Jake – Page 33 – Cannonball Read 17

To the Bitter End

All the Frequent Troubles of Our Days: The True Story of the American Woman at the Heart of the German Resistance to Hitler by Rebecca Donner

August 15, 2023 by Jake Leave a Comment

Those who have followed my reviews for a while know that I’m no fan of Donald Trump. At the same time, one large online annoyance during his presidency was the constant intonation of “resistance” on social media. Resistance by posting hashtags and memes. Resistance by someone who worked in his office, proud of themselves for not carrying out his more convoluted orders but still doing enough to hurt the body politic. I blame this fascination with Resistance! on our understand of World War II. Yes, […]

Lest We Forget

I Saw Death Coming: A History of Terror and Survival in the War Against Reconstruction by Kidada E. Williams

August 11, 2023 by Jake Leave a Comment

Read as part of CBR15Bingo: history-banned. Although this book hasn’t been banned (yet), it goes into great length on the oral testimonies of the victims and survivors of racial terror during Reconstruction. The narratives of slaves and post-emancipation Black persons are being banned across the country in other media. I can’t remember who tweeted it but someone once wrote a hypothesis that anti-Semitism is on the rise again because so many Holocaust survivors are dying. Reading that hit me like a thunderbolt because it made […]

Fertilities

The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez

August 10, 2023 by Jake Leave a Comment

Read as part of CBR15Bingo: relation”ship.” This is a romance novel about two people in a relationship who the reader is supposed to “ship,” I s’pose. Never been a fan of the term, myself. I’m going to give a brief review and say that this book is fine and entertaining if you like romance; moving in spots, cloying in others. And I’m going to spend the rest of the time spoiling the book talking about its take on infertility. So don’t read on if you […]

Eyyyyy, I’m readin’ a book here!

Brooklyn Noir 2: The Classics by Ed. Tim McLoughlin

August 4, 2023 by Jake Leave a Comment

Read as part of CBR15bingo: You are here. This book is part of the Akhasic Noir series, which does an excellent job at plumbing the depths of urban and/or city-state locations through tales of noir. I picked up Brooklyn Noir 2: The Classics simply because I like the Akhasic Noir series. I enjoyed the first Brooklyn one and other books; there are good stories mixed with bad ones in each of them. But I didn’t have high hopes of getting blown away. I was blown away. I […]

Gilgo Beach

Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery by Robert Kolker

August 2, 2023 by Jake Leave a Comment

Read as part of CBR15Bingo: on air. This true crime story is rocking the news right now because the police believe they have apprehended the killer of the girls written about in this book, among others. When it comes to the evils of non-consensual sexual abuse by men, I tend to avoid stories that are mainstream. The vast majority of abusers are your next door neighbor who have opportunity and privilege to get away with it. Needless to say, I haven’t read a ton on […]

May-July Leftovers

There Will Be Fire: Margaret Thatcher, the IRA, and Two Minutes That Changed History by Rory Carroll

City of Dreams by Don Winslow

Madame Restell: The Life, Death, and Resurrection of Old New York's Most Fabulous, Fearless, and Infamous Abortionist by Jennifer Wright

Under Color of Law by Aaron Philip Clark

The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson

The Last Quarry by Max Allan Collins

Tripwire by Jack Reacher

Baby Moll by John Farris

Only the Dead Know Brooklyn by Thomas Boyle

The Laundromat: Inside the Panama Papers Investigation of Illicit Money Networks and the Global Elite by Jake Bernstein

Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem

Winning Fixes Everything: How Baseball's Brightest Minds Created Sports' Biggest Mess by Evan Drellich

X by Davey Davis

Our Last Season: A Writer, A Fan, A Friendship by Harvey Araton

The Testament of Mary by Colm Tóibín

Hard Rain by Samantha Jayne Allen

The Boys From Biloxi by John Grisham

Ex Machina Book Four by Brian K. Vaughan

Jacket Weather by Mike DeCapite

Straight Cut by Madison Smartt Bell

The Crust on Its Uppers by Derek Raymond

That Kind of Danger by Donna Masini

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green

Spenser Confidential by Ace Atkins

Crook Manifesto by Colson Whitehead

Weyward by Emilia Hart

The Mysterious Disappearance of Leon, I Mean Noel by Ellen Raskin

The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix

July 30, 2023 by Jake Leave a Comment

I usually do these at the end of the month but then I went through a big reading slump March-May. And then I roared back but realized I was behind. So apologies for this being so long. There Will Be Fire **** A good, readable text on a moment in history I knew little about. Even after reading Patrick Radden Keefe’s Say Nothing, I still had a lot of problem keeping track of all the socio-political dynamics so it’s good that Rory Carroll makes it accessible […]

Zirza on A Gothic Classic for a ReasonIt's one of those wish-you-could-read-it-again-for-the-first-time books. I loved it.
Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

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