Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

About octothorp

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I buy books faster than I can read them. (Learn more about this Cannonballer: octothorp's Quick Questions interview.)

octothorp's Reviews:

This movie can’t be anything like the book…

A Simple Favor by Darcey Bell

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I don’t want to give too much away, but the simple casting of Anna Kendrick as Stephanie, the mommy blogger main character means that this movie had to be drastically different from what was on the page. And though I am curious about the film and will give it a fair shake, having Kendrick play Stephanie is a near certainty that my favorite part of the book will get lost – which is that Stephanie is kind of a low watt bulb. The best friend […]

It’s A LOT

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

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I liked this book generally, but it was a lot.  I don’t just mean thematically, there were at least 50 pages here that could have been cut, realistically more like 100. Which is frustrating, because the myriad themes and interwoven tales allllllllmost work perfectly together.  But not quite, as there are just a few too many ornaments on this particular tree for the branches not to sag. It’s such a close call that I feel bad complaining, but morgenstern seems more preoccupied with tying up […]

I can’t really fault the book…

A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab

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It’d be pretty hypocritical of me to complain about a book being more style than substance when I literally purchased it because the cover art was purty. Who’s valuing style over substance now?! And I’ll give it credit, it does have style with a bolded S. Our magician hero wears a cloak that has hidden pockets that can change the exterior; his companion is a tough-as-nails badass with a glass eye, they are on the run from the sibling royalty of White London and their […]

Damn.

You by Caroline Kepnes

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I don’t know how to rate this book because surprised Pikachu face isn’t a star value.  I think I liked it in that it’s really well written, but damn if it isn’t scary as hell to read as a woman. Especially because Kepnes makes Joe, the narrator, too believably charming. It’s so much easier to think of predators as someone you’d cross the street to avoid, but the creep who’s only a creep once you get to know him has got to be a lot […]

Damn you, write faster!

Recursion by Blake Crouch

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I need Blake Crouch to start writing like Stephen King. I need him to write like R.L. Stein. I need him to write like Barbara Cartland. I need more of this man’s writing. I don’t want to sound entitled like all those people who got salty with George RR Martin and yelled at him to finish A Song of Ice and Fire before he dies, but based on this book and Dark Matter, no matter how much Blake Crouch writes, it’s not gonna be enough […]

“I used to think that the brain was the most wonderful organ in my body. Then I realized who was telling me this.”

Brainstorm by Suzanne O'Sullivan

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I’ve made reference to this phenomenon several times, but there are artists and art I love so much I’ll love knockoff versions of their work too. As a Radiohead fan, I’ll listen to their non-union UK equivalents on the regular (looking your way, Coldplay and Travis). I’ve never met an iteration of Groundhog Day I didn’t love; guess which episode of Supernatural was my favorite. I really liked Brian Azzarello’s run on Wonder Woman even if he owes Neil Gaiman royalties for that style. And […]



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