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:

Joe Buck LOVES Christina Applegate

Lucky Bastard: My Life, My Dad, and the Things I'm Not Allowed to Say on TV by Joe Buck

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A lot of people on the internet hate Joe Buck. I’m not one of those people.  Because I grew up in Texas, I am a big Troy Aikman fan.  I like Joe Buck by association. Plus, unless a sports broadcaster never stops talking, I usually have a favorable opinion of them. Ergo, I picked up this audiobook. I was looking for a light, fun listen for my work drives. Lucky Bastard delivered. Joe Buck was born in 1969 to beloved St. Louis Cardinals broadcaster Jack Buck […]

“Towns like this are for people who like the way down.”

Neuromancer by William Gibson

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Reading the “classics” of a subgenre is sometimes an underwhelming experience. Decades of creators have had opportunities to explore and expand the subgenre. By the time one gets to the roots, a novel can sometimes be more of a respected artifact than an engaging book. Unfortunately, that is what happened to me with Gibson’s famous Neuromancer. That being said, it was still an enjoyable page-turner. The story centers on Case, a digital cowboy. He is a talented (and drug-addled) data thief in the matrix, a sort […]

“I’m such a loser in the game of life.”

Endgame: Bobby Fischer's Remarkable Rise and Fall - from America's Brightest Prodigy to the Edge of Madness by Frank Brady

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I could not put this book down. Frank Brady’s Endgame covers the entirety of Bobby Fischer’s life, from his youth to his unglamorous end. Fischer is presented as a magnetic character, simultaneously pulling and repelling friends, opponents, and the public at large. Had Fischer not had his caustic personality, it is hard to imagine how high he could’ve ascended in his mastery of chess. However, he did have a caustic personality, as well as a hateful belief system, and a fascination with younger women. Outside of […]

Starting Over in Bath

Is She Really Going Out with Him? by Sophie Cousens

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Every year, my spouse and I pick a few books for the other person to read. It’s a fun way to expand our literary horizons and connect in a new way. Some of my favorite annual reads come from this exchange. This year, for example, Leigh Bardugo’s Ninth House was suggested to me. I’ve read thirty-odd books this year, but Ninth House is still my favorite. Sophie Cousens’ Is She Really Going Out with Him? was also given to me to read. While it’s not […]

The Grief of Wisdom

Where the Axe is Buried by Ray Nayler

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That which has been is what will be, That which is done is what will be done, And there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which it may be said, “See, this is new”? It has already been in ancient times before us. – Ecclesiastes 1:9-10 (NKJV). Nayler’s Where the Axe is Buried reminds me of the Book of Ecclesiastes. It is, in my mind, the least hopeful and most useful book of the Bible. All of this has happened before, and […]

Dashiell Hammett’s Twilight

Already Dead by Charlie Huston

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I subscribe to a used book service where you tell the seller a bit about you, and then they send you 1-4 books per month that match your style(s). Since my dark, sad heart loves classic noir, they sent me Charlie Huston’s Already Dead. It’s book one in the Joe Pitt series. Joe Pitt died a long time ago. Sort of. He’s a vampyre (my preferred spelling, by the way) wandering in Manhattan. There’s lots of vampyres in Manhattan. Not only that, but they’ve set up […]



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