Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

My special circle included Edna Ferber, one of the most prolific writers of her time–a scold, a snob, a low-profile dominatrix whose corseted asperity was never far from busting out.

Can You Ever Forgive Me? by Lee Israel

The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus

Good Bye to All That by Robert Graves

Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick by Zora Neale Hurston

Flashman by George MacDonald Fraser

The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut

Harriet Tubman by Ann Petry

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This post with multiple reviews represents a clearing of the cache of backlogged Audible audiobooks (mostly quite short) that I am trying to work my way through. My audiobook TBR is significantly longer than my paper book TBR, which is almost always less than 10 at a time.   Can Your Ever Forgive Me? – 4/5 Despite the party line from English teachers about plagiarism and fraud and academic honesty, I do love a good con artist. And literary con artists have always had a […]

Doctor Ain was recognized on the Omaha-Chicago flight.

Her Smoke Rose Up Forever by James Tiptree Jr

Seven Gothic Tales by Isak Dinesen

Orange World by Karen Russell

The Fall by Albert Camus

Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfield

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CBR12Bingo – Gateway (Author) Her Smoke Rose Up Forever: 4/5 Stars This is one of those books that I spent multiple years trying to get myself through. I read one of the stories “Houston, Houston, Do You Read?” awhile ago and really liked it. It’s almost like a play on a kind of Twlight Zone type stories with a big twist, but it’s longer and more nuanced and more realized than one of those stories. Instead, it feels like a heavy influence on someone like […]

Maman died today.

The Stranger by Albert Camus

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Or maybe “Mother died today.” Or maybe “Today, mother died.” Or maybe “Today, maman died.” Or maybe “Mommy died today.” During the quarantine (the incorrect word, I know) I assigned my college composition kids to read The Metamorphosis and one of the things I asked them to do with it is look at the opening line as it’s been translated by multiple different translators. Then I said to put the German sentence into Google translate and see what you get. Because we’re in distance learning, we […]

“The first thing that plague brought to our town was exile.”

The Plague by Albert Camus

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In the French Algerian city of Oran, some time in the 1940s, the rats are coming out of the sewers to perish in the streets. Soon, the first people begin to die and it becomes clear that it is an oubreak of the bubonic plague. The city is subsequently sealed off and the inhabitants are left to fend for themselves. I saw this on my shelf and thought, although I realize that this may sound a bit morbid, why not re-read it now, in the […]

A cavalcade of finery, from existential nihilism to haunted funeral attire.

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I’ve fallen further behind in my reviews than I ever have. So, I’ve decided to do what I did for The Dresden Files: combine my reviews into one giant post. Is that cheating? I feel like that’s cheating. The longer I drag this out, though, the more I’m likely to fall behind. The Stranger, by Albert Camus (5 stars) Firstly, I read this because it’s one of the most frequently cited great novels from French literature. In my quest to read more classic novels this […]

A Very Happy Book (not really)

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For months now, I’ve been meaning to read all the books on my bookshelf that I’ve never read before. And for months, I’ve been distracted by the pretty new shiny books at the library. But now, it’s time. I’ve cleared out my library loans, and I have a clean slate (apart from an audiobook, but that’s for my commute). I received Albert Camus’s A Happy Death for my college graduation from my dear friend D, who majored in English, Math, and French (she’s crazy smart […]



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