Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Is life really just an AI simulation?

Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

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I have been reading Emily St. John Mandel since her much praised Station Eleven, (I know there are many Station Eleven fans on Cannonball as it was a book group selection.)  I was eagerly looking forward to her latest novel, Sea of Tranquility, and it did not disappoint. Sea of Tranquility is told in a non-linear fashion, like Cloud Atlas and Cloud Cuckoo Land, but since this novel is about time travel, it makes perfect sense to be told that way.  I saw St. John Mandel being interviewed […]

If you haven’t already but you are able to do so, please get vaccinated. And get a flu shot.

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

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BINGO – Book Club (CBR Book Club selection for 2020) A pandemic has wiped out most of the population of Earth. Very few survive to see the world collapse, but there they are. Some go wild. Some dive head first into fringe religious belief. Some take refuge in music and theater. Everyone, though, in one way or another, is trying to do more than just survive. Told through a multiple timelines, points of view, and narrative styles, Station Eleven tells the story of how people cope with […]

“I’m no expert, but I remember reading somewhere, every time you retrieve a memory, that act of retrieval, it corrupts the memory a little bit. Maybe changes it a little.”

The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel

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In one word: Unexpected Cannonball Read Bingo: Rep I was a huuuuuge fan of Emily St. John Mandel’s “Station Eleven” (I mean, weren’t we all?). It was truly perfection, a triumph in storytelling in my favorite genre of post-apocalyptic literature. And so, I was equal parts excited and nervous to read her new book. Would I be disappointed? I talked to a few people before I read it and they all echoed the same exact thing: this book is NOTHING like the other book, and […]

“Once we’re seen … we want to be remembered”

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

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CBRBingo: Rec’d This book was not recommended to me by any one Cannonballer, but by the collective.  I was intrigued when I read the 2020 book club discussion post – a book so loved by Cannonballers it was being revisited, and also coincidentally resonant with the then new pandemic.  As the reviews came in I checked them out, and also looked back to the 2015 batch. Emmalita described it as a story of loss, meaning and human connection. MarkAbaddon spoke of resilience and our collective […]

If the improv form Harold were depressing and tragic

The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel

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BINGO – SHELFIE There is a long form improv format called the Harold. Boiled down, improvisors create three distinct story lines that, throughout the run time of the show, weave together into a single story. All of the seemingly disparate characters and story lines are actually all connected in hilarious and often ludicrous ways, and everyone has a great time. (If you feel comfortable doing so, I encourage you to find a local improv troupe that performs the Harold because it’s a hoot; definitely my […]

The Lola Quartet

The Lola Quartet by Emily St John Mandel

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I am terrible at keeping up to date on review writing but we are 6 months into 2021 and if I don’t catch up soon Ill never catch up! The Lola Quartet By Emily St John Mandel (read in February) 3 Stars So– I should really write little snippet reviews when I check something off in Goodreads because then when I log in to write a review four months later I can write something more than “I feel like I thought this was OK but also […]



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