Jake – Page 66 – Cannonball Read 17

Total Football

The Barcelona Complex: Lionel Messi and the Making -- and Unmaking -- Of the World's Greatest Soccer Club by Simon Kuper

September 9, 2021 by Jake Leave a Comment

Read as part of CBR13Bingo: Travel. I’d love to go to Barcelona some day. My first real exposure to FC Barcelona was the 2009 Champions League Final. At the type, I wasn’t seriously following European soccer. The hype of this match reached my ears. Man U was on its last legs as the nonpareil of England, Cristiano Ronaldo was just entering his prime. Meanwhile, Barca was emerging as the sport’s dominant force with stars such as Girard Pique, Andres Iniesta and the rising Lionel Messi. […]

One of Theirs

One Of Us: The Story of Anders Breivik and the Massacre in Norway by Åsne Seierstad

September 3, 2021 by Jake Leave a Comment

I kinda wish this had come out this year and not 2015. We’re looking at the ten-year anniversary of 22 July, the date of a horrifying terrorist attack in Norway, the body count of which made international news. Åsne Seierstad’s book has been lauded the last few years as the ur text on the subject; it had a quick English translation and has become an international bestseller, as well as the basis for a Paul Greengrass Netflix movie. While dense and not well-structured, the book […]

LAish

City of Bones by Michael Connelly

September 1, 2021 by Jake Leave a Comment

The thing with Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch novels is that I can tell in the first 20 pages if it’s going to be a good one or not. Trunk Music and Concrete Blonde are examples of the good ones, A Darkness More Than Night and Angel’s Flight less so. One just seems to know in advance how Connelly is going to hit his beats and if said beats are going to work with you. This one really worked for me and, while almost all of Connelly’s novels are set in Los Angeles, this […]

Fear in the Borough

Brooklyn Noir by ed. Tim McLoughlin

August 30, 2021 by Jake Leave a Comment

This is the OG of the Akashic noir series, a series I greatly enjoy, being both a city lover and a fan of mystery/noir tales. I don’t always like short stories. I enjoy a book that I can really sink my teeth into, a plot that grips me, an argument to be made in non-fiction. These are usually my exception to the rule. I used to make fun of Brooklyn a lot. It’s become synonymous with gentrification, upper-middle and upper-class whites inhabiting working class neighborhoods, […]

The Book We Need For This Moment

Reign of Terror: How The 9/11 Era Destabilized America and Produced Trump by Spencer Ackerman

August 24, 2021 by Jake Leave a Comment

The best, simplest review I can give it is to quote from political operative Robert Wheel (@bobbybigwheel on Twitter): You know it’s a good book because every page pisses you off. I was 17 years old when we invaded Iraq. At the time, I was a champion for the war because I believed our government. Why would our government lie? Even as I began to question things in 2003 and 2004, I still voted for George W. Bush in my first presidential election. I was […]

The Weekend

Absolute Friends by John Le Carré

Are Snakes Necessary? by Brian De Palma and Susan Lehman

The Jedi Doth Return (William Shakespeare's Star Wars) by Ian Doescher

August 23, 2021 by Jake Leave a Comment

I really wanted to write separate reviews of these but life is incredibly busy right now so this will have to suffice… Absolute Friends *** This is another review I’m glad I slept on. I really wish I liked it more than I did. The beginning was great: two friends making their way across the chasm of time and space in the post-WWII Cold War Europe. Idealism mixed with low class status, the desire to create a better world but lacking in power to do […]

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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