Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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:

Not too bad for a first novel!

The Other Bennet Sister by Janice Hadlow

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To all of those naysayers who say that fanfiction is not legitimate, I present Exhibit A, The Other Bennet Sister, along with all of the other Pride and Prejudice “variations” or alternate stories.  This is what fanfiction is, taking something and putting your own spin on it.  The only difference is that the copyright has passed on P&P, so people can publish their stories, whereas you can’t really do that yet with Harry Potter or The Avengers or whatever.  (Although if you talk to the […]

I keep singing the title of this to the tune of “Animals” by Maroon 5 for some reason…

Renegades by Marissa Meyer

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We’re in superhero land once again!  This time Marissa Meyer is taking a stab at it.  Now, this book is at a bit of a disadvantage for me, as I’ve just re-read Super Powereds, so it will probably fall short.  I’m also trying to read it in 2 days for a book club, and reading a book on a deadline always makes it feel more like an assignment to me.   Ok, so we have people with superpowers, and they are called prodigies.  They were […]

Every time I read the title of this book, I read it to the tune of “Helpless” from Hamilton

Heartless by Marissa Meyer

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This is a story of Wonderland before it became the broken thing that Alice encounters in the book.  Residents are more or less happy and good natured.  They don’t stay that way, however.  Wonderland is a world of cards, and there are many fun and innocent games you can play with cards.  But there’s another land through the Looking Glass, the land of Chess.  And Chess is a battlefield.  Some things from Chess have come to Wonderland, and they will never be the same.   […]

A surprising twist on a fairly well-known story

A Study in Emerald by Neil Gaiman

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Wow. I thought I knew where this was going, and then I didn’t.  I had some doubts over some decisions that were made at the beginning, but then it turns out I was wrong!  Looking back, of course those things were different!  I’m going to try my best to avoid spoilers, but that’s going to be very difficult.   The story starts off paralleling the Sherlock Holmes story of “A Study in Scarlet,” but with some slight twists.  All right, you think, this is an […]

The dangers of not doing research before traveling abroad

Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell

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I can’t even with these boys. These BOYS!  They can’t seem to use their words with each other.  Baz can be smooth as hell when he wants to, but he and Simon have a verbal block between them, and I can’t even.  I want to smack them both upside the head, or give them a truth serum or something.  They need to talk about their FEELINGS and they just WON’T!   Anyway, we’re in America now, and on a road trip!  Simon, Penny, and Baz […]

The cover makes the book look more exciting than it is

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin

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I know that Ursula K. Le Guin is a big name in influential fantasy authors, especially for children’s and YA.  And I’d never read anything by her, so I figured that I should.  A Wizard of Earthsea is the classic hero’s journey with wizards and magic and dragons and all sorts of other stuff.  What more could you ask for?   Apparently a lot.  I was bored!  Partly due to the story, and partly because of the language. It felt stuffy.  I think she was […]



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