Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time
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About crystalclear

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Crystalclear can usually think of something clever to say, except when she can't. She has a giant stack of unread books at home but will always find an excuse to buy/acquire/borrow another one. (Learn more about this Cannonballer: crystalclear's Quick Questions interview.)

crystalclear's Reviews:

“No one is truly honest.”

April 4, 2017 by crystalclear 2 Comments

I picked this up because it appeared to be a YA book with a The Night Circus feel, and I liked that book, so why not?  The premise is kind of similar.  There is a traveling extraordinary circus show that performs once a year.  The audience can either participate or watch, but the participants are playing a giant game to win a prize. This year’s prize just happens to be a wish.     Scarlett Dragna has always wanted to see the mysterious Caraval, encouraged […]

Filed Under: Fantasy, Fiction, Young Adult Tagged With: Caraval, Circus, fantasy, Fiction, magic, Stephanie Garber, YA

crystalclear's CBR9 Review No:10 · Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Young Adult · Tags: Caraval, Circus, fantasy, Fiction, magic, Stephanie Garber, YA ·
Rating:
· 2 Comments

Just as good as I remembered!

March 6, 2017 by crystalclear 3 Comments

So, my library was having a new front door installed, so everyone had to temporarily enter through the basement door, which is where the bargain sale books are.  So, despite having *two* stacks of unread books at home, I bought some.  One of them was Tamora Pierce’s First Test, which takes place in the “medieval and fantastic realm of Tortall.”  I loved these books when I was younger, so I forked over my $0.25 for a bit of nostalgia.  The King’s Champion Alanna the Lioness […]

Filed Under: Children's Books, Fantasy, Young Adult Tagged With: adventure, Children's, fantasy, knights, magic, tamora pierce, Tortall, Young Adult

crystalclear's CBR9 Review No:9 · Genres: Children's Books, Fantasy, Young Adult · Tags: adventure, Children's, fantasy, knights, magic, tamora pierce, Tortall, Young Adult ·
Rating:
· 3 Comments

Be careful what you wish for…

February 19, 2017 by crystalclear Leave a Comment

Ah, the glory of the library basement book sale, where books are $0.50, or even free!  Thanks to the generosity of people donating books during the holiday season, my local library was practically begging people to take their donated and overstock books to give them forever homes.  I am a little sad to learn that this one was my library’s only copy, but since it hadn’t been checked out in so long it got booted to the sale bin.  I had a few free hours […]

Filed Under: Children's Books, Comedy/Humor, Fantasy Tagged With: Children's, fairy tale, humor, Margaret Gray

crystalclear's CBR9 Review No:5 · Genres: Children's Books, Comedy/Humor, Fantasy · Tags: Children's, fairy tale, humor, Margaret Gray ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

If Neil Gaiman reads it, you can get used to any name

February 12, 2017 by crystalclear 1 Comment

     I’m fairly sure I saw this movie, but I can’t remember it for the life of me.  So I picked up the audiobook. (Neil Gaiman, why must you insist on reading your audiobooks softly? Talk louder!)  Our protagonist, Tristram Thorn, doesn’t show up for a while. We see his origins first, and discover how he came to be.  Growing up in an extremely small and isolated town, he is understandably a bit naive.  He does take direction and advice well, though.  Except in […]

Filed Under: Fantasy, Fiction Tagged With: fairy tale, fantasy, Neil Gaiman, Stardust

crystalclear's CBR9 Review No:4 · Genres: Fantasy, Fiction · Tags: fairy tale, fantasy, Neil Gaiman, Stardust ·
Rating:
· 1 Comment

And it was all going so well…

February 12, 2017 by crystalclear Leave a Comment

This is a short story/YA book written by Neil Gaiman, and performed by a full cast in the audiobook.  I suppose we get a full cast in exchange for the illustrations we do not get to see.  It is an extended and alternate take on Sleeping Beauty, as you may have guessed.  And if you know Neil Gaiman, you may have also guessed that nothing is straightforward here.  The story seems straightforward enough – the sleeping curse on the kingdom is spreading, and Snow White, the queen […]

Filed Under: Audiobooks, Fantasy, Fiction, Short Stories, Young Adult Tagged With: fairy tale, Neil Gaiman, short fiction, The Sleeper and the Spindle

crystalclear's CBR9 Review No:3 · Genres: Audiobooks, Fantasy, Fiction, Short Stories, Young Adult · Tags: fairy tale, Neil Gaiman, short fiction, The Sleeper and the Spindle ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

“It’s sort of like glowing in your own dark.”

January 18, 2017 by crystalclear 7 Comments

In honor of the late Carrie Fisher, I picked up her audiobook of Wishful Drinking.  This was written/performed about 8 years ago after Ms. Fisher went through electroconvulsive therapy, with a side effect of the therapy affecting her memories.  So she wrote the show/book to help her remember.  I highly recommend the audiobook version, as Carrie reads/performs her own work. We tend to skip around in time a lot, which I suppose is understandable given her condition. Before I picked this up I really had […]

Filed Under: Audiobooks, Biography/Memoir Tagged With: #memoir, autobiography, carrie fisher, wishful drinking

crystalclear's CBR9 Review No:2 · Genres: Audiobooks, Biography/Memoir · Tags: #memoir, autobiography, carrie fisher, wishful drinking ·
Rating:
· 7 Comments
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Recent Comments

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