Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

About jomidi

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Lover of libraries and books. Author groupie.

jomidi's Reviews:

Is life really just an AI simulation?

Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

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I have been reading Emily St. John Mandel since her much praised Station Eleven, (I know there are many Station Eleven fans on Cannonball as it was a book group selection.)  I was eagerly looking forward to her latest novel, Sea of Tranquility, and it did not disappoint. Sea of Tranquility is told in a non-linear fashion, like Cloud Atlas and Cloud Cuckoo Land, but since this novel is about time travel, it makes perfect sense to be told that way.  I saw St. John Mandel being interviewed […]

“If you’re on the list, someone wants you dead”

Nine Lives by Peter Swanson

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I can count on Peter Swanson for a solid mystery and Nine Lives, his latest book, is no exception.  The premise is borrowed from Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, which is mentioned several times in the book.  (Including the alternate titles the Christie story had, one which is considered offensive) Nine people receive a list of nine names in the mail, including their own.  They don’t know each other and nobody is sure what the link is between these nine lives. Then, like […]

“I’m as God wants, No more, no less”

From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily, and Finding Home by Tembi Locke

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From Scratch, a charming memoir by Trembi Locke, is a wonderful reflection on life, death, family, food, and Sicily. Trembi, a fairly successful actress whom I had never heard of, is a smart black Texan, who falls in love with a Sicilian chef while studying abroad in Rome.  This memoir covers their meeting when she is young,  the expanding of their family when they adopt a child, his losing battle with cancer, and her coming to terms with widowhood. Her husband’s family initially refuses not […]

Can You Steal Somebody Else’s Story?

The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz

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I love books about authors, bookstores, libraries, and publishing. I am drawn to stories about stories.  So of course I had to read The Plot by Jean Hanff Korelitz. The plot of The Plot (say that ten times fast) is about a struggling writer who steals a sure thing plot from a student in his creative writing class. Jake is a writer who had decent success with his first novel (got a New York Times Review) and after two unsuccessful follow ups is not sure […]

“Are you confused?”

Poison For Breakfast by Lemony Snicket

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Lemony Snicket, the pen name of writer Daniel Handler, is such a clever writer.  If you haven’t read his Series of Unfortunate Events, stop reading this right now and go read those books instead (they will prove to be better written and more amusing than any book review I can write.)  After you read them, watch the wonderful Netflix adaptation starring Neil Patrick Harris.  But I digress, so does Lemony Snicket, he digresses and rambles on throughout his charming new book Poison for Breakfast (digress […]

A Cozy Mystery in a Luxury Retirement Community

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

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I have been on a long streak of not very good books.  Which is why I have not posted a review in ages.  Well, the streak is broken. The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman is a wonderful cozy mystery set in a luxury retirement community.  If his name sounds familiar, that is because Osman is a mainstay on many of the British Comedy Game Shows like Taskmaster and Would I Lie To You.  Lucky for us, it turns out he can write along with […]



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