Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

About esmemoria

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Eager to get back on the horse this year! In my walking around life, I miss my old, blind pug (the Ancient Mariner), help amazing college students become teachers, and tie an onion to my belt, which was the style at the time. (Learn more about this Cannonballer: esmemoria's Quick Questions interview.)

esmemoria's Reviews:

Rancid Like Week-old Mutton Soup

See What I Have Done by Sarah Schmidt

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See What I Have Done is a work of historical fiction about the Lizzie Borden axe murders. It is without doubt the worst book I’ve read in recent memory. The story is divided into four first-person narrators: Lizzie, Lizzie’s sister Emma, Bridget the housemaid, and a totally random made-up character named Benjamin who spends most of his chapters hiding in the murder house, despite all the police and family on the scene. Benjamin’s inclusion is inexplicable–he brings nothing to the table, he didn’t exist in […]

Grim But Well Written

The Vegetarian by Han Kang

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The Vegetarian is divided into three parts, told from the perspective of three different characters. The main character, Yeong-hye, does not have a voice, although she is the one around which everything revolves. The first section is from her husband’s POV, the second from her brother-in-law and eventually lover’s POV, and the last is from her sister’s POV. The book dives right in with Yeong-hye deciding to become a vegetarian after a graphic and disturbing dream. Her vegetarianism becomes extreme and causes her to become […]

Tense and Sadly Relevant Story

This is Where it Ends by Marieke Nijkamp

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This is Where it Ends is a young adult novel that describes, moment by moment, a mass shooting at a high school. It covers only that day, and it’s told from various perspectives. The short chapters are organized by student accounts. Characters include the shooter’s sister, an ex-girlfriend, the sister’s girlfriend and her twin, and a few others. The book is riveting and moves at a fast pace. While there are some attempts to humanize the shooter through his sister’s narrative, there are no punches […]

When the Cover Surpasses the Content

Anatomy: A Love Story by Dana Schwartz

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I’m normally a squeamish person when it comes to gore and all manner of medical procedures, but I jumped into Anatomy: A Love Story eagerly. I anticipated a nice mixture of blood and love, and superficially, my needs were met. Unfortunately, there were myriad problems with the story, including pacing and an inert love triangle. The time is the 1800’s and the place is Scotland. Hazel is a teenager with a passion for being a doctor, despite the almost insurmountable odds against her. She sneaks […]

Noir Fiction from One of the Originals

The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler

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The Big Sleep is Raymond Chandler’s first book featuring hard-boiled private investigator Philip Marlowe. The plot involves luscious dames, glowering gangsters, and a missing husband who is possibly on the lam. The absolute best thing about this book was the writing. Chandler has a knack for completely original turns of phrase. For example: The plants filled the place, a forest of them, with nasty meaty leaves and stalks like the newly washed fingers of dead men. The General spoke again, slowly, using his strength as […]

Main Character as Doorstop

Evidence by Jonathan Kellerman

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Alex Delaware is a child psychiatrist who helps the police–particularly Milo Sturgis, homicide detective–solve crimes. Evidence, however, does not feature any children. It also doesn’t really feature Alex Delaware. The whole book is Delaware tagging along with Sturgis, while Sturgis interviews suspects and picks apart the crime. Seriously, Delaware has a mere handful of dialogue and contributes virtually nothing to the plot. This might have well been in third person for all the first person insight we get. It’s unclear why Delaware is brought in at all. […]



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