elderberrywine – Page 22 – Cannonball Read 17

How Can You Resist This Title?

The Dead Girls' Class Trip: Selected Stories by Anna Seghers

April 8, 2023 by elderberrywine 2 Comments

Jans i Seghers was a German/East German author, writing from 1925 to 1965. The stories in this collection are of two varieties – realistic and very somber, and magical realism or mythic tales. Some of the first sort weren’t bad, but I really enjoyed those of the second sort. The title story is one of the second type. The narrator is traveling through a German village when gradually she begins to remember a field trip her class took here, years ago, before the war. As […]

In Which the Serial Killer Is Besides the Point

Devices and Dexires: An Adam Dalgliesh Mystery by PD James

March 30, 2023 by elderberrywine Leave a Comment

Commander Adam Dalgliesh, of the Scotland Yard, has just inherited a converted windmill from a favorite aunt, situated on a remote stretch of the Norfolk coast. He has fond memories of visits there as a child, and is looking to escape publicity for a bit after having published a book of poetry. Of course, it turns out to be a busman’s holiday, except he isn’t the one investigating the series of murders in the area. In fact, technically he could be considered a possible suspect. […]

Probably Should Have Just Stuck with Alice

The Elephanta Suite by Paul Theroux

March 23, 2023 by elderberrywine Leave a Comment

CBR15Passport India The Elephanta Suite is a collection of three tales, each describing the encounter of an Anglo with India. The first story is that of a retired British couple who stay longer than they intended, the second is of a Bostonian businessman who become a Jain monk, and the third is of an American college student who falls in love with an elephant. Unfortunately, I was not a fan of the first two. The retired couple were self-centered, and treated the Indians with whom […]

Sigh. This Could Have Been More.

My Life with Bob: Flawed Heroine Keeps Book of Books, Plot Ensues by Pamela Paul

March 18, 2023 by elderberrywine Leave a Comment

I’m sure it won’t come as a shock to anyone here on Goodreads/Cannonball that many of us love to keep track, one way or another, of what we read, not to mention write about it. So I was expecting a bit more, I must say. Bob (or Book of Books), is a dated list of what Paul has read. But that is literally it. No authors’ names, no plot summaries, no ratings, no impressions, no thoughts of any kind about each book. Sure, there a […]

Not My Flavor

The Flanders Road by Claude Simon

March 13, 2023 by elderberrywine Leave a Comment

CBR15Passport Flanders OK, let me just put this out there. Unconstructed prose is not my jam. Page after page with no structure, no punctuation, no paragraphs, OK, no. Looking at you James Joyce. Dubliners? Love. Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man? Well OK. Finnigan’s Wake? OK, now we having issues. Ulysses? Oooohhh no. So I feel guilty about not giving this a better rating because it is not my cup of tea, but I suspect it is well written. Generally when I give […]

You Don’t Always Get What You Want

On Green Dolphin Street by Sebastian Faulks

March 2, 2023 by elderberrywine 2 Comments

Alas, this was not the Green Dolphin I was looking for. There is a jazz standard by this name that I love, and I know it was featured in a movie, based on a novel of the same name. Well, almost the same name. What I was looking for was Green Dolphin Street, based on an historical novel set in New Zealand. So imagine my surprise when I pick up the book I had ordered from the library, and see the cover featuring a mid-century […]

Zirza on A Gothic Classic for a ReasonIt's one of those wish-you-could-read-it-again-for-the-first-time books. I loved it.
Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

About elderberrywine