“I planned my death carefully, unlike my life, which meandered along from one thing to another, despite my feeble attempts to control it.” Our narrator, Joan Foster, states this early in the novel, and spends the rest of the novel explaining what she means. She did not plan to commit suicide; rather, she faked her own death. She then fled to Italy, where she reminisces about her childhood, her relationships (and ultimately her marriage), and her career (both as a world-renowned poet and a secret […]
Cool, Calm & Contentious by Merrill Markoe
Overall, kind of meh about this one. Parts of Merrill Markoe’s memoir, Cool, Calm and Contentious, were very, very funny. The bits with her dogs, in particular, had me chuckling. l. She discusses all of the things that she allows her dogs to do — wake her up at the crack of dawn to eat, hog every inch of the bed — and asks us to imagine a human being exhibiting similar behavior. Unfortunately, most of the rest of the book wasn’t very good. I did enjoy […]
The Tiger’s Wife by Téa Obreht
“Everything necessary to understand my grandfather lies between two stories: the story of the tiger’s wife, and the story of the deathless man.” I received The Tiger’s Wife in a big collection of books handed down to me by a friend with good literary taste. I hadn’t heard much about it prior to that. After reading it, I read a couple reviews of it on Cannonball Read because honestly, I couldn’t think of how to go about reviewing it, and I was curious to see how […]
Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
“Walking the stacks in a library, dragging your fingers across the spines — it’s hard not to feel the presence of sleeping spirits.” I have read so many reviews of this book, mostly here on Cannonball Read, so I don’t really have anything new to add to the subject. I also strongly feel like it’s one of those books that’s more fun if you know nothing going into it: just sit down, and start reading. Briefly, it stars Clay Jannon as an unemployed web designer […]
Seize the Night by Dean Koontz
“If we were always conscious of the fact that people precious to us are frighteningly mortal, hanging not even by a thread, but by a wisp of gossamer, perhaps we would be kinder to them and more grateful for the love and friendship they give to us.” I reviewed the first book in this series (which will hopefully be a trilogy soon if Dean Koontz gets off his ass and delivers) a couple months ago, and I just finished the second (also on audiobook). They […]
An Education by Lynn Barber
“What did I get from Simon? An education – the thing my parents always wanted me to have.” Simon was an older man who seduced Lynn Barber when she was sixteen, introduced her to a lot of very unsavory characters and scenes, and ultimately screwed her over mightily. She tells that story, along with details about her childhood, in the opening chapter of her memoir: An Education. It was fascinating — what Simon told her and showed her about a world she’d never encountered; how wholly […]
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