Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

A theater for my unquiet mind

The Woman in the Window by A. J. Finn

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My mother is a reader but unfortunately it is rare for us to share a book that we both enjoy. Occasionally though, we hit upon one that pleases us both. She tends to think that the books that I read are “weird” so she didn’t hesitate to recommend this one to me. After reading loads of similar sounding books and suffering from Gone Girl burnout, I was wary. I have a love/hate thing with books that I KNOW have some kind of twist and/or unreliable narrators that […]

The most beautiful book about the end of the world you’ll ever read

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

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When I read that Station Eleven would be a book club read, I decided to borrow it from my local library. I wasn’t familiar with it, but I knew that it came recommended by many in the CBR community. I had no idea this book would be so beautiful and so moving, the first book I’ve read in 2020 that I truly love. Station Eleven is the story of our world before and after its collapse as the result of a pandemic so devestating that […]

“If you’re ever feeling poorly about yourself, about your lack of achievement, your utter inconsequentiality, your ridiculous little life lived in the shadows—take a moment and write some Internet reviews of other people’s work.”

A Load of Hooey by Bob Odenkirk

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For those who take part in the annual Pajiba 10 voting, you may know me as the person who, year after year, picks nine random people to go on my list behind the great Bob Odenkirk. I’ve been a massive fan since back in the days of The Ben Stiller Show, The Larry Sanders Show, and, of course, Mr. Show. He’s provided us with some of the greatest comedy sketches ever. I mean, come on. SNL. Ben Stiller. Mr Show And yes, sure, he’s also […]

It is the best of times and worst of times, to read Station Eleven

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

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Okay, yes, that is a Dicken’s quote, and it would have been more appropriate to use Shakespeare, but the sentiment is there.  Being on the verge of a potential pandemic makes reading Station Eleven occasionally challenging, as it’s easy to extrapolate how this could happen.  However, the book ends in hope.  While the world has gone through an apocalypse, people are still creating and sharing art, lifting each other up by nourishing the soul.  And I would hope the same would happen in our world […]

“Should we wake and find it gone. Remember this our favorite town”

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

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  This is another selection for which I’m extremely late to the party since it’s been getting good press since its 2011 publication.  I finally got The Night Circus from the library when the buzz for Erin Morgenstern’s most recent book “The Starless Sea” reached a fever pitch.  I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect because none of the book podcasts I listen to knew quite how to describe it.  It’s not quite fantasy, not quite magical realism and not quite romance.  It seems to […]

“When given the choice between being right and being kind, choose kind.”

Wonder by R.J. Palacio

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3.5 stars Official book description: August Pullman wants to be an ordinary ten-year-old. He does ordinary things. He eats ice cream. He plays on his Xbox. He feels ordinary – inside. But Auggie is far from ordinary. Ordinary kids don’t make other ordinary kids run away screaming in playgrounds. Ordinary kids don’t get stared at wherever they go. Born with a terrible facial abnormality, Auggie has been home-schooled by his parents his whole life, in an attempt to protect him from the cruelty of the […]



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