Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

About Halbs

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I'm left-handed! (Learn more about this Cannonballer: Halbs's Quick Questions interview.)

Halbs's Reviews:

Vino with Guido

Death at La Fenice by Donna Leon

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Death at La Fenice is the first of 31 Commissario Brunetti mysteries. If you haven’t heard of this series, which began in 1992, Commissario Brunetti is a middle-aged detective in Venice, Italy. This inaugural mystery begins with a very dead, very famous maestro found on the floor of his dressing room. Tragic? Yes. But also very inconvenient – he died during the intermission of an opera! Word quickly spreads, as do the rumors and innuendo. Did he die of old age? Was he murdered? With […]

Things Fall Apart

Norco '80: The True Story of the Most Spectacular Bank Robbery in American History by Peter Houlahan

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Before I get into the review itself I should mention that I’m not a true crime person, generally. True crime readers or podcast listeners would be more well-versed in how these books typically read or what kinds of details typically would be included in these kinds of stories. So, your mileage may vary. Ok, will all of that out of the way, here we go! Peter Houlahan’s Norco ’80 is the true story of how five men tried to rob a California bank in 1980. […]

Set your phasers on cheeeeese

Vanguard #1: Harbinger by David Mack

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A subreddit of nerds recently lamented the end of The Expanse – both the nine-book series and the tv show. Someone in the subreddit helpfully mentioned that if readers like ancient foreboding space tech in the vein of The Expanse’s protomolecule or the Halo’s Forerunners, they might enjoy the Star Trek: Vanguard series of books set in the time of the original Star Trek tv series. The whole Vanguard series was on sale on Kobo, so I bought them based on that recommendation. At the […]

The Space Navies Are Fighting Again!!

The Short Victorious War by David Weber

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This is my third review in the Honor Harington series – a military sci-fi series based heavily around “naval” battles in the skies. I believe the character is roughly based on the equally alliterated Horatio Hornblower books of yore. Minor spoilers are inevitable but nothing serious. In Weber’s third Honor Harington book, our hero is placed in charge of a monster of a ship. She’s a highly decorated captain, recognized for her superior tactics as well as her political acumen. However, even in the future […]

Get out of that haus, man!

Bath Haus by P.J. Vernon

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BookPage recommended this book a few months ago, either in the Pride issue or shortly before. Either way, I read this thriller based on their recommendation. This book is wild. Oliver has what seems to be an idyllic life in the Washington, D.C. area. He’s married to a doctor, he lives in amazing landmark of a home – things are going pretty well. However, this is a thriller, so of course things aren’t really going that well. Oliver is bored in his perfect life, so […]

“All is Brahman”

The Upanishads by Eknath Easwaran

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It seems unhelpful to review the substance of a spiritual text, so here I want to focus on the impact the book had on me to help other readers determine if they want to have a similar experience. When I was in high school we used as textbooks special versions of Shakespeare’s texts. On one side was the text itself. On the other side was a kind of contemporary Pop Up Video commentary explaining the cultural and literary references made by Shakespeare. That marginalia was […]



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