Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“Just the same, Caroline, I think you should accept the fact you don’t really know the truth. I wonder if anyone does, or ever will.”

Silversword by Phyllis A. Whitney

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CBR 14 Bingo: Shadow In this book, the past casts long shadows, entangling the main character even in the present. Caroline Kirby, fresh off a divorce, returns to her childhood home in Hawaii, to the mother she had thought long dead and the mystery of her father’s death in a sacred volcano crater. I do like a certain flavor of vintage suspense books, with their gentle pace and their deep dark secrets. Here, the author set us up with a long ago mystery to solve, […]

Love is Not the End-All

The Star-Crossed Sisters of Tuscany by Lori Nelson Spielman

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“To me, love is more like a lending library. To keep it, we must continually renew it. Otherwise we pay a hefty fine.” There is a purported family curse that afflicts the Fontana family – that second-born daughters will never find true love and wed. When their estranged great-aunt Poppy promises to break the curse if they accompany her on a trip to Italy, Emilia and Lucy’s lives change radically. This was a warm and engaging read about a trio of women who are misfits […]

“I expect you’ve heard of the Trojan War and how it was caused by Norma Jeane Baker, harlot of Troy”

Norma Jeane Baker of Troy by Anne Carson

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The past few vacations I’ve gone on, whenever the official tchotchke-hunting time comes up with the friends/family I’m traveling with, I’ve taken to seeking out the nearest local bookstore for my souvenir-hunting. I’ve found it to be a great alternative to buying something made of plastic that will collect dust and eventually get thrown away – instead, I purchase a book and write the bookstore name/location/date on the inside jacket, and whenever I pick up that book I can take a trip down memory lane […]

Prospero is a dickhead.

The Tempest by William Shakespeare

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I‘m tempted to just let the title be my review, but if I want to count this review towards my total, it has to be at least 250 words. I haven’t read this play in ten years. I’ve never seen it performed. It’s never been my favorite, even though I’ve read it several times now. The best parts of it involve several of Shakespeare’s most classic lines: “Hell is empty and all the devils are here.” “We are such stuff as dreams are made on, […]

Victorian family saga that would make a good soap opera

A Dangerous Fortune by Ken Follett

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I’m not one of those people with stacks of books in a TBR pile – in fact, I own very few books.  Years ago, I decided that the library was a much better way to go and easier on the bank account.  Now in the days of Covid, I mainly borrow e-books, which is even better as I can just return it with a touch and look for my next read.  In my latest scroll of available books, I found this one – I’ve never […]

“When you starts measuring somebody, measure him right, child, measure him right. Make sure you done taken into account what hills and valleys he come through before he got to wherever he is.”

A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry

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This was so good, and I’m very glad I read it. So subtle and skillfully put together. To think about this woman dying at 34, and how many more great pieces of art she could have created. This is why I like to do Read Harder every year, because I probably wouldn’t have gotten around to this without it. This is a three act play that follows the Youngers, a black family living on the South Side of Chicago in the 1950s. Mom Lena, son […]



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