Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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“To be so ravenous with desperation that the only way out is complete and utter annihilation. A torpedo made of your own sharpened body.”- Senaa Ahmad (or me about wanting to quit this book)

The Age of Calamities: Stories by Senaa Ahmad

by 5 Comments

I bought this book for two reasons: the New York Times highly recommended it, and I have always had a fascination with Anne Boleyn and one of the stories was said to feature her. And now you get a story by story commentary on how very much a mistake that decision was. Let’s Play Dead: Right off the bat we have the Anne Boleyn story, and right off the bat I loathe this book. Henry VIII has Anne Boleyn’s head chopped off and the next […]

“After all, in this life we do not know what lies before us.”

by 2 Comments

I picked this one up after reading a mediocre review here on CBR, so I don’t know why I was surprised that it took me two weeks to slough my way to the finish line. First of all, the title is misleading because the daughters’ stories receive no more attention than their parent’s courtship, Alexandra’s medical drama, Alexey’s hemophilia and the dependence Alexandra began to have for Rasputin. The daughters, their personalities, romantic interests and other facts about them are presented, it just doesn’t feel […]

I Only Wanted To Read About the Sisters

by 2 Comments

::sigh:: I am not the target audience for this book. Quick review: If you are in the mood to learn lots about pre-revolutionary Russia and the Romanov family, particularly the personal lives of Tsar Nicholas, his wife Alexandra, and their five children and you enjoy immaculately researched historical monographs then this is absolutely the book for you and you should find the time to read it. If, however, you are like me and already know A LOT about the social and political history of modern […]



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