octothorp – Page 28 – Cannonball Read 17

If you believe in success you’ll be relieving your stress

Top Dog by Po Bronson, Ashley Merryman

September 25, 2019 by octothorp Leave a Comment

I bought this solely on the strength of the collaborators’ Nurture Shock, a book which was completely eye-opening for me, but whose shocks have diminished as the counter-intuitive truths have entered the mainstream (i.e. don’t praise children for their intelligence, praise their effort because the former is seen as intrinsic whereas they have control over the latter). Didn’t even know what this one was about when I bought it, I just wanted more of the same type of research and unexpected results. I wasn’t disappointed. […]

Opacities (Blackout Bingo, Award winners)

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

September 24, 2019 by octothorp Leave a Comment

Ok, I had half started this review for my penultimate bingo square, and then realized that I almost missed the opportunity to make this book LITERALLY TITLED ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE AND FEATURING A BLIND PROTAGONIST my blackout finish. Luckily I realized my error in time to finish strong. This book follows Marie-Laure, a girl with congenital cataracts which have left her blind, in Nazi-occupied France. Her father, a locksmith for the Museum, is one of four employees sent with a priceless gem […]

Rings a Bell (bingo, classics)

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

September 23, 2019 by octothorp Leave a Comment

I may be the only person in the world to say this, but I somehow wasn’t the right age to read The Bell Jar – THE book about depressed young women navigating their way into adulthood from a charmed childhood – as a college student. I think I needed the distance of adulthood to recognize myself in Esther Greenwood. I hated this book the first time I read it because I had emerged from a grief-induced depression the year before and none of Esther’s experiences […]

These hoes ain’t loyal (banned books, bingo)

Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

September 13, 2019 by octothorp Leave a Comment

Um. No. I’m champagne taste on a beer budget incarnate, but it’s never led me to cheat on and bankrupt an adoring spouse. I am bougie as hell in some ways but I’m not about to let my kid go without so I can have luxury. I may have debt but I’m not about to turn a blind eye to it by paying off credit with more credit. I love a good fantasy but I know where reality’s hard border is. Fuuuuuuck you, Emma Bovary. […]

“Where do you get coins like that?” “In Pairs.” (double bingo, Two heads are better than one)

Mort by Terry Pratchett

September 6, 2019 by octothorp 2 Comments

Despite having read The Color of Magic my first day of college, adoring Good Omens, and in general living up to every nerd stereotype, I never got into the Discworld series. So for my dual review, I asked my husband, a major Discworld fan, to recommend a good entry point and discuss the book with me. Apparently much of the internet agrees with the octospouse that this is a good one to start on, and while I did enjoy it, it may have been a […]

And exhausted is my patience. (back to school, bingo)

Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald

September 6, 2019 by octothorp Leave a Comment

I was hoping that re-reading this might make me more apt to like it; after all, it’s been eleven years since I graduated college and this is seen as one of Fitzgerald’s masterworks. But yeah, after MeToo there is no WAY I’m feeling anything resembling sympathy for Dick Diver, the worst psychiatrist in history. There’s actually a line in flashback where Dick states his aspiration to be the world’s best psychiatrist and his partner thinks he’s joking and laughs; I laughed too because HE MARRIES […]

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.

About octothorp