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:

The real monsters aren’t the ones you think

Strange Practice: A Dr. Greta Helsing Novel by Vivian Shaw

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With summer approaching, you might be looking for something fun to take to the beach, and Vivian Shaw’s first novel in what is going to become a Greta Helsing series would be a fine choice. Set in contemporary London, this novel introduces us to Dr. Helsing, daughter of the famous Dr. Wilfert Helsing and doctor to the monster community. Mummies, ghouls, vampires (and vampyres— there’s a difference) all know they can count on Greta and her staff to ably and discreetly guide them back to […]

National Poetry Month- what doesn’t kill you still hurts

Our Lady of the Ruins by Traci Brimhall

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When it comes to reading poetry, I tend to stick with the classic epic poems like Beowulf and The Odyssey or more contemporary YA poetry-as-novel (The Poet X, Brown Girl Dreaming). I can’t remember a time outside of a classroom when I read a poetry collection. So for the CBR book exchange last December, one of my suggestions for whomever was buying for me was a book of poems, and Cannonballer Bonnie sent me this slim but stunning and provocative collection by contemporary award-winning poet […]

“See her name: Lady Sorrowfree, happiness winning over bitterness, no regrets in this world.”

The Kitchen God’s Wife by Amy Tan

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In the Chinese tale of the Kitchen God, a man named Zhang, who owes his wealth and success to the efforts of his wife Guo, grows tired of her and throws her aside for another woman. When he falls on hard times and becomes destitute, fate puts him back with Guo, but his shame leads to his death. In the afterlife, he is rewarded for his remorse by being made the Kitchen God, a sort of spy, susceptible to bribery, who bestows luck upon individuals. […]

Excellent indeed

Excellent Women by Barbara Pym

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There is a Cannonballer out there, whose name I cannot remember, who is a big Barbara Pym fan. Perhaps it’s multiple Cannonballers? Not sure. Anyway, Pym’s name has come up many times over the Cannonballs, and a few weeks ago, I found Excellent Women for $2 at a bookstore’s going out of business sale. While that is sad news (especially as it’s the closest bookstore to my home), the $2 turns out to have been the best investment I’ve made in a long time. This […]

Great premise but a bit underwhelming

Incantation by Alice Hoffman

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Incantation by Alice Hoffman is a work of historical fiction set during the Spanish Inquisition. Narrated by 16-year-old Estrella deMadrigal, this YA novel imagines how a family of good standing in small village gets swept up in the persecution of conversos, that is, Jews who had converted to Christianity but were later accused of secretly still practicing Judaism. Estrella will discover secrets about her family and have her eyes opened to the true nature of her neighbors and her best friend. The novel opens with […]

Imperfect love and ruthless writing

My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout

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This is a story about a mother who loves her daughter. Imperfectly. Because we all love imperfectly. Unintentionally, I have read two novels in a row that have to do with imperfect mothering told from the perspectives of women who have been imperfectly parented and who in turn recognize their own shortcomings. In The Language of Flowers the narrator was quite young, an orphan, and dealing in real time with the daily ramifications of imperfect parenting. In My Name is Lucy Barton, the narrator is older, […]



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