Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


Pride and Prejudice in modern-day Canada

Ayesha at Last by Uzma Jalaluddin

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Official book description: Ayesha Shamsi has a lot going on. Her dreams of being a poet have been overtaken by a demanding teaching job. Her boisterous Muslim family, and numerous (interfering) aunties, are professional naggers. And her flighty young cousin, about to reject her one hundredth marriage proposal, is a constant reminder that Ayesha is still single.   Ayesha might be a little lonely, but the one thing she doesn’t want is an arranged marriage. And then she meets Khalid… How could a man so […]

“I have not the pleasure of understanding you.”

Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld

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There was a lot about Curtis Sittenfeld’s reimagining of Pride and Prejudice that I liked, and a lot that I felt fell flat. In the pro column: The whole conceit about Bingley being well known as being in want of a wife due to his being on Eligible – the obvious stand in for The Bachelor – and walking away from the finale not ready to marry any of the finalists. Cute! Aging the characters up: teenagers being obsessed with getting married just sits differently […]

Two Stories, Rethought

Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld

Thor Vol 1: The Goddess of Thunder by Jason Aaron

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  I’m a big Jane Austen fan and Pride and Prejudice is my favorite of her works. Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld is a modern-day retelling of this classic story that stays pretty faithful to the spirit of the original. Elizabeth Bennet is here re-imagined as a writer for a women’s magazine. She is 38 and living in New York City. She and her elder sister, Jane, unexpectedly return to Cincinnati after their father has a heart attack. They find their family and their childhood home […]

Settle in for a cozy read with a Tim Horton’s coffee and a cruller.

Ayesha at Last by Uzma Jalaluddin

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Yes, this was yet another Jane Austen retelling. I was all about those this year. Supposedly, it was based on Pride & Prejudice…and I guess I see that, but it wasn’t a strict retelling. It was more of an homage. From Amazon: AYESHA SHAMSI has a lot going on.  Her dreams of being a poet have been set aside for a teaching job so she can pay off her debts to her wealthy uncle. She lives with her boisterous Muslim family and is always being reminded that her flighty […]

“I cannot fix on the hour, or the spot, or the look or the words, which laid the foundation. It is too long ago. I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun.” (CBR11 Bingo)

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, Rosamund Pike (narrator)

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I have absolutely no idea how to review this book. Instead, I’ll tell you the story of my relationship with it. In my sophomore year of high school we read Austen for the first time. I clearly remember our teacher (looking back he was young, with long hair) stalking around the room selling us on an author only some of us had heard of, and attempting to inspire in us the mental fortitude it takes a 15 or 16 year old to really battle with […]

Austen meets Downton

Longbourn by Jo Baker

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CBR11 Bingo – Remix   When tackling the Remix bingo square, it was OBVIOUSLY going to be some sort of Pride & Prejudice variation, with the actual challenge being which one to pick. Then I read LanierHgts’ review of Longbourn, and it immediately got bumped to the top of my list. Unlike other remixes that tend to modernize the story, or speculate what happened next, this book takes place during the events of the original Pride & Prejudice, but is told from the point of […]



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