Cannonball Read Update

I've finished my Cannonball Read this year!!! So excited! I've been slacking on my reading for the past few years, so I signed up to read and review 52 books in 2011 (hence, this blog).

I just signed up for Cannonball Read IV for 2012 - another 52 books. Here is all the info if anyone else is interested:

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Blog: http://cannonballread4.wordpress.com/
Sign Up Form: http://cannonballread4.wordpress.com/sign-up/
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Triangles by Ellen Hopkins (CBR-III #52)

Cannonball Read III: Book #52/52
Published: 2011
Pages: 544 (190,458 total pages so far)
Genre: Fiction

If you've read my reviews before, you know I love Ellen Hopkins. She finally wrote an adult novel (she normally writes YA) and I've been really excited to read it. My only complaint is that the Kindle edition is going for $12.99! I really wish publishers would keep the price under $10. They're making mostly profit off of it anyways since there are no physical costs (ink, paper, etc.).

Triangles revolves around three women, all who are in entangled in some sort of extramarital affair. Holly has recently lost a lot of weight and enjoys the attention she is now getting from men. Usually it ends with some shameless flirting, but now she's delving deeper. Her best friend Andrea is a single mom with a teenage daughter who can't seem to find a decent guy to date...so she finds herself in bed with Holly's neglected husband. Andrea's sister, Marissa, finds out her husband has been cheating while she stays at home with her special needs daughter and deals with her son coming out as being gay.

I just love the drama in Ellen Hopkin's books. The poetic writing just flows off the page, making the 500+ page book seem much shorter. This book was everything I was hoping it would be. I'm glad Hopkins didn't tone it down for an adult audience -- she simply transferred the drama to more adult issues. 

Of course I still didn't have much to relate to with this book either. The teenage books are fun, but I'm 26 and can't really relate to 16-year-old drama anymore. This book was 30-something moms with teenage kids. Obviously not really my demographic either. However, I still really enjoyed the novel. I'm just hoping one day Hopkins decides to write a book about 20-somethings and their drama. I definitely hope she ventures more into the adult novels in the future. 

The Legend of the Monk and the Merchant by Terry Felber (CBR-III #51)

Cannonball Read III: Book #51/52

Published: 2005
Pages: 160 (189,914 total pages so far)
Genre: Self-help

Okay, so this is not a book I would ever pick out on my own. I wasn't even going to include it for CBR, but I was one book short. My husband wanted me to read it because he's all into these leadership/business books right now. I find them to be INCREDIBLY boring. 

This book was no exception. It's pretty short, but felt like it took weeks to read. I was just so bored. It's basically an allegory about good business and money practices. It's a fable of sorts about a young boy learning good business ideas from his granddad in 16th century Italy. 

If you're into these type of books, I guess it wouldn't be that bad. I personally just can't imagine anything more boring than reading business books, so I'm probably not the best person to review this type of book.

Legend by Marie Lu (CBR-III #50)

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. 

The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly (CBR-III #49)

Cannonball Read III: Book #49/52
Published: 2006
Pages: 352 (189,449 total pages so far)
Genre: Fantasy


I actually read this book back in July, but was going over my list of books for Cannonball Read and realized that I never reviewed this one! This review might be short and/or vague since it's been six months or so since I actually read it.


The Book of Lost Things is sort an adult fairy tale. I love fantasy books and movies, so I found it to be pretty interesting. Twelve-year-old David is having a hard time with his father remarrying after the death of his mother, so he turns to books. The books whisper to him and eventually lead him to a secret passageway into a fantasy land complete with princes and kings and big bad wolves.


This was definitely more of a dark fairy tale -- not really for kids. If you prefer Grimm's version over the Disney version of fairy tales, you'd probably enjoy this book. Plus, if you were ever that kid who used books as an escape, David will really resonate with you and take you back to a time when books really came alive.

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi (CBR-III #48)

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?? 

Basically, I hope they never make a movie out of this because whoever owns the rights to X-Men will sue their butts off. Juliette is pretty much Rogue. Or they could just rename the story X-Men Origins: Rogue for the movie version. It would appeal to comic geeks AND 13-year-old girls.

It was way too fluffy for me. The story was actually pretty interesting. However, the romance was front and center and in your face. You know, they're SUPER in love five minutes after they meet and I have to suffer through endless paragraphs of mush. Someone likes their metaphors a little too much, I think. It was kind of like Twilight, if Stephenie Meyer could write. I think Tahereh Mafi is a good writer if she toned down the madly in love teenager fluff a little. I don't need to read three thousand metaphors about Juliette's heart and what it feels like. The action parts of the book were really good. 

My favorite character in the whole book was Adam's 10-year-old brother. I LOVED HIM. So I know Mafi can write good characters. I just wish she put a little more effort into the main characters personalities rather than their sexual urges. 

I'm not sure if I'll continue with this series though. It was pretty good if I skimmed over the softcore teenage porn, so we'll see. 

The Future of Us by Jay Asher & Carolyn Mackler (CBR-III #47)

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. 

The names were very authentic to the time too. They even mentioned a guy who went to their school that had the exact same first and last name as a guy I was friends with in high school. I sometimes hate reading books where the main characters are in high school and have names like "Catcher" or even "Katniss" (which always made me think of catnip). I guess those "future" names...but geez. Everyone in the 90s went to school with an Emma or a Josh. BUT, Emma's last name was Nelson. If you've ever watched Degrassi, you'll know that a very main character for most of the show was named Emma Nelson. So throughout the whole book I kept picturing her as Degrassi Emma and her best friend was Manny in my head. You'd think the author would have at least Googled the character name to see if it was a fairly well-known name or not.

Overall, I liked the book though. The characters probably weren't as fleshed out as they should have been, but I'm just happy that there wasn't this huge love triangle story arc and the "romance" between Emma and Josh was kept to a minimum for a YA book. All the 90s references were fun to catch too.

Matched by Ally Condie (CBR-III #46)

Cannonball Read III: Book #46/52
Published: 2010
Pages: 384 (18,389 total pages so far)
Genre: Young Adult/Dystopian

Cassia lives in a future society where the government makes all your decision for you - what you eat, what you wear, your job assignment, and your match. Teenagers can choose to get "matched" when they turn 17 (or choose to be a "single"). Those who choose to be matched have a matching ceremony where they are shown who they will be matched to. Normally they are matched with someone from another province, but somehow Cassia ends up matched with her best friend Xander. Things start to fall apart when she loads her microchip card with her match's information and she sees another person on it besides Xander - Ky Markham, a strange, quiet boy who is also from Cassia's neighborhood.

I was kind of disappointed in this book. While the premise was intriguing, the book was somewhat boring. Nothing really happens besides Cassia whining about whether she is in love with Xander or Ky. The whole Ky thing was really out of nowhere too. She sees his face on her match card and all of sudden they're in love? They used to swim together when they were kids, but other than that they didn't really know each other. They start talking when they both join the same summer leisure activity (hiking), but it seems so forced. She's already halfway in love with him before they even speak.

It wasn't even so much a love triangle at all. Cassia decides she's in love with Ky, even though she is matched to Xander. Poor Xander is in the friend zone and can't really do much about it. While I think it's very logical that a teenager girl might fall in love with someone other than who the government matches her with, I just think they could have found something a little more convincing. It probably would have made MORE sense if Cassia was originally matched with Ky, but was in love with her best friend Xander (but then she started falling for Ky). Why am I trying to make sense out of a YA love triangle again?

Anyways, I was looking for a little less teenage angst and a little more action. I'm still debating if I want to read the sequel. It's supposed to be a trilogy, but the third book hasn't been released yet. The end did sound sort of promising that the second book might have a little more action.

Offspring by Jack Ketchum (CBR-III #45)

Cannonball Read III: Book #45/52
Published: 2006
Pages: 336 (18,005 total pages so far)
Genre: Horror

Offspring is the sequel to Off Season, which I just reviewed. It was published 26 years after the first book and you can tell that Ketchum's writing has gotten a little more polished since 1980. Other than that, it's pretty much the same book.

It follows the same classic horror novel plot as the original: A group of crazy, inbred cave dwellers hunt and torture a bunch of people in Maine. One of the cave dweller kids from the original book survived the massacre that took place at the end and ran. Over the years, she hunted up and down the coast of Maine/Canada and stole a couple of kids along the way to grow the family back. Now they're back in their original territory and pick a new family to hunt. The police also bring back retired Detective Peters who worked on the original case.

Overall, I liked this book. It was a very similar formula to the original, but it's a classic formula that works. I liked how they tied the two books together with Detective Peters coming back and the kid who we didn't know survived the massacre trying to start a new family. It's a quick read and worth it if you're into the genre.