Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

About CoffeeShopReader

CBR 6
CBR 7
CBR 8
CBR 9
CBR10 participant
CBR11 participant
CBR12 participant
CBR13 participant
CBR14 Participant
CBR14 Bingo Badges
CBR15 Participant
CBR16 Participant
CBR17 Participant
CBR17 Levels

CoffeeShopReader's Reviews:

Holmes is an Avocado

The Affair of the Mysterious Letter by Alexis HIll

by Leave a Comment

Bingo 19 (Cannonballer Says) On 8/7/19, Cannonballer Leedock posted a review for The Affair of the Mysterious Letter. It sounded interesting and got a 5-star review, so I tracked it down. It is most definitely a Sherlock Holmes inspired book, but also very much its own thing. Everything is told by an older John, looking back on his past. The basic gist of the beginning of the mystery is similar to Holmes, with a medical type (alchemist) who has had to leave the Army (Company […]

Where pastrami and hot dogs come from

Pastrami on Rye by Ted Merwin

by 1 Comment

Bingo 18 (Award Winner) In 2015, Ted Merwin’s Pastrami on Rye: An Overstuffed History of the Jewish Deli won the National Jewish Book Award, which is presented by the Jewish Book Council. I neither knew that nor would have cared if I had known when I bought the book, but it’s rather convenient for a Bingo Square. Basically, this book is as the subtitle suggests a social and cultural history of the Jewish deli in the United States starting in 1880sish NYC through nearly the […]

Surgery Before Anesthesia and Antiseptics

The Butchering Art by Lindsey Fitzharris

by 2 Comments

Bingo 17 (Science!) The Butchering Art is part biography and part history of medicine, but mostly medicine. Do not read this is you are squeamish about some fairly graphic descriptions of surgery before things like antiseptics and anesthesia. The focus of the book is one the career of a Quaker named Joseph Lister in Victorian England; if his last name sounds vaguely familiar it should, and I’m surprised it doesn’t get more attention or pointed out sooner than it actually does. I’m also slightly ashamed […]

Lumberjane Standalone

Lumberjanes: THe Infernal Compass by Lilah Sturges, Polterink

by Leave a Comment

Bingo 16 (Illustrated) I really liked the first few installments of the Lumberjanes series, and then things started to get uneven, both in terms of art and the story. Then came Lumberjanes: The Infernal Compass. This volume isn’t part of the main series exactly, it’s a stand-alone graphic novel, but it seems to go back to the original spirit in ways I really appreciated. A significant bit is dedicated to a single story that’s not an obvious episode (a good thing). The basic story focuses […]

Really Unreal (pun intended)

The Grand Dark by Richard Kadrey

by Leave a Comment

Bingo 15 (Far and Away) What makes The Grand Dark so interesting is that there’s a lot of recognizable elements to it, but at the same time it’s so very much not reality. Overall, this is a creepy but intriguing world because bits are familiar, but then the rest is either too vague or too unnatural. That’s what makes the whole thing, the setting and the story, something you recognize and at the same time really different- the unfamiliar familiar. It’s also a world apart […]

Medieval Mayhem Aligns with Modern Politics

Fifth Ward Friendly Fire by Dale Lucas

by Leave a Comment

Bingo 14 (Reading the TBR) Fifth Ward: Friendly Fire has been on my shelf for a while, long enough for me to have gotten it not too long after it came out and have a sequel already out by the time I got to it. In a way, it’s a good thing that I waited as long as I did, because it seemed really timely for the political here and now in spite of not being set anywhere close. The Fifth Ward series is set […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo