Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

About ElCicco

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Married, mom of two, history PhD, feminist. I've been participating in Cannonball Read since CBR4. I love to read, and writing reviews keeps me from reading without thinking. I feel like I owe it to the authors who entertain me to savor their creations. It's like slowing down and enjoying a delicious meal instead of bolting your food. (Learn more about this Cannonballer: ElCicco's Quick Questions interview.)

ElCicco's Reviews:

None for me, thanks

The Invisible Hour: A Novel by Alice Hoffman

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When I picked up this novel, I did not know who Alice Hoffman was. I have since learned that she has written many novels which often involve the use of magic and the supernatural. I suppose if I had known that going in, the twists in The Invisible Hour would have been less startling to me but I’m not sure it would have changed my feeling about this novel, which is pretty “meh.” The Invisible Hour starts with a very interesting premise that drew me […]

All the world’s a stage

The Whalebone Theatre by Joanna Quinn

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The Whalebone Theatre is a coming of age novel set in the decades before and during WWII. The main focus is on the three Seagrave half siblings, especially the eldest Cristabel Seagrave. More than a “growing up and learning” kind of story though, The Whalebone Theatre is about misfits and about the saving grace of art. Cristabel Seagrave was born to lead but finds herself often frustrated. The Seagraves are a propertied family with a seaside estate called Chilcombe, but of course, women don’t take […]

A dark and brooding novel

His Bloody Project - Documents Relating to the Case of Roderick Macrae: A Historical Thriller by Graeme Macrae Burnet

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Cbr15bingo Getaway (for You Are Here), bingo His Bloody Project, a Man Booker Prize finalist from 2016, is a novel that imagines a case of murder in which the question is: was the murderer insane? The action is set in a remote village of coastal Scotland in 1869, and author Graeme Macrae Burnet immerses his readers in a rough, rural environment where opportunities for success are few and being able to get on with the neighbors is vital. The structure of this novel is ingenious: […]

Happy Birthday, Charlotte’s Web

Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White

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Cbr15bingo Hold Steady (old favorite), bingo Did you know that today, October 15, is the birthday of Charlotte’s Web? It’s also my birthday but Charlotte is older than I am, having been introduced to the world on this day in 1952. This is such a beautiful story of friendship. Reading it again, probably about 50 years after I first read it, is like a warm hug. The story of the friendships of Wilbur, Fern, and Charlotte is timeless and welcome in a world that often […]

Nature v. Nurture

Animal: The Autobiography of a Female Body by Sara Pascoe

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Cbr15bingo Relation“ship” bingo, Cannonball Sara Pascoe is a British comedian and a regular on the panel shows that my husband and I enjoy so much. I expected Animal to be funny, and it is, but I was not expecting it to be so informative. This is not just the story of Pascoe’s life; it is about the female body, sexuality, rights and more. She examines genetics, behavior, history, culture and a variety of other factors that have influenced the physical development of the human body […]

“The goal was never to become American but to live, and live freely.”

Black AF History: The Un-Whitewashed Story of America by Michael Harriot

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Cbr15bingo North America, bingo I’ve been following Michael Harriot, a writer for The Grio, on social media for a couple of years now. He always has informative and incisive posts about current events and US history, especially Black history and about how it has been hidden and misrepresented in our education system and in the media. He’s also very funny. So when I saw that he had a book out, a history no less, I had to get it. Black AF History is a bold, […]



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