Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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Could Have Done Better Girl

Private Life by Jane Smiley

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Woman repressed, I’d call this.  By her own self. Margaret Mayfield, oldest daughter of three, begins life in Missouri in the mid1880s, and is considered by herself and her family to not be a good wife prospect.  Too bookish and awkward.  And she is not at all put out by this judgement.  But then Captain Andrew Jackson Jefferson Early shows up (we later learn how manipulated this set-up was by both moms), and she figures, well, I guess so.  He is quite tall and commanding, […]

Must Confess, Arty People Are Not My Tribe.

Late in the Day by Tessa Hadley

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Told alternately in the present and the past, Late in the Day follows the lives of two arty and fairly wealthy London couples, Alex and Christine, and Zachary and Lydia.  The quartet turns into a trio in no time with the sudden death of Zachary from a heart attack.  Christine is a fairly well-known artist, and her husband Alex a primary school headmaster, having given up an earlier attempt to become a writer.  Lydia has been Christine’s closest friend from their childhood days, and Zach […]

Helpmeet: the little book of surrealistic body horror

Helpmeet by Naben Ruthnum

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mood music: Me and My Husband – mitksi At a cool 94 pages, Helpmeet was a quick read. Still, in even such a short novella it packs a punch with detailed descriptions of body disfigurement and decay as we follow the complex marriage of a couple living in 1900s New York City. We are introduced to Louise Wilk, a former nurse, as she is packing up the final items of her home in preparation for her move to her husband’s childhood home in Buffalo, New York. […]

Sometimes A Book Stays With You

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I would never have picked this book up on my own, and as much as it’s an emotional roller coaster, I’m actually very happy my book club decided to read this. On a craft level, this book is incredibly accessible. I blew through it in two days, and literally thought about the characters every minute I wasn’t reading. It’s emotional, painful, with moments of brilliant love, and at its core, it’s the story of humans enduring the worst and still pressing on. A Thousand Splendid […]



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