Read as part of CBR17 Bingo: workplace. The vast majority of the book takes place at the Buffalo Queen saloon.
I love reading. And I’m a voracious reader, as my Cannonball Read review catalog can attest to. Maybe I don’t get to it as much as I have in years past but I enjoy reading and documenting what I’ve read.
However, because I devour so many books, I tend to have either read or tried most of the stuff I see on listicles. It’s to the point where I rarely look anymore for lists on books that interest me.
So the last year or so, I’ve taken to browsing bookstores and libraries and just grabbing stuff that sounds interesting. And instead of bemoaning an L like I have in the past, I celebrate the hunt for books and enjoy pursuing them more than when I did when I walked in with a specific goal in mind.
I lift all of this up because I only grabbed Lucky Red at random from a used bookstore because my local library’s summer reading challenge is based on colors. It was between that one and another book and as I was driving away, I regretted not getting the other book, which sounded more interesting.
Maybe it is a good book but Lucky Red is something else. How rare is it to read a debut work by a talented writer who knows what they want to say. I was completely lost in this one; Claudia Cravens’ prose is beautiful without being heavy handed and her characterization added real power to the story. I’m not into westerns but I liked this one a lot.
It’s a bit of a slow burn, which didn’t bother me but might others. And the ending…eh. But at my age, I don’t read for the endings. I read to hear a good story. And I got it. The fact that it was written so well is a bonus. This is one of the best things I’ve come across in 2025, a top 5 for sure and maybe top 3.