Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

‘Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?’

Violeta by Isabel Allende

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Violeta, who was born during the Spanish influenza pandemic and turns one hundred years old during the coronavirus pandemic, writes a memoir to hand down to her grandson Camilo. I’ve heard a lot of good things about Isabel Allende, and in fact have several others of her books on hand, piled in the tottering tower that is my TBR list. However, this is the first book by her that I’ve read, and it did not reach the heights I was expecting. Not that this is […]

“On that long journey she wept all the tears stored in her soul, leaving none in reserve for later sorrows.”

Eva Luna by Isabel Allende, Margaret Sayers Peden (translator)

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It has been a few years since I last tackled an Allende work, but with tasks in both the Read Harder and Reading Women challenges about translated works (the former asking for non-European novel in translation, the latter asking specifically for a book by a South American author in translation) I had the perfect excuse to move Eva Luna up my to read list. The amount of emotion, detail, and characterization that Allende weaves into her writing is simply astounding. It always takes me a […]

Almost a DNF, I Feel So Weary and Jaded

The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende

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I listened to the novel as an audiobook, and while it started out promising I have to admit that as it went on and on and on, I became more and more weary with the whole ordeal. To be honest, I wasn’t sure if I was going to finish it by the end, but I had put so much time in that I had to see how things came together, and what exactly the point of it all would be in the end. And it […]

The first sunny day of spring evaporated the dampness that had accumulated in the soil through the winter months, and warmed the bones of the old people who now could stroll the gentle orthopedic paths of the garden.

Of Love and Shadows by Isabel Allende

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An early, but not first novel by Isabel Allende. This novel takes place smack in the middle of the Pinochet regime, and I had to look up some info (I am fairly well familiar with the regime and it’s basic history, but the dates of the novel were curious to me). Because she’s related to the deposed and murdered president Salvador Allende, you can imagine, especially if you read this novel, that there’d be no way she wouldn’t have been targeted and killed by Pinochet. […]

In the beginning, Amanda did not have her own character.

Ripper by Isabel Allende

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This is a more or less recent novel by the Chilean novelist Isabel Allende, written in Spanish and translated into English. It feels like a departure from her other works, which I tend to understand as historical fiction or magical realism/serious fiction. It’s a kind of murder mystery about serial killer stalking the streets of San Fransisco, and because she is a more famous and lauded novelist, there’s more to it than that. The title of the novel comes from an online group who play […]

“All tyranny is abominable.”

Zorro by Isabel Allende

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As a kid growing up in the 80’s and 90’s, The Family Channel’s “Zorro” was must-watch-tv. While “Batman: The Animated Series” would eventually take over as my favorite hero show when I became a hardened and cynical fourth grader, Zorro has always held a special place in my soul. Yes, my soul. Zorro is hero descended from Spanish and Native Americans, born to help. And, to help with panache. You can imagine the impact that would have on a little Hispanic boy. In a way, […]



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