I signed up for the Cannonball Read 4 for next year. The goal is to read 50 books and write reviews of them. I follow my friend Janel’s reviews and thought it might be fun to try. I’m not the fastest reader (this year I only hit 23 books), but I’m up for the challenge. And I like the idea of writing something short if only for my future reference.
These entries are for my own reference and the CBR4 requirements, but maybe you will find a book that sounds interesting. Here is my first quick and dirty review in honor of the upcoming CBR4 (starts Jan 1, 2012).
The Red Queen by Philippa Gregory
I’ve only finished one other Gregory novel, The Other Queen, and while it wasn’t dreadful I was less than impressed with her writing, especially the voice of Catherine Howard, Henry VIII’s fifth victim. I mean wife. But I love historical fiction in general, especially about British history, so I picked this one up for some fun reading.
The book is set during the War of the Roses and follows the life of Margaret Beaufort, the main heir to the Lancastrian line to the throne. For background on this complex period Alison Weir’s War of the Roses is really good. Gregory does a good job simplifying the history to the main elements needed though and because of that it is a engaging story. She is at her best narrating historical events. I especially liked her description of the Battle of Bosworth Field for the most part.
The downfall of the book for me is the main character. She is unlikeable, self-righteous and delusional. By the end I wanted her son to succeed (which of course he does) just so she would shut up. To Gregory’s credit she engaged me as a reader even with a protagonist I could not stand and for whom I had little sympathy.
The Red Queen is the second in a trilogy, but they can be read out of order. I just got the first, The White Queen, about Elizabeth Woodville from the library. We will see if I like her better.
50 books in a year is quite a lot, until you think of it as being less than one a week. Finding the time is the hard part, but it forces you to make time for yourself to relax.
My main concern of something like that would usually be the amount of space 50 books would take up, but that’s where e-book readers come in to their own. Nice and small and can store several years of 50 books comfortably.
I’m shocked by the cost of some e-books though, see http://garybell.co.uk/tech/what-should-e-books-cost
Any opinions on the cost of e-books, or books in general?
The pricing models are ridiculous especially considering sometimes the book isn’t even ereader friendly. I once read a textbook that had little offset boxes throughout. Instead of offsetting them on the ebook or removing them, they were just integrated into the flow of the text. It was a pain to try to read something like that and even more painful that I had bought the book. The ereaders have definitely improved but the pricing model is still problematic. I’ll take a look at your post!
Thanks for sharing! This sounds like a lot of fun. Looking forward to reading your reviews
Thanks! And I love your Dewey Decimal idea! Guess it wouldn’t work with the Library of Congress!
You’ve inspired me to sign up for the cannonball read for next year. I’m being a wimp and only signing up for the half cannonball as I expect to be changing jobs and moving in the next 12 months, so I need a realistic goal.
Good luck! I probably should have done the half cannonball too…