Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

About Ellesfena

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I mostly read nonfiction (especially public health-related), mysteries, and fantasy. (Learn more about this Cannonballer: Ellesfena's Quick Questions interview.)

Ellesfena's Reviews:

Familiar and Strange

The Giver by Lois Lowry

Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry

Messenger by Lois Lowry

Son by Lois Lowry

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I was 11 when The Giver was published, and I remember my 7th grade English teacher, the next year, reading it aloud to my class. It was my first exposure to dystopian fiction and I ate it up. Everyone in my class had their own copy so we could follow along, and within a few years my copy was completely dog-eared and tattered, as I read and reread. At some point, having moved on to more sophisticated dystopias as I got older, it ended up […]

Some Things You Will Remember, Some Things Stay Sweet Forever

The Summer Queen by Elizabeth Chadwick

The Winter Crown by Elizabeth Chadwick

The Autumn Throne by Elizabeth Chadwick

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Eleanor of Aquitaine has been a personal hero of mine since I was a kid. At some point in time–maybe around age 10 or 11?–I read E.L. Konigsberg’s A Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver, which I adored. ADORED, and read a million times, although I never bothered to learn what miniver was until literally yesterday. For those who don’t know, Eleanor of Aquitaine was a queen in the Middle Ages. First she was the queen of France, married to Louis VII. Later, their marriage […]

A Tidy Little Mystery

Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie

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I’m in the process of reading all the Hercule Poirot mysteries, but the waitlist for the ebooks at my library is ridiculously long. When I saw that the first Miss Marple mystery was available as an audiobook, I thought it might be a good choice while I wait. The Murder at the Vicarage audiobook is read almost like a play, with a different person voicing each character, and I thought that might be fun as well. The title pretty much sums up the plot: Colonel […]

Nobody comes off particularly well

Ladies Who Punch: The Explosive Inside Story of "The View" by Ramin Setoodeh

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I’ve never seen an entire episode of “The View.” I’ve seen short clips online, but I’ve never had much interest in shows where people debate current events and argue. One thing I do love, though, are inside stories of just about anything, so I picked up Ladies Who Punch. While I enjoyed reading this, it confirmed my suspicions that I would absolutely hate this show. Ladies Who Punch is a comprehensive look at how “The View” began in the 90s, and the ways it has […]

This Must Be the Place

Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson

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Another Brooklyn is not a very long book, and I read it in a single sitting. Even as I was reading it I was looking forward to the next time I get to read it. It’s the story of August, who moves to Brooklyn in the 70s with her father and brother after her mother dies. She meets and befriends three other girls: Gigi, Sylvia, and Angela. The book starts with August’s return to Brooklyn as an adult when her father dies, where she runs […]

When It Feels Like It’s Getting Late, I Will Reveal You

Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie

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As much as I love mysteries, I’ve never really gotten into the classics of the genre. I read And Then There Were None at far too young an age and it scared the absolute crap out of me–that was it for Agatha Christie, up until a few months ago when there was a Kindle sale on Murder on the Orient Express. I read it and thoroughly enjoyed it. Hercule Poirot’s mannerisms tickled me, and I loved the big cast and the bottle episode feel of […]



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