Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“That is the strangest thing about the world: how it looks so different from every point of view.”

Liesl & Po by Lauren Oliver

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Bingo Square: Friendship Liesl is an orphan. She has been locked in an attack by her horrible stepmother and hasn’t been outside in months. Sometimes she sits by the window to draw, and there a young boy named Will watches her from the street. One night a ghost appears to Liesl. He is Po. And he will help her escape the attic. Will is an alchemist’s apprentice. One night he is tasked with taking a very important box to a very important woman, but instead […]

I just can’t quit you, Lauren Oliver.

Broken Things by Lauren Oliver

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Lauren Oliver is sort of my Cannonball nemesis. I adored her first book, Before I Fall, but have been disappointed ever since, and my disappointment is somewhat well documented. I disliked her Delirium trilogy (yet kept reading). I didn’t care for Rooms, and Panic was just ok. But for seem reason, I just can’t quit her. And I know, I have no one to blame but myself, really. Lauren Oliver owes me nothing. But still. I want more. I know that someday she’ll write something […]

Actress, knitter, author. Is there anything she can’t do?

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I’m a big fan of Krysten Ritter. I love her as Jessica Jones. She was a fun addition to Veronica Mars. She killed it as the B in Apartment 23. And she broke my heart on Breaking Bad. And now, she’s written her first novel **, a mysterious thriller that proves she’s an author to look out for in the future. Bonfire tells the story of Abby, a tough environmental lawyer at a big Chicago firm, who is sent to the small (AND TERRIBLE) town […]

I Wasn’t THAT Panicked…

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I finally got around to reading Panic after being burned by the “-ium” series (Delirium, Requiem, and Pandemonium…actually I don’t even think I ever even finished the series, something that shocks me. I can’t not read a book I start (usually), but man, were they baaaaddddd.  Anyways, I have fond memories of Before I Fall and I saw some decent reviews here and elsewhere of Panic, I thought I’d go for it. It helped too, that I’m looking for books for myself and a reluctant teen […]

My Lauren Oliver experiment is officially over. No mas.

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I read this book almost a month ago, and am sadly realizing that I can barely remember anything about it. It had ghosts. It had a horrible, dysfunctional family. And it had a big, old house that brought them all together. Did I like it? I honestly can’t remember how I felt about it at all. Here’s what I do remember. Longtime readers might recall that I have a weird obsession with Lauren Oliver. She wrote a gorgeous, brilliant debut (Before I Fall). It made […]

The lesson here? Stay away from books ending in “ium”.

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What do you want first? The good news, or the bad news? The bad news is, Panic isn’t as good as Before I Fall. Ever since I read that one, I’ve (probably unfairly) compared all of her other books to its high standards. This one is close, but it just isn’t as powerful. The good news? This book is far and away better than any book that Oliver has written that ends in “ium”. Delirium. Pandemonium. Requiem [sic]. Panic far surpasses those offerings. Panic is […]



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