Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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 […]

There’s a Good YA Novel in Here Somewhere…

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

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This was one of those books that I picked up on a whim in the reading room downstairs while I was waiting on some library loans. “Pulitzer Prize,” I thought. “This will probably not suck.” And it definitely doesn’t suck. But it did take me nearly a month to read, and for a 530-page work of fiction — a pageturner it was not, at least for me. The setup: Two teenagers, Marie-Laure LeBlanc and Werner Pfennig, come of age in 1930s France and Germany respectively. […]

Less is more…. I’m so sorry, I just couldn’t help myself.

Less by Andrew Sean Greer

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I saw that Less won the Pulitzer Prize and was available at my library so I checked it out.  The award is the ONLY thing I knew about the book when I began reading it. Less is about Andrew Less, a writer about to turn fifty and going through some sort of mid-life crisis.  His younger, on again/off again boyfriend is getting married and his book is rejected by his publisher.  He uses the opportunity to accept offers that he has to travel the world […]

A Visit from the Goon Squad – A study in character development

A Visit form the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan

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I’m a bit late to this 2011 Pulitzer Prize winner but those prize giver outters definitely know their stuff. Egan’s work is true mastery of character development and a triumph of the non-linear form. It seems there is little method to her madness, as she jumps to different characters, and different points in history. At times you are puzzled as to how someone relates to the story, and you learn that they used to work for a main character, or a former flame, etc. It’s […]

“Everything that disappears / Disappears as if returning somewhere.”

Life on Mars: Poems by Tracy K. Smith

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April is National Poetry Month! If you want to celebrate and aren’t sure where to start, consider Tracy K. Smith’s Life on Mars. Here are three reasons why: This book won a Pulitzer Prize. The cover art is an awesome photo of space. My friend Deandra recommends this book. The themes of Life on Mars are wide-ranging. Existence, love, death, the future, our ephemeral nature – it’s all here, with a cosmos-minded sci-fi flavor. You’ll find a lot of references to the stars, as well as […]

Am I a Dunce?

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

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I caught a little bit of the Great American Read from PBS which led me to their website.  I reserved several books at the library from the list to try and expand my reading.  Well the first one that came available from the list was a DNF (One Hundred Years of Solitude) and I am kind of torn on this one.  I snickered out loud all through this book but I cannot say I enjoyed it and I cannot reconcile in my brain not enjoying a […]



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