octothorp – Page 11 – Cannonball Read 17

Everyone’s got something to hide… (CBR12Bingo: No money)

Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff

July 20, 2020 by octothorp Leave a Comment

So many of my reviews of books that were “meh” or worse conclude with “back to the goodwill from whence you came” or “into the resale pile.” This book was the result of those resale piles being turned into cold hard cash (hahaha of course not, I’m too cheap and the bookstore gives a premium if you take your sale back as store credit, and let’s be real, my dumb ass would just buy more books with it anyway). Total impulse buy, but I’m a […]

I fail to can (CBR12Bingo: Uncannon)

Something That May Shock and Discredit You by Daniel Mallory Ortberg

July 20, 2020 by octothorp Leave a Comment

When I was a wee pretentious lass (as opposed to a pretentious woman who needs to lose ten pounds) I decided to see how much I could communicate by speaking in Simpsons quotes and Radiohead lyrics. It was precisely as awful as it sounds, and I want reach through the fabric of space time to smack teenage Octothorp upside the head. This reads QUITE a bit like that, but with lots of bible stuff in between, so it’s more or less the exact worst book […]

Everyone should read this book, but the people who need it most won’t. (CBR12Bingo: How To)

A Field Guide to Lies by Daniel Levitin

July 14, 2020 by octothorp 3 Comments

I feel like this book should be required reading with any college degree. I even loaned it to my colleague’s economics professor husband (shoutout to Econ Dave for having provided me with so many behavioral economics books, had to return the favor – but I want this one back!) in hopes it might make his college curriculum. It’s basically a how-to manual at spotting misinformation, but it never feels like anything but a fun read; it’s accessible enough to read for fun but serious enough […]

Probably a better show than a book (CBR12Bingo: Adaptation)

Diagnosis by Lisa Sanders

July 14, 2020 by octothorp Leave a Comment

This book was the equivalent of a short mystery collection where nearly every story was entitled “The Butler Did It.” I haven’t seen the Netflix series this inspired, but I have to imagine it’s better if only because it would HAVE to flesh out the stories of the patients and doctors contained here – each medical mystery is about two to four pages long, and there’s simply not enough material per story to support a half hour episode. Hell, there’s not even enough time for […]

We Don’t Need No Thought Control (CBR Bingo: DEBUT)

Educated by Tara Westover

July 6, 2020 by octothorp Leave a Comment

God, I was so tempted to tag this as horror. I think since most of us are voracious readers or at least striving to be, education is something that this group would value. In Tara Westover’s memoir of her childhood and subsequent awakening to its deficits, education is a four-letter-word. Her Mormon parents don’t home-school their children so much as teach them the bare minimum to get by in life, rejecting not just education, but also doctors and government intervention of most kinds. This was […]

New car, caviar, four-star daydream. (CBR12Bingo: I WISH)

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan

July 6, 2020 by octothorp Leave a Comment

This might be a little bit of a cheat, because I don’t actually want to be “Crazy Rich.” But bog-standard garden variety rich? That I could do. My 2007 Toyota Yaris just broke in a way that will cost half the blue book value to fix, and I’m lucky enough that I have a 401K to take a loan against for the replacement car’s down payment. But man, would it be nice to have a “just for the hell of it” trip to Paris to […]

Zirza on A Gothic Classic for a ReasonIt's one of those wish-you-could-read-it-again-for-the-first-time books. I loved it.
Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

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