Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

About KimMiE"

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I love reading nonfiction books, especially ones about nature, zoology, brain chemistry, and psychology. I also love the classics, especially Victorian lit, but I'm pretty open to new genres. (Learn more about this Cannonballer: KimMiE”'s Quick Questions interview.)

KimMiE"'s Reviews:

It appears that 19th century soap opera adventure stories are my thing!

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

by 13 Comments

Reviewer Note: In 2024, I started to read the free version of The Count of Monte Cristo that is available from Project Gutenberg (my go-to resource for novels in the public domain). After reading 200 pages, I couldn’t understand why I was so bored. This novel has more action than a Die Hard movie, yet I was struggling to stay interested. I decided to do some research into what’s considered the best translation of this novel, and I found recommendations for the edition translated by Robin […]

Amusing with a dash of heartbreak

Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris

by 1 Comment

While never a huge David Sedaris fan, I started to appreciate his approach to writing when I read the excerpts from his personal diaries during the pandemic. Sedaris focuses on the little, absurd things in life and weaves an essay around them. His off-the-wall, probing questions might seem unsettling to some, but I suspect he’d make a fantastic dining companion and a hoot to have at parties. For example, in an essay titled “Six to Eight Black Men,” he talks about how he makes a […]

Two if by Sea: Two Reviews, One Recommendation

In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick

The Eventful History of the Mutiny and Piratical Seizure of the HMS Bounty by Sir John Barrow

by 2 Comments

Ahoy, mateys! I bring you two tales of adventure from the sea. I’ve had In the Heart of the Sea on my list for quite awhile due to its Moby Dick connection, and I decided to follow that up with another classic true tale: The Eventful History of the Mutiny and Piratical Seizure of the HMS Bounty. Was I pushing my luck by reading two non-fiction seafaring adventures in a row? Perhaps. In the Heart of the Sea By the time Moby Dick was published […]

What do you get when you mix 1930s New York with advice from a Founding Father?

Rules of Civility by Amor Towles

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Being able to submerge readers in a particular era/time/place is one of Amor Towles’s super powers. Whether it’s early 20th century Russia, or the 1950s American midwest, readers can expect to feel and breathe an era through Towles’ expertly crafted prose. In Rules of Civility, Towles’s debut novel, we find ourselves transported to New York in the late 1930s, just as the city is starting to see the light at the end of a grueling decade, a decade that “launched the Great Depression just to […]

Optimistic dystopian fiction?

The Cautious Traveller's Guide to the Wastelands by Sarah Brooks

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In an alternate universe in 1899,  travelers wishing to cross the land between China and Russia have only one option: the Trans-Siberian Express. The area known as the Wastelands is a dangerous zone: it’s populated by monsters, the air is poison, and even staring at the view too long will mess with your head. Still, the train has a reputation for luxury, especially if you can afford a First Class ticket. Who wouldn’t want to experience the adventure of a luxurious trans-Siberian excursion, with a […]

For any girl who ever broke up with a guy because her friends or family didn’t approve

Persuasion by Jane Austen

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CBR16 BINGO: Liberate, because Anne liberates herself from her ridiculous family and finds love Double BINGO! Diagonal: Détente, Fiasco, Dreams, Horses, Liberate Four corners and center square: Bananas, Détente, Rings, Liberate, Dreams Poor Anne Elliot is saddled with a vexing family. Her father and older sister, Elizabeth, are snobs of the highest order, while her younger sister, Mary, does her best to make herself the center of attention and whines about every minor inconvenience. Anne is, by any sane person’s standards, practically perfect in every […]



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