Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

About jeverett15

CBR 8
CBR 9
CBR11 participant
CBR12 participant
CBR13 participant
CBR14 Participant
CBR15 Participant
CBR16 Participant
CBR17 Participant
CBR17 Levels

39 years old. New Jersey resident. Fan of mystery novels, classic literature, and non-fiction about movies, television, sports, and American history.

jeverett15's Reviews:

The Game of Life

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

by 1 Comment

Born to hard-working Korean parents who run a boarding-house for fisherman, Sunja is expecting a hard life full of work and suffering until a chance encounter with a powerful businessman sets her life and her family’s fortunes on a far different trajectory as they embark on new lives in Japan. Through the following decades, which comprise most of the 20th century, Sunja, her sons, and the wider family that develops around them will go through all the vicissitudes of life while trying to stick together […]

Always Use Your Napkin

The Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King

by 1 Comment

The kingdom of Delain is ruled by a mediocre king getting up there in years. He has two sons: Peter, who is virtuous and clever, and Thomas, who is lazy and resentful. Fortunately for the kingdom, Peter is the elder son and set to assume the throne. Unfortunately for everyone, the king’s chief advisor and court magician, a mysterious, hooded figure named Flagg, has other ideas. Through his machinations and misdeeds, Flagg manages to poison the king and place the blame squarely on Peter’s shoulders. […]

Cat Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Cat Chaser by Elmore Leonard

by Leave a Comment

Elmore Leonard is known for his convoluted crime plots and his memorable characters, with a special emphasis on the bad guys, whom he imbues with actual personalities as opposed to goals and desires. Leonard is the only author I’ve read whose villains seem like they might go to the movies or have a favorite drink, for example. In Cat Chaser, Leonard’s gift for creating realistically complicated situations in which human failings and foibles lead to plans going awry and poor decisions being made is as […]

Greek Life

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

by 1 Comment

The Song of Achilles came out over a decade ago and won the prestigious Orange Prize, but it’s been having a moment of late due to social media. The novel is a retelling of the events of The Iliad from the perspective of Patroclus, an exiled prince and the friend/companion/lover of the great warrior Achilles. The two grow up together, train together, and reluctantly go off to war together. Patroclus finds his love for Achilles tested by the latter’s behavior during the war and his […]

All About Mel

All About Me!: My Remarkable Life in Show Business by Mel Brooks

by Leave a Comment

On the one hand, All About Me is a fairly light memoir in which it seems the subject never encountered much difficulty and in which everyone he every worked with is a nice, talented guy.  It is also stuffed with many well-worn anecdotes and ancient jokes. On the other hand, it reads just like you’re having a conversation with Mel Brooks, and who wouldn’t want that? The nonagenarian comedy icon starts off with a conventional auto-biography detailing his Brooklyn upbringing in a lower-class Jewish home. […]

“What do you read, my lord?” “Words, words, words.”

Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell

by Leave a Comment

Considering how much intrigue and debate there still is about Williams Shakespeare, arguably the most famous writer of all time, its not surprising that there is even less verified information about his relations. That Shakespeare was married and had three children is well-known, as is the sad fact of his only son’s passing at a young age, but their lives and personalities are largely a mystery. Into this void steps Maggie O’Farrell with her novel Hamnet. In the absence of documentary fact, O’Farrell feels free […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo