The Numbers are In!

Ending of Desk Set, 1957.

Cannonball Read IV has been sliced, diced, and wrapped up in a tidy little package for your perusal. If I’ve got anything wrong, drop me a line.

We Did It!

Wilma Rudolph crosses the finish line to win one of her three gold medals at the 1960 Olympics.

We’ve made it to the finish line of Cannonball Read IV! No further reviews should be posted at this point. I’ll be tallying up the numbers and writing a recap post this week. Look for it on Pajiba on Friday.

Whether you wrote one post or one hundred and four, congratulations to you. I hope you enjoyed the year.

 

 

You People Rock!

We’re nearing the end of Cannonball Read IV!  Reviews need to be posted to the group blog by midnight tonight 1/5. Watch for the recap on Pajiba next week some time.

Tonight’s also the deadline to register for Cannonball Read V. So far we have 317 participants, the biggest Read ever.

Thanks everyone for signing up and getting the word out. What? You haven’t signed up yet? What are you waiting for? Time’s running out!

The Scruffy Rube’s #CBR4 Review Supplement (#s 27-43)

In all of my reading and writing it would be easy to say that I’m thinking too much about books that are meant to be little dollops of entertainment. That may well be true, books may just be meant as minor diversions for over-stimulated minds. But through the past year I realized how the various reading role models I have had in my life taught me how to read, how to love reading and how to use reading to think.

So, after I finished my half-cannonball back in August I kept right on reading and thinking. Balancing all that work with the job I’m paid to do was a little difficult and I only just finished reviews for all of the books read in that span. Rather than reprinting some or all of those reviews here, I wanted to give any readers of this site access to my other site where they can read the complete reviews of various books that might interest you. (If you or someone you know–particularly an administrator–believe this is in someway a misuse of the Cannonball Read site, I sincerely apologize and will remove it ASAP.) Take a look, click around and see what you think of everything else I managed to read this year.

All reviews (plus other older reviews and fancy blog style shenanigans at The Scruffy Rube

Post 1 Book Club Books:

#27–The Unbearable Bookclub for Unsinkable Girls, by Julie Shumacher (2 stars)

#28–Frozen by Mary Casanova (3 stars)

#29–Matched by Allie Condie (2 stars)

#29.5–The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind  by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer (illustrations by Elizabeth Zunon) (2 stars)

#30–A Strange Place to Call Home by Marilyn Singer (illustrations by Ed Young) (4 stars)

Post 2: Mock Caldecott Award Candidates

#30.25–Oh No, by Candace Flemming (illustrations by Eric Rohman) (4 stars)

#30.5–Words Set me Free, by Lisa Cline-Ransome (illustrations by James E. Ransome) (4 stars)

#30.75–House Held up By Trees, by Ted Koosner (illustrations by Jon Klassen) (2 stars)

#31–Extra Yarn, by Mac Bennett (illustrations by Jon Klassen) (5 stars)

Post 3: Mock Newberry Award Candidates

#32–Mighty Miss Malone, by Christopher Paul Curtis (3 stars)

#33–Glory Be, by Augusta Scattergood (1 star)

#34–The One and Only Ivan, by Katherine Applegate (4 stars)

#35–Wonder, by RJ Palacio (5 stars)

Post 4: Mock Printz Award Candidates

#36–Never Fall Down, by Patricia McCormick (4 stars)

#37–Code Name: Verity, by Elizabeth Fein (1 star)

#38–Year of the Beasts, by Cecil Castelluci (art by Nate Powell) (5 stars)

#39–Every Day, by David Levithan (4 stars)

Post 5: Books with lessons of the year

#40–Remains of the Day, by Kazuo Ishiguro (5 stars)

#41–Daughter of Smoke and Bone, by Laini Taylor (5 stars)

#42–A Room with a View, by E.M. Forster (5 stars)

#43–Cinder, by Marissa Meyer (5 stars)

DragonDreamsJen’s #CBR4 Reviews #90-#96

The past month has been a wild one in our family. My husband’s brother passed away tragically and unexpectedly on the other end of the country, my mother-in-law had emergency surgery here, several close friends went through tragedies of their own, both daughters wrapped up their club volleyball season and I had to travel for work.

Though writing and posting reviews slipped to the side, I never stopped reading.  Through all the challenges of this year, the joys and sorrows, being able to turn to the pages of wonderful books provided the best medicine of all.  Books change our perspective, offer us an escape from hard moments, embrace us in warm comfort , challenge us to be the best we can be and so much more.

Though I am reading my 102nd book of the year right now, determined to at least DOUBLE my Cannonball Read IV Challenge total before 2012 ends,  I invite you to wander by my BookHoardingDragon blog to catch up on any of these belated reviews.

#90 – Heritage of Hastur by Marion Zimmer Bradley

#91 – Their Frontier Family by Lyn Cote

#92 – The Sleeping Beauty by Mercedes Lackey

#93 – Sea Swept by Nora Roberts

#94 – Rising Tides by Nora Roberts

#95 – Inner Harbour by Nora Roberts

#96 – Chesapeake Blue by Nora Roberts

Hey Girl…

Fight cancer at the Cannonball Read Buy Hole

Did you know that you can go shopping on Amazon and kick cancer’s butt at the same time? It’s true, you can! Just fall down the Cannonball Read Buy Hole! A percentage of everything you buy once you’re on amazon will be donated to the American Cancer Society. So whether it’s:

• a generator for that upcoming nor’easter
• diapers for your babies
• the most totally awesome book out this summer (or even that other book)
• or if you’re getting that last stocking stuffer.

shop your heart out all while shouting out “F— CANCER!”

Because honestly, wouldn’t that be the best gift of all?

(Tell your friends, tell your mom, tell the trolls tinyurl.com/shopcannonballread is the place to shop this season. )

Proud Sponsor of Birthdays

Here’s to many more birthdays!

As  you all know, we’re in this for a really good reason. I’ve gotten a few suggestions about adding an amazon.com affiliate link on the reviews, and starting with tomorrow’s review of A Dance With Dragons by Pinky McLadybits, all of the CBR reviews posted on Pajiba will now have an affiliate link to the book reviewed.

100% of any money received through these links will go directly to the American Cancer Society – “proud sponsor of birthdays.”

So read on, review to your heart’s content, and think about purchasing through the review links on Pajiba.

One quarter down, three to go

Who remembers these?

With April’s arrival, we are now one quarter of the way through the 2012 Cannonball Read. Congratulations to all of you!

To date, we have had over 970 reviews posted here, with nine of our reviewers posting more than 20 reviews each. (If you’re blogging your reviews elsewhere, please remember to post at least a link to the group blog so that I can count your reviews.) Valyruh and Malin have already reached the 1/2 Cannonball mark with 27 and 28 reviews, respectively. But never fear! You have 9 more months in which to read and post your reviews. You can do it!

On Pajiba, I’ve posted over 50 of your reviews this year, about 4 per week. Check out the book review section of the site if you’ve missed any. Reviews usually run Tuesday-Friday, and I encourage everyone to check out (and comment on) the reviews that go up on Pajiba. We’ve had a couple of authors retweet us on Twitter, and at least one author commenting on a group blog post about their book.

Thanks to Toepic, who has been posting CBR4 reviews of note on his blog, Barely Literary. You can also follow CBR on Facebook and Twitter. If you haven’t been to our Facebook page yet, check out our gallery of Cool People Reading.

Our Junior Cannonballers have also been posting reviews. Check out reviews by The Grace Hurricane and Bunnybean. I encourage you to comment – Bunnybean says the feedback makes her feel “a little bit famous,” isn’t that great?

If you have any questions, concerns, or problems with your reviews or posting, drop me a line. Thanks everyone!

Help a Gal Out

Hey Cannonballers!

I’m sounding the alarm because there’s a Pajiban in need, and I’m putting the call out to all of you for help. From natsparts.org:

“Natalie is 31. While being fulltime caregiver for her aging and sick father, she was admitted to the hospital; her then undiagnosed cancer was causing her a lot of pain. That hospital stay cost Natalie her job and her health insurance. Meanwhile, it took eight doctors in two states to determine exactly what was wrong with her: cervical cancer.

With health insurance, her fight is going to be hard enough. Without health insurance–well, no one wants to be in that place. But that’s exactly where Natalie is.”

If you can spare a dime, a dollar, or more, please consider making a donation through GiveForward.com to help Natalie out. If you can spare a prayer or two, those would be appreciated as well.

Thanks everyone, and happy reading!

 

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