Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

My hypothesis was that I would love this and now my conclusion is that I really fucking did.

The Love Hypothesis (The Love Hypothesis, #1) by Ali Hazelwood

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I was wondering where all my five star reads were in January, and it turns out they were hiding in the first week of February. PhD graduate student Olive spontaneously plants a smooch on notoriously mean and horrible Professor Adam Carlsen in order to convince her best friend that it’s okay for her to date Olive’s ex (don’t worry, he doesn’t supervise her in any way!) and fake dating ensues. That’s really all you need to know, to be honest. Objectively, this is not a […]

“There are no true stories; there are only facts, and the stories we tell ourselves about those facts.” #CBRBINGO – People

We Keep the Dead Close: A Murder at Harvard and a Half Century of Silence by Becky Cooper

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I find most true crime stories helplessly fascinating. I know some people agonize over whether it is moral to be entertained by such stories, but I’ve never had that problem, and frankly think it’s a waste of time to think about the “morality” of what stories we consume. I think most people are drawn to true crime not because they get their jollies out by reveling in other people’s pain (though, there’s always a few . . . ) but because it speaks to our […]

this book has been kicking around for 30ish years and I just picked it up NOW?!

Possession by A.S. Byatt

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…and it’s been sitting in my own collection for a good decade or so? How did I keep stepping around this one? This book was written for me- or at least the me of ten years ago. DEFINITLEY the me of twenty years ago. 14-year-old-me would have swooned myself into an early grave with this one! A youngish academic is sinking further and further into classic British gloom. He’s in a dead relationship, putting in time in a dead-end job, researching crumbs on a long-dead […]

If you found a long-lost hidden diary, how long would it take you to devour the entire thing?

Arcadia Falls by Carol Goodman

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If you found a long-lost private diary written by a woman who died under mysterious circumstances, would you read it? What if that woman was one of the founders of the school where you are currently employed? What if you are living in that woman’s former home? What if you are writing your thesis on this woman and her work? What if, less than two pages into the diary- webs of secrets start to untangle? OF COURSE you would read it. Our narrator, Meg Rosenthal […]

The Mozart Effect Effect!

Sounds Like Titanic: A Memoir by Jessica Chiccehitto Hindman

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Not a typo! You are probably familiar with the Mozart Effect, but have you heard about the Mozart Effect Effect?! We’ve all heard the story: listening to Mozart makes you smarter! You will test better! Your babies will be brilliant! You will smash the SATS! Listening to Mozart every day will give you a leg up above all of the others! My mother was definitely a proponent of this adventure; “if you can play classical music, then how come you can’t do well in math! Mozart […]

3: The Making of Jane Austen

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If you have ever read any of my CBR Reviews the last several years, you know that Jane Austen is my literary ride or die. I don’t typically read Jane Austen fanfic (with the marvelous exception of Longbourne), but I *do* read a lot of scholarship and intellectual thinkpieces that are not mansplaining Austen to wimminfolk. And that is how fate led my husband to point out The Making of Jane Austen to me at our local library and caused me to glint with recognition. […]



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