cbr11 – Page 64 – Cannonball Read 17

He was so unknown, he was still all possibility, unopened cupboards and drawers

The Folding Star by Alan Hollinghurst

March 24, 2019 by Dusty Highway Leave a Comment

I had a discussion with Classic a few weeks ago in the comments section of her review for The Paying Guests, which she said started off very slowly. At the time, I happened to be about 100 pages into Alan Hollinghurst’s The Folding Star, and I’d been worrying about how slowly it was moving until I thought back to the same time last year when I read his most recent novel, The Sparsholt Affair, which didn’t really click for me until the last 50 pages. […]

There are a lot of reasons…

Becoming by Michelle Obama

March 24, 2019 by 1000Oysters Leave a Comment

…To love Michelle Obama. In Becoming, Mrs. Obama tells the story of her childhood and her life up to the point at which we now know her. Many of the basic facts and anecdotes in the book have been well documented through the years and the ever-present fact of her husband lends a deceptive familiarity to the book. Mrs. Obama’s voice also shines through and whether it’s because she has told many of the stories or because she is such a distinctive person, I imagined […]

A dutiful duke and a beautiful courtesan – how will they make it work?

Dare to Love a Duke by Eva Leigh

March 23, 2019 by Malin Leave a Comment

Thomas Powell has just become the Duke of Northfield and has to set aside his previously rakish ways to protect his father’s legacy and ensure a good future for his younger sister. She’s very much in love with the son of one of their father’s most trusted allies in Parliament, who clearly expects Thomas to continue supporting him, whether Thomas actually agrees with his views or not. Torn between duty and his own conscience, Thomas is struggling. The one place he feels at ease, the […]

Good, but not great. Even with a hero modelled on David Bowie in Labyrinth

Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones

March 23, 2019 by Malin Leave a Comment

3.5 stars Liesl dreams of becoming a famous composer, but is left to write compositions for her talented younger brother to play instead. Her beautiful younger sister is set to be married to the most eligible young man in the village, while Liesl helps her long-suffering mother and bitter father run their inn, their days of musical success and glory behind them. Jealous of her sister’s beauty and brother’s opportunities, Liesl becomes careless and suddenly, it seems her sister has been enchanted by the goblins, […]

Imperfect love and ruthless writing

My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout

March 22, 2019 by ElCicco Leave a Comment

This is a story about a mother who loves her daughter. Imperfectly. Because we all love imperfectly. Unintentionally, I have read two novels in a row that have to do with imperfect mothering told from the perspectives of women who have been imperfectly parented and who in turn recognize their own shortcomings. In The Language of Flowers the narrator was quite young, an orphan, and dealing in real time with the daily ramifications of imperfect parenting. In My Name is Lucy Barton, the narrator is older, […]

“I’ma wade through the waters. Tell the tide ‘don’t move'”

When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir by Patrisse Khan-Cullors

March 21, 2019 by Bea Pants 1 Comment

This book was a very difficult but necessary read. It belongs in college curricula and book clubs. Your racist family members should read it but never will, though you can get a couple of fact bombs from the book to drop in the middle of an awkward Thanksgiving dinner. This memoir by Patrisse Khan-Cullors will give a deeper understanding of the often fraught nature of modern Black life in America and firsthand account of the #blacklivesmatter movement. One of the most significant activist groups of […]

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.

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