Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Not until I helped kill a man did I realize how complex an act a murder can be

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

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A month or two before, I would have been appalled at the idea of any murder at all. But that Sunday afternoon, as I actually stood watching one, it seemed the easiest thing in the world. ― Donna Tartt, The Secret History “Time, and repeated screenings, have endowed the memory with a menace the original did not possess. -Donna Tartt, The Secret History Based on my experience reading The Goldfinch, I knew that my next Donna Tartt book would be a serious undertaking. After being […]

None of us ever find enough kindness in the world, do we?

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

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To understand the world at all, sometimes you could only focus on a tiny bit of it, look very hard at what was close at hand and make it stand in for the whole. When I finish a project or some small, self-assigned goal, one of my rewards is gathering a pile of books from my TBR list, usually used paperbacks. For coming-of-age stories, this one had a ton of reviews and, when I spotted it at a half priced books, I snatched it up. […]

“I suppose at one time in my life I might have had any number of stories, but now there is no other. This is the only story I will ever be able to tell.”

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

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Been putting off this review because this book is too smart for me. Or, actually, all the characters and maybe the author want to be smarter than me. I am pretty smart! I just have different priorities than everyone in this book. I don’t know about Donna Tartt, it could go either way with her. I still haven’t decided if she secretly empathizes with all these assholes she birthed from her mind, or if she’s skewering people and ideas and places instead. Either, way, this […]

Long, yes; lovely, yes

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

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I’m staring at a 771-page novel, replete with sticky notes I’ve placed to mark passages of interest, and I don’t know where to begin. The Goldfinch is an epic tale encompassing themes of loss, fate, friendship, family, love, accountability, and the nature of art. This is a novel for which future teachers of American literature will assign very specific essay topics to their students, such as “Describe Andy’s relationship with water and how it correlates to his relationship with his family,” or “What makes art […]

Ms. Tartt, you did well with the latitude you were given.

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

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Y’ALL. I DID IT. I FINALLY DID IT. I READ, IN IT’S ENTIRELY, DONNA TARTT’S GOLDFINCH. ALL 784 PAGES. For the most part, Cannonball Read is a great thing for me. It’s introduced me to a network of cool people, I better remember the things I’ve read (having reviewed them), and keeps me accountable to a goal. But, the goal bit is a tricky business. With an eye on the prize of a full cannonball it can seem a bit foolhardy to tackle a loooong […]

THIS is how you win a Pulitzer Prize…

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

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When I picked up this book, after randomly seeing it in photos of favourite books over the past couple years, I was intrigued by the seal indicating its award winning status. I’ve never been a person who is super intentional about the prestige of literary awards, and as I cracked this hefty book open, I remember wondering if I would be able to actually read a difference… if I would notice something in the style of writing that sets this apart from others (something other […]



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