effcubed’s CBR3 #49-52

Looky here, I’m done! Hopefully next year I’ll post a little more regularly throughout the year and not in a giant blob at the end.

Wanna see this list with the 108 books I read this year and didn’t review? Google spreadsheet.

#49: A tiny book about people who are very, very wrong.

#50: You’d think as that, as a theatre person, I’d read more plays, but I don’t. Here’s a newly translated Oscar Wilde (yes, translated).

#51: Mysterious disappearances in a tiny Montana town, so haunty!

#52: Who doesn’t love dystopian YA? Here’s one set in a Chicago where Lake Michigan is just a marsh.

effcubed’s CBR3 #44-48

Yikes, 25 hours left (here in the Central Time Zone), and 4 reviews left! Can I do it? I’ll sure try.

#44: A frightening tale of what could happen if the pro-lifers get their way: what’ really appropriate punishment?

#45: Have Opinions about Comic Sans and Helvetica? You probably should.

#46: Inspired by true events: youth boxing in 1930s Nazi Germany.

#47: I’m running out of books I read recently so I’m digging back a ways for literary fantasy with giant squids and the Apocalypse.

#48: Roald Dahl-esque fairy tale from Italy, newly translated.

Tara’s CBR-III Review #50: Legend by Marie Lu

Cannonball Read III: Book #50/52
Published: 2011
Pages: 305 (189,754 total pages so far)
Genre: Young Adult/Dystopian

Legend takes place is a future Los Angeles that is part of the controlling government called the Republic, who is fighting a war against the Colonies (who want freedom). The book starts out going back and forth between two main characters who couldn’t be more different. Day is from a poor family. He now lives on the street and is the most wanted terrorist against the Republic. June is a wealthy girl from the inner city who has strong ties to the military government. After her brother is killed, she goes on a quest to hunt down his killer — who she is believes is Day.

Eventually June and Day’s paths cross and there is the requisite teenage romance, but it’s not overbearing or irritating like in some YA novels. I thought the characters were well written and weren’t one-dimensional. Their backstories were fleshed out and you actually got to know the characters.

However, this wasn’t really my favorite novel. I  struggled to get through it because it was a little slow. The action parts were pretty good, but there seemed to be a lot of filler. I felt like some of the ideas that were brought up (such as the government conspiracy regarding the plagues) were really interesting, but only briefly mentioned. Also, I know it’s nit-picky, but I thought the way June figured out her brother’s code in his journals was a huge long shot. I mean, really? There is NO WAY anyone would ever crack that code, especially by accident.

Overall, I guess I was just expecting more.

leedock’s CBR-III Review #52-“The Isle of Blood” – Rick Yancey

 Fifty freaking two. Oh, how I thought I never would complete ye! Hats off to you supernatural people who are doing  double or triple (?!) Cannonballs. You truly have powers beyond my comprehension. Bravo.

My pick for favorite book of the year is in this series but all three of the books are fantastic, horrifying, breathtaking and heartbreaking. The first two books in the series are reviewed here and here. Isle of Blood is the newest installment and probably my CBR-III swan song although I may be able to eek one more out by the January 7 deadline.

effcubed’s CBR3 #40-43

#40: High school marching band is no place for super serious French Horn player Elsie, right? Who wants to be called Zombie Chicken?

#41: Interlinked romantic short stories from YA superstars John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle. Blizzards and Waffle House, a match made in heaven.

#42: YA author Eoin Colfer is all gronzed up and he’s all gronzed up. (It’s a worse reference if you’re not sure how to spell things.)

#43: You thought Jane Austen was the only author who inspired all those prequels, sequels and whatever? Louisa May Alcott has some too.

effcubed’s CBR3 #35-39

#35:  A hyperactive kid with a penchant for amazing accidents, Joey Pigza.

#36: Beka Cooper, bad-ass police officer in the fantasy kingdom of Tortall on her biggest Hunt of all.

#37 and 38: Two very very different Pride and Prejudice retellings. Post-Civil War Texas or contemporary rock’n’roll fame, take your pick.

#39: Raising chickens. In your backyard. In Minnesota. With pictures. Also, recipes.

pyrajane’s #37: Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Clay comes home from school and there’s a package waiting for him.  Inside are 13 cassette tapes.  He finds a cassette player, pushes play, and hears Hannah’s voice.  She’s dead.  Killed herself a few weeks ago.

She calmly explains that there are thirteen people who are responsible for her death.  Each person has to listen to the tapes, then pass them along to the next person on the list.  If they don’t?  There’s another set of tapes out there that will be spread around and everyone will know that these thirteen people are the reasons why she did it.

Read more…

Tara’s CBR-III Review #48: Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

Cannonball Read III: Book #48/52
Published: 2011
Pages: 352 (189,097 total pages so far)
Genre: Young Adult/Dystopian

First of all, the cover for this book is terrible. I never would have picked it out if I didn’t read a review without the cover picture in it. It looks like some horrible YA supernatural romance with wolves or something. It takes place in a grungy, dystopian society so I have no idea why she’s wearing this sparkly white ball gown on the book cover.

The book starts with Juliette being locked in some sort of filthy jail. We find out that she was locked away by her parents after they discovered she was a “monster” because her touch can kill people. She’s been in isolation for a couple of years, when suddenly she gets a new cellmate. A BOY cellmate. (possible spoilers ahead…) Turns out, he’s just there to capture and deliver her to this creep in the Reestablishment military who wants to use her as a weapon. She falls in love with the boy who manipulated her (Adam) and they run away until they find a school for freaks just like her (end spoilers). Hm…where have I heard this plot before??

Read the rest of the review in my blog!

Tara’s CBR-III Review #47: The Future of Us by Jay Asher & Carolyn Mackler

Cannonball Read III: Book #47/52
Published: 2011
Pages: 356 (18,745 total pages so far)
Genre: Young Adult

It’s 1996 and the Internet is new (remember that??). Do you also remember those AOL cds that everyone had at least 50 of? They made great coasters. Anyways, Emma gets this newfangled Internet thing at her house and pops in her free AOL cd. What does he find? Facebook. Actually, Facebook fifteen years in the future. She shows her neighbor (and former best friend — they had a falling out after he professed his love to her and she didn’t reciprocate the feelings), Josh. Together, they realize that they can find out what their future selves are up to and that they can alter the future by their current actions. Josh doesn’t want things to change because he’s married to the local “hot, rich girl”. Emma, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to have such a great future no matter how much she changes it.

This was a pretty fun read. I was eleven in 1996, so I remember most of what they were talking about. Sometimes the mid-90s referenced almost felt a little TOO forced (Really? You’re wearing your Doc Martens with a floral dress? How 90s of you!). It’s like they threw a bunch of stuff in there out of nowhere just to say HEY IT’S 1996, REMEMBER??? But if was fun if you remember those days.

Read the full review in my blog!

leedock’s CBR-III Review #46-“The Knife of Never Letting Go”, #47-“The Ask and The Answer”, #48-“Monsters of Men” – Patrick Ness

There is such a thing as too much information.