3.5 stars I can recognize a good book when I see one. The Absolutely True Diary… is touching, thoughtful, considered, and funny. It features a unique protagonist who is fleshed out honestly and whose diverse perspective (drawn from Sherman Alexie’s own experiences) is a valuable addition to the YA landscape. I came away from reading this book not just with an abstractly increased sense of empathy, but with an actual education. Should this book be widely read and roundly discussed? Yes, absolutely. Did I “enjoy” […]
Reservations were supposed to be Prisons
This is a quick read, but no less powerful for the ease in which I read it. I had read the book previously, but when it was an option for our group read I will admit that I voted for it. I think it’s one of the more important books to come out in recent years. This book hits me pretty hard and is kind of difficult to talk about, but this is my attempt to do so. The first time I read this novel, I […]
“Death is never added to death, it multiplies.”
I’m not going to review the book too deeply, in anticipation of our discussion. These are just some thoughts I had. I had no idea that Sherman Alexie wrote the screenplay for Smoke Signals. if you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend that you do. If you enjoyed this book, I couldn’t recommend that movie enough. It has a similar tone, and touches on some of the same themes. Stylistically, this book could’ve been written by Stephen King. Maybe that’s a weird comparison to make, but […]
Discussion Topics – Book Club Reads The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
We’re two weeks away from our September 1st Book Club conversation about The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. I’ve t finished reading it myself, and like many other cannonballers I’m generally quite pleased with this book and what it manages to accomplish in its relatively short page count. You are reading (or rereading) this one aren’t you? As a refresher, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is the story of Junior, a budding cartoonist growing up on the […]
Cannonball With a Book Club Book!!
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, art by Ellen Forney
Normally I have my Cannonball book picked out in advance. I know what my goal book is for the big reviews. 2016 hasn’t really worked out that way, so as I was packing my bags for a quick 48-hour trip to visit my family I had just finished book 51 and knew the next one would be *the* cannonball book. I of course grabbed our Book Club pick, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. Can I just say that you […]
My CBR8 YA Book Club Review
I didn’t read a lot of YA books when I was, in fact, a young adult. My AP English classes in high school and the Literature classes I took in college focused on the “Classics” and more adult material because we were supposed to be the smart kids. I didn’t read as much in my free time because I always had something to be reading for one class or the other, and when I did read for fun it was a lot of “chick lit” […]