My goal this year was a triple cannonball. I seemed to have exceeded that.
“He was met by a collective shriek as the brides parted like biblical waves around him.”
A few others have reviewed The Ship of Brides here, but in case you’ve missed it, here’s a plot summary. At the end of World War II, hundreds of women in Australia had married British servicemen and then ended up separated from them during the course of the war. In 1946, these women took airplanes and ships to Great Britain in order to rejoin these men and start their “real lives” as husband and wife. In this case, The Ship of Brides refers to the HMS Victoria, which took 650 women (some pregnant, some very, very young) from Sydney to England — much to the consternation of the crew and captain. Specifically, we follow four girls (Frances, Jean, Maggie and Avice), as well as the Captain (Highfield) and a marine named Nicol.
I really, really liked some sections and characters of this book, and could have done without others completely. Basically, if the whole book had been about Frances, who worked as a nurse during the war but has a deep dark secret (of course) but seemed like a total badass, her romance with Nicol and Maggie (super pregnant former farmgirl with some family troubles) as a sidekick, I would have been thrilled. But the other two women — Avice, a high society bitch and Jean, a fifteen year old wild child — drove me crazy. And the whole thing with the Captain and his nephew and his great love for the boat dragged. More Frances, please!
Congratulations on the impressive achievement of being the second person ever to complete a quadruple Cannonball! I honestly have no idea how you have the time to do all the reading and reviewing. The most I ever managed was a triple, and I was absolutely sick of books and blogging for a while after that.
This is honestly a lot less than I used to read (when I was younger, pre-work/kids). Now I read at night & listen to audiobooks during my drive & when I run, but when I was younger — man, I brought a book everywhere. When I was in school (from first grade thru college), I constantly got busted for reading under my desk. I read at the dinner table, during my walk to school, anytime my mom put me in the car to go anywhere. My best friend is a big reader, too, and we would have sleepovers that consisted entirely of us reading quietly on her couch while eating junk food. But CBR has definitely given me an excuse to amp it back up and I’m loving it!
Congratulations! There’s still time for a quintuple! I say that as a joke, but I believe you and Janniethestrange could do it.
I bet we can! I’m certainly going to give it a shot. My TBR shelf has about 75 books waiting for me, not to mention the hold shelf at the library…
Congratulations on your Quad Cannonball now put the books down and spend some time with my nephews! Jk I’m very impressed
I caught Henry reading with a flashlight in bed after 10pm twice last week. Definitely my child.
WhaHoo! Congrats on your quad! Did I hear someone say “quint”??
I believe you will both keep smashing all the Cannonball records. So impressed with all the readers this year, it’s a great community to hang out in.
Definitely a great community. So many good recommendations! No wonder my bookshelves sag.
I’ll race you there!
Congratulations Congratulations Congratulations Congratulations! Incredible accomplishment!
Thank you!!
This is insane!!! Congratulations!!!!
Thank you!!
Congrats on your QUAD cannonball.
Sidenote, I had NO IDEA Jojo Moyes had written so many books!
I still have 5 more to read, although I’ve never heard of any of them (I think they’re all from like 2003-2008 or so). My library only has two — Sheltering Rain & Night Music — so they may be the last two I read for a while.
Happy Quad!
Thank you!!
Quadruple congratulations to you! This has been such an amazing year to read all of these amazing reviews, I’m so glad to be a part of this…even if I will never even come close to doing a double!
Congratulations x4!!!!
WOOOOOOO [deep breath] OOOOOOOO!
Forgive me for missing this last week, but Congratulations, Congratulations, Congratulations, Congratulations!!!