ElCicco – Page 58 – Cannonball Read 17

Debut novel worth noting (Cannonball and Bingo Blackout)

Oksana, Behave! by Maria Kuznetsova

September 21, 2019 by ElCicco 4 Comments

Cbr11bingo Reader’s Choice, substituting for Two heads are better than one Bingo Blackout/Cannonball! I picked this one up for the cover, but I bought it because it is related to the interests of my youth — Slavic studies and history. Maria Kuznetsova’s debut novel manages to be both funny and serious as she describes the life of Oksana Ivanovna Konnikova from her childhood, when the family moved from Kiev to Florida, until her adulthood. Oksana has to deal with loss, uprootedness, unrequited loves, and disappointing […]

“Among the things Billy Pilgrim could not change were the past, the present, and the future.”

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

September 19, 2019 by ElCicco Leave a Comment

Cbr11bingo Banned Book, bingo #10 & 11 A frequently challenged classic according to ALA Slaughterhouse-Five propelled Kurt Vonnegut to fame when it was published in 1969. It has been banned in a number of school districts over the decades for language, sex and religious references. Slaughterhouse-Five is Vonnegut’s attempt to write about his experience as a POW in Dresden during WWII, where he witnessed the firebombing that destroyed the city and caused the deaths of 135,000 people. Slaughterhouse-Five is an anti-war classic that shows through […]

My unpopular take on a classic

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

September 16, 2019 by ElCicco Leave a Comment

cbr11bingo Classic When I was about 10, I tried to read Little Women but found it so boring and such a slog that I gave up. Fast-forward several decades and I hate to say it, but I still kind of feel the same way. The “coming of age” story about the March sisters Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy has important things to say about family, poverty and faith, as well as about the way young ladies ought to behave and what they should strive for. […]

What did Marmee’s husband do during the war?

March by Geraldine Brooks

September 12, 2019 by ElCicco Leave a Comment

Cbr11bingo Birthday. Geraldine Brooks was born September 14, 1955. Bingo #9 Geraldine Brooks’ 2006 novel March is a brilliant Civil War novel that imagines the lives of Marmee and Mr. March, the parents of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women. Brooks, a journalist by trade, has a history of writing thoroughly researched and highly imaginative fiction. I’ve read most of her novels and they have all been superb. Year of Wonders, Caleb’s Crossing and People of the Book are all fantastic. I know I read March […]

A humorous and insightful exhortation

The Awkward Thoughts of W. Kamau Bell by W. Kamau Bell

September 9, 2019 by ElCicco 1 Comment

Cbr11bingo Listicles (From Roxane Gay Book Recommendations) Bingo #8 The full title of this book is The Awkward Thoughts of W. Kamau Bell: Tales of a 6’4”, African-American, Heterosexual, Cisgender, Left-Leaning, Asthmantic, Black and Proud Blerd, Mama’s Boy, Dad, and Stand-Up Comedian. And all of that detailed identity is covered in this collection of funny, provocative, thoughtful essays that are part memoir and part cultural/political commentary. I have to admit that the only thing I knew about Bell before reading these essays is that he […]

I Love This. Always.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling

September 6, 2019 by ElCicco 1 Comment

Cbr11bingo I love this. When the first Harry Potter book came out, I read a review of it in the New York Times and thought it sounded like a fun series for kids. After The Chamber of Secrets came out, the Quality Paperback Book Club (of which I was a card carrying member) offered a deal to get both volumes in hard cover, so I took advantage of it. Like millions of people around the world, I fell in love the the stories and their […]

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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