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:

Saints! Soldiers! Sorcery! Swords! Swooning!

The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold

Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold

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It’s time for me to FINNALY go all-in on some good old fashioned FAN TA SY. Normally, these are the sort of books that I pick up in the bookstore, give a “hmm” at the cover, and keep walking. I’ve never been great at immersing myself in fantasy worlds outside of the big-names; I just don’t have a memory for the complex lore and histories of most fantasy epics. When I open up a book and it starts with breakdowns of family names and maps […]

Beware of Bored Women!

Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District by Nikolai Leskov

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ESPECIALLY if you are the one to damn them into a life of boredom. I sought out this short story after being utterly enthralled by the 2016 Florence Pugh tour-de-force Lady Macbeth. If you are a sucker for a brutal period drama chock full of female desperation-disguised-as-power, then hustle your bustle to your  nearest ye olde video rental and check. it. out. The film is phenomenal, and I was immediately curious about the source material! A little Wikipedia creeping led me to Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk […]

once again: great book, TERRIBLE cover

The Story of a New Name by Elena Ferrante

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The cover is even WORSE this time- not only do we have another DIY looking illustration,  but the featured pull quote from The Australian‘s John Freeman is ABYSMAL: “Imagine if Jane Austen got angry and you’ll have some idea of how explosive these works are.” Fuck right off, guy. Emphasis on GUY. Just because Austen characters aren’t slapping and cussing each other out does not mean that they aren’t also filled with the contained rage of being a woman trapped in position- a woman who will do […]

It’s a Book Exchange MIRACLE! Thanks AGAIN, GoAllieGo!

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This is the Book Exchange that keeps on giving! Imagine my delight- and surprise- to find ANOTHER book from the amazing Allie- complete with a lovely card and bookmark! I was so excited to read this book (my first by this author) that I jumped right in without realizing it was part of a series. OOPS!!!! I enjoyed the little that I read, and now I have the first entry (thanks, local library!) so I cannot wait to run through BOTH. Thanks again AGAIN to […]

“Are you in a cult?”

Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell

by 12 Comments

Well, I might be! Really, I’m inundated with cultish language- much like most of you are as well! The above question, posited by our own CBR gurus and shared across social media, was attached to an excellent review by faintingviolet. Her review kindled a blaze with other CBR readers- myself included! Our Goodreads walls are packed with update-after-update barrages of people frantically ripping through this read! I am very much looking forward to the Cultish flood headed our way. Now- back to the question. Am I […]

oh Sally, I don’t know about this one

Beautiful World, Where are You by Sally Rooney

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At times transcendent, but at others cringe-worthy. In Beautiful World, Where Are You Sally Rooney crawls so far into her own butthole that she manages to shout out of her mouth “do not look at my talking butthole! You don’t know me!”- and once in a while she says something so beautiful that you wind up saying “thank you so much, butthole!”. Reading this book was a journey, to say the least. Originally, I picked it up on Pub Day and tore right in; I adored Normal […]



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