Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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“Whatever comes of it, I’ll learn more than I know now.” “Unless,” I pointed out, “you die.” He shrugged. “Well. We all have to stop learning sometime.”

A Far Better Thing by H.G. Parry

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I feared this was the best of times; I hoped it could not get any worse. Let’s synopsize: Sydney Carton was stolen as a child and forced to serve the Faery Realm. Charles Darnay is his changeling; Lucie Manette is the changeling of Ivy, Sydney’s childhood friend. Sydney wants revenge on the fae and Darnay for how his life has turned out. The French Revolution happens. This is a homage to A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. Spoiler Alert: I discuss plot points of […]

“Money, money, money!” Or, greedy Victorian bastards

Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens

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I’ve had the idea in the back of my mind for a long time that I’d like to read every full-length Dickens novel, but I only just recently decided to get serious about it. For some reason, I decided that also should include re-reading ones that I don’t remember well. I vaguely remember enjoying Our Mutual Friend when I read it about 15 years ago, but I couldn’t remember the details. First takeaway: Even by Dickens’ standards, this novel feels a trifle padded. I generally […]

Two short classics, both about rich jerks

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

The Pearl by John Steinbeck

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I’m not sure I can say much about these books that hasn’t already been said, but both were worthwhile reads. Both of these short classics are basically: don’t be a rich jerk. Scrooge, of course, learns in the end how not to be a rich jerk; the couple in The Pearl learns, or rather knows already, and uncovers the truth in a more holistic way, that wealth opens opportunities for evil, and it turns out that it’s if people are jerks who want to be […]

Who knew a book with “bleak” in the title could be so much fun? (with helpful charts!)

Bleak House by Charles Dickens

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Bleak House has been brooding on my TBR list for years because, even though I’m a long-time Dickens fan, I was intimidated by the length and by what I perceived would be a weighty novel. I’m ecstatic that I overcame my hesitance, because this novel was more fun than a mariachi band on a roller coaster. Sure, about 9 people die, but you can’t make gruel without smashing a few oats, right? There are so many characters that the death toll amounts to maybe 12%, and […]

“He did it all, and infinitely more; and to Tiny Tim, who did NOT die, he was a second father.”

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

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For my last review of the year, I’m coming in hot with a classic. I’m a huuuuuge fan of a Dickens adaptation. The simple story of a jerk who is shown the error of his ways (by ghosts) and decides to live life anew, with a song in his heart and a renewed application of kindness to mankind, resonates with me. Christmas simply isn’t Christmas without watching the Muppet version of “A Christmas Carol.” Also, my husband introduced me to “Scrooged,” when we first started […]

Bleak House

Bleak House by Charles Dickens

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Sometimes I can write a 1000 word post on a short story or even a poem, but taking a 1000 page novel and figuring out what to do with it is too big a task. This novel begins with one of the absolute best opening chapters in all of English literature. The slow, meandering walk down the street outside the chancery courts with the absolutely disgusting yellow fog creeping in as an extended metaphor for the inhuman corruption of the court systems. Then the description […]



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