Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

About Rooooomie

CBR13 participant

Trying to rid myself of the terrible habit of reading more about books than reading actual books.

Rooooomie's Reviews:

An extraordinary life, ordinarily told

Confessions of an Art Addict by Peggy Guggenheim

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Bingo: book club Though the Guggenheim name is well-known, I had never heard of Peggy Guggenheim, but when it came up as my work book club’s next pick, I was intrigued. An heiress to (today’s equivalent of) millions of dollars, she had a cushy childhood before deciding to devote herself to supporting and collecting art. She lived in England, France, Italy and America, and visited many more places in her never-ending quest to expand her art collections. This memoir is a very entertaining read, as […]

I almost gave up on my white whale 100 times…

The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner

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Bingo: white whale (plus another bingo: ring) CW: racism, misogyny, castration, cruelty I think there is a good reason that ‘classic’ literature, the kind we’re taught in school, is made up of a lot of white whales. When a book is held up as an example, as a work that has near-universal things to teach us, it takes away some of the enjoyment, as it adds an element of work. We’re not supposed to simply enjoy it, we’re supposed to take something away from it. […]

I think this story should have been told by someone else

Fables vol 7: Arabian Nights by Bill Willingham

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Bingo: Myths (and another bingo, with column 4) This is the 7th volume in the Fables series, and the first to put a focus on non-Western stories. I read the first 6 volumes of Fables years ago and while I enjoyed the setting and the first few stories, it didn’t hook me enough to keep going, so I was curious to see if this collection would spark my interest again. Reader, it did not. There is the seed of a good story in this volume; […]

A girl called Tove – plus, my first (half) cannonball!

The Copenhagen Trilogy: Childhood; Youth; Dependency by Tove Ditlevsen

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Bingo: Reader’s Choice (Sportsball) CW: abortion, drug addiction Before reading this, I had never heard of Tove Ditlevsen.  I’m not into poetry, and as far as I’m aware have never picked up a book by a Danish writer. But when The Copenhagen Trilogy was re-released earlier this year, it got such glowing reviews that I had to read it. Ditlevsen was born in 1917, and in Childhood she tells her story of growing up poor, with parents who did not understand her, and discovering that she […]

I wish I could live inside Lisa Hanawalt’s head… most of the time

Hot Dog Taste Test by Lisa Hanawalt

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Bingo: Libations – which makes my first bingo, with column 2! Lisa Hanawalt is one of the most funny and clever illustrators out there. If you’re not sure who she is, you’ve probably seen her work on Tuca and Bertie or BoJack Horseman, both of which are wonderful shows that showcase the depth and breadth of current adult cartoons, while also delivering plenty of visual gags. Hot Dog Taste Test is a collection of illustrations and comics filled with animal-people, and mostly centered around food – […]

It’s not you, it’s me. I think?

Intimacies by Katie Kitamura

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Bingo: Travel. (This novel takes place in my home country, the Netherlands. I moved away 14 years ago and haven’t been back in four years – I miss it so much! It was interesting reading an outsider’s perspective of the Netherlands, though the country largely functions as a backdrop.) An unnamed, young woman moves from New York to The Hague, after the death of her father. She has taken on a new job as interpreter at the International Court, where she has to translate for […]



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