LaneyFace – Page 2 – Cannonball Read 17

Tourists and revolutionaries and crocodiles – oh my!

Tourist Season by Carl Hiaason

February 13, 2021 by LaneyFace Leave a Comment

Described as a Miami Vice-esque caper and a fun getaway, I gave Tourist Season by Carl Hiaason a try. I’ve never actually watched Miami Vice and other than the main characters wearing pastel blazers, I have limited knowledge about the eighties hit. I went in blindly and it was definitely an interesting experience. Told vibrantly through an eighties lens in Miami, Florida, the story follows former reporter and current private investigator Brian Keyes as he tries to uncover a slew of murders targeting tourists during—get […]

I think I’m in the minority on this one: I don’t think I liked this book?

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Morena-Garcia

February 10, 2021 by LaneyFace 10 Comments

After reading and enjoying Turn of the Screw, I craved more gothic literature. Silvia Morena-Garcia’s Mexican Gothic kept popping up on booklists everywhere, so I thought I’d give it a try. It’s now been three days since I finished the novel and I think I finally figured out how I feel about it. Set in 1950s Mexico, Mexican Gothic follows Noemí Taboada’s journey to conduct a wellness check on her cousin Catalina at the behest of her father. Catalina lives in a remote mountain town […]

It’s a real life spy thriller! (And it’s really good!)

The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War by Ben Macintyre

February 6, 2021 by LaneyFace Leave a Comment

Oh boy, do I love a good espionage thriller. So, continuing with my “what’s free and available” method of choosing books, I picked up my father’s copy of Ben Macintyre’s The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War. This is the true story of a high-ranking KGB official who defected to MI6 during the deepest freeze of the Cold War. (KGB is Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti for anyone who plays trivia – it seems like a formidable bonus question). Macintyre interviews […]

Enticing, female driven mystery-thriller

The Banker's Wife by Cristina Alger

January 25, 2021 by LaneyFace Leave a Comment

The Banker’s Wife is a mystery thriller following two women, Annabel and Marina, and their pursuit to uncover the links between a deadly plane crash and a larger international conspiracy. If that description is vague, it’s meant to be. I had a lot of fun reading this book, and I despair robbing anyone else of that pleasure. Easy to read and compelling, Cristina Alger excels at deepening the female protagonists’ inner lives and motivations without resorting to cheap stereotypes or dependence on the men in […]

Someone please adapt this into a hip-hop musical

Founding Brothers by Joseph J. Ellis

January 22, 2021 by LaneyFace Leave a Comment

Disclaimer for faux read number two: The school assigned this book for AP Government class in which I had zero interest in participating. My 18 year old self had zero interest in reading about “old white dudes.” In retrospect, I could have used the historical knowledge. The blurb for this Pulitzer Prize winner describes it as, “…[A]n analysis of six fascinating episodes — Hamilton and Burr’s deadly duel, Washington’s precedent-setting Farewell Address, Adams’ administration and political partnership with his wife, the debate about where to […]

A loose screw, or screwing ghosts, who’s to say?

The Turn of The Screw by Henry James

January 15, 2021 by LaneyFace 8 Comments

Full disclosure: I was supposed to have read Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw for my AP Language class about 15 years ago, but like many books assigned to me, I forewent the reading and instead drew my knowledge heavily from my studious best friend and Spark Notes. That being said, I am currently quarantined in my parents’ house where a stack of my high school “faux reads” gather dust in the basement. I decided to tackle my abandoned scholastic literary foes — which […]

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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