug did its job as did the book, as ludicrous as it was. Casey is an alcoholic actress whose drinking caused a scandal. She took to drink after her husband Len drowned in Lake Greene. Now […]

More Adventures with the Kids Who Had the Best Childhood Ever.

Pigeon Post by Arthur Ransome

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cbr18bingo Birds Another from the Sparrows and Amazons series and it’s just what the doctor ordered.  Like sinking into a cozy armchair with a steaming cup of tea at your side.  So this time the crew is set off on holidays to explore High Topps, a large mountain not far from their lakeside homes.  Rumor has it that there is gold in them there hills, and they are aiming to produce a sample before Uncle Jim returns to his houseboat.  This will involve much camping […]



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