Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Archives for December 2021

Columbine

Columbine by Dave Cullen

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When I first saw the cover of Dave Cullen’s Columbine, it filled me with dread. The picture of the exterior of the school stretches across the lower part of the cover, while the rest of the image is nothing but a wide expanse of overcast sky. The cover is blank and cold. Some of my reaction is, of course, attributed to knowing what happened at Columbine. But there is something particularly hopeless about the cover image. Columbine is about the 1999 mass school shooting perpetrated […]

Taylor Jenkins Reid is one of my favorite current authors

The Seven Husband's of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

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God I love this book! I think I’ve loved everything I’ve read from Taylor Jenkins Reid. I’m in the middle of Malibu Rising, and it has yet to disappoint. Anyway, back to The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. Evelyn Hugo is Old Hollywood royalty, a la Elizabeth Taylor. And she’s plucked a young writer, Monique Grant, out of relative obscurity to write her biography which is sure to sell millions of copies and launch her career to the stratosphere. Monique just has to wait to publish her […]

The Wife Upstairs: Who’s conning whom?

The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins

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Book four of five that I should have reviewed weeks ago… Rachel Hawkins’s The Wife Upstairs follows a woman named Jane who has found her way into the upper-crust neighborhood of Thornfield Estates in Alabama as a dog-walker to the rich and occasionally famous. One day she bumps into the neighborhood’s most eligible bachelor/widower, Eddie Rochester. He is recovering from his wife, Bea’s mysterious death. Soon, Jane is walking Eddie’s dog. And staying in Eddie’s house. And wearing an engagement ring. The only problem is – […]

Rock, Paper, Scissors by Alex Feeney

Rock, Paper, Scissors by Alex Feeney

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One of my favorite kinds of novels – toxic couple tries to fix their marriage with an ill-advised trip. Adam and Amelia are on an anniversary vacation that Amelia won in a raffle. It’s in an old chapel that was previously turned into a home. It’s on the shores of a Scottish loch. The nearby town is deserted.It’s snowing. And they are trapped. Also, Adam has face-blindness, which just complicates things. Things are already tense with the couple, and the mysterious experiences at the chapel […]

“Steve, I’ve been duped!” or, my experience reading Comfort Me With Apples *SPOILERS*

Comfort Me With Apples by Catherynne M. Valente

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This is the second of five reviews I’m writing at least 3 weeks after finishing the book, so my recollections may be hazy… However, one thing that is crystal clear in my mind is the feeling I had about 2/3 of the way through Comfort Me With Apples. To be fair to the author and the story, I should have seen it coming. I have a degree in literature, and all the signs were there. But nevertheless, I found myself duped. Before I get into what […]

The Shadows by Alex North

The Shadows by Alex North

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I read this book a month and a half ago, and it seems like a lot has happened since then… I cannot remember all the things I thought while reading this book, but I gave it 4 stars, so I must have liked it. This books follows a man named Paul who has returned to his hometown to care for his ailing mother. Being back home brings back memories of his friendship with some local boys – James, Charlie, and Billy. The latter two are […]



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