Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

About andtheIToldYouSos

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Bookseller by day, book reader by night...and hopefully a reviewer somewhere in between. (Learn more about this Cannonballer: andtheIToldYouSos's Quick Questions interview.)

andtheIToldYouSos's Reviews:

Reader, this was an absolute delight

Reader, I Married Him by Tracy Chevalier (editor)

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Reader, we all know how we feel about Jane Eyre. We also know how we feel about that fateful sentence: Reader, I married him. This collection of 21 stories, created to celebrate Charlotte Bronte’s 200th birthday in 2016 and written by an all-female team of authors, all have strong feelings on the matter as well, and these stories run the gamut from the reverent to the satirical. This collection is a jewelry box in your grandmother’s attic full of treasure and cheap pieces alike, and […]

Nonetheless, I still want to be a lighthouse keeper

The Light Between Oceans by M. L. Stedman

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I read Ahab’s Wife at an impressionable age and it filled me with a deep hatred of whales (unfair to them, I know) and a fierce desire to be a lighthouse keeper. Despite many things keeping me from a serious pursuit of such an endeavor (I keep moving further and further away from the ocean, the aforementioned hatred of whales, my reliance on the internet…) I will always jump at the chance to read something lighthouse adjacent. The Light Between Oceans starts off strong- a quiet and […]

suggested listening: “lemonworld” the national

Normal People by Sally Rooney

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Normal People is the feeling that immediately takes hold in your hands when you first pull away from someone that you love. It’s the deep, dull ache that comes from within your bones. The only way to ease the sensation is to try to take slow breaths- but you can’t and they rock through your lungs short and ragged. It’s packing up your car and driving away without an idea of when or how you’ll ever be near that person again. It’s the feeling when you […]

(not exactly) The Prime of Mr. Jackson Brodie

Big Sky by Kate Atkinson

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It’s been nine years since we’ve last seen Jackson Brodie, and in those nine years a lot has changed. So much has changed that I found myself lost a few times- am I supposed to remember this? Is that name supposed to mean something? Is this kid important? Jackson seemed a bit adrift at times as well, but I suppose that was more intentional than my foggy memory. The world has changed for Jackson. His career, his family, his car, his dog- it’s all changing. […]

“all girls should have a poem written for them even if we have to turn this God-damn world upside down to do it”

Rommel Drives Deep into Egypt by Richard Brautigan

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My mother first introduced me to Richard Brautigan when I was too young and too stubborn to enjoy him. I was that “but it doesn’t rhyme” brat. Who needs rhyming? Brautigan is my favorite poet, and I often find myself reading others and thinking “hmmm. I’d prefer Brautigan’s take on this”. Allow me to present you with one of my all-time favorites, “Nice Ass” There is so much lost and so much gained in these words. I mean, what else do you need? I recently […]

Sugar, Spice, and Things that go Bump in the Night

Gingerbread by Helen Oyeyemi

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Helen Oyeyemi is an expert in pulling back the cobwebs from the old trunk in the attic, shaking out the goods within, and daring you to take a good strong look. She weaves familiar fairly tales with Yoruba folktales, inter-generational family strife, and good old fashioned 21st century anxiety. In her most recent novel, Gingerbread, she leaves spicy breadcrumbs of Hansel and Gretel, the Gingerbread Man, and many other traditional tales. I was also strongly reminded of Ursula K. Le Guin’s Orsinian Tales. Oyeyemi’s characters present […]



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