Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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Lawyer by day, voracious reader by night. So many books, so little time!

Wanderlustful's Reviews:

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The Crossing` by Michael Connelly

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The Crossing is the 18th Harry Bosch novel, and in this installment we catch him 6 months into his forced retirement from the LAPD.  When Harry gets a call from his half-brother, Mickey Haller (the Lincoln Lawyer) asking Harry to take a look into one of his cases, Harry is torn between residual loyalty to the police force and ensuring justice is done.  Harry quickly becomes convinced that Haller’s client is innocent, and joins the dark side (legal defence) in a race to find the […]

Hate reading my way into 2020

Ask the Dust by John Fante

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This slim novel has attained a cult following as an American classic and more particularly as a California touchstone.  Garnering some mixed reviews at the time of its publication, largely for its ‘obscene’ language and subject matter (cussing and sex in the 1930s), Charles Bukowski revived its popularity by calling it one of his primary influences and writing the introduction for a new edition. The plot is somewhat autobiographical: Arturo Bandini, a struggling young writer from Colorado, moves to Los Angeles to chase his dreams […]

Another good outing for Atkinson

One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson

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This second installment in Atkinson’s Jackson Brodie detective series begins with Jackson witnessing a road rage incident at the Edinburgh festival, and from there Atkinson spins out into chapters focusing individually on Jackson and other supporting characters: Martin, a mild-mannered mystery writer; Gloria, the wife of an aging mobster; and Louise, a policewoman who keeps crossing paths with Jackson.  As with Atkinson’s other Jackson Brodie novels, the threads for all these characters eventually wind together in a satisfying way. Although I found this 2nd novel […]

Didion ain’t no slouch

Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion

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Slouching Towards Bethlehem is a collection of Didion’s essays, previously published in magazines, on a variety of topics with a special interest in California in the 60’s.  The first section, “Lifestyles in the Golden Land”, includes pieces on a murder in San Bernardino, Joan Baez, John Wayne’s last movies, and San Francisco during the summer of love; the next section contains essays on more abstract topics (diary writing, morality, self-esteem); and the third and final section has delves into a broader geography and personal experiences […]

Triple the fun

Three Wishes by Liane Moriarty

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Triplets Lyn, Cat(riona) and Gemma are turning 33 and its been quite the year- task-oriented Lyn is stressed trying to ‘do it all’; fierce Cat is trying and failing to get pregnant when her husband confesses he’s having an affair; and flakey Gemma can’t seem to find anything in her life to define her or hold on to.  Set in Sydney over the course of the year, Moriarty charts the ups and downs of the triplets, and their closest loved ones. Although I loved reading […]

Ghosts that haunt us still

Ghosts of Empire by Kwasi Kwarteng

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This non-fiction journey through six former British colonies is very timely, as five of them made the news this year: Hong Kong (protests); Kashmir (India revoking its special status); Burma (the Rohingya massacres and war crimes charges in the Hague); Iraq (continuing unrest and instability) and Sudan (protests and the ouster of longtime dictator, Omar al-Bashir).  The sixth country, Nigeria, has thankfully had a relatively quiet 2019. Kwarteng’s overall thesis is that the British governed their colonies on an ad hoc basis, with policy being […]



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