Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Spoooky

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

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Counter-intuitively, this Gothic horror novel was an absolute joy to read. My attention span in 2020 is limited at best, but I could not put down Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Mexican Gothic. Her main character, the impetuous and steel-spited Mexico City socialite Noemí Taboada, is truly alive. The rural Mexican setting is a delight, and the creepiness level is appropriate for those of us less versed in horror. Noemí Taboada is a Mexico City mover and shaker. She lives in the 1940s-50s era, and has expansive ideas […]

This one was a win for me!

When No One Is Watching by Alyssa Cole

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This was a little funky in places, a little shaky on its feet, but overall I really enjoyed reading it. This is billed as a thriller, but it also has elements of romance, horror, and mystery in it. I was super stoked when I heard Alyssa Cole was trying her hand at another genre (she normally writes romance, both historical and contemporary). I’ve been hit or miss with her books, particularly her contemporary stuff, so I was really curious to see what she could do […]

Inherit the Hate

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

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Unsurprisingly, my first exposure to Wuthering Heights was Kate Bush’s 1978 single, the namesake to the book. Based on listening to the chorus (never a lyrics listener, it’s the music that matters) you might think the book is romantic: Heathcliff, it’s me, I’m Cathy I’ve come home. I’m so cold Let me in-a-your window Maybe Cathy has run away from home to Heathcliff’s abode, situated in the middle of the moors. After letting Cathy in from a window (maybe the door’s broke, anyway it’s just […]

things that go “scoff” in the night

Bunny by Mona Awad

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This book was praised to high-heavens, thus giving me high hopes. It is all over “best of” lists, there are tons of snarky little quips in write-ups, and the paperback features pull-quotes from Margaret Atwood and Karen Russell. I was ready to be ruined by this book… but. …it fell flat, as so many pumped-up things often do. Samantha, an unreliable narrator if ever there was one, is a post-grad MFA fellow at Warren College, a told-but-not-shown sPoOoOoKy college somewhere in New England. There’s some […]

Ever read a book that makes you hurt? And you’re not sure if that’s a bad thing?

Joe Quinn’s Poltergeist by David Almond

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Ever read a book that makes you emotionally hurt, but you are not sure if in a good or bad way? Happens every so often to me. And when it does, I know I have either read one of the most amazing things ever, or the biggest piece of crap ever written. Joe Quinn’s Poltergeist by David Almond (with illustrations created by Dave McKean) was one of those books. I was a bit confused about the theme of this book due to the fact you […]

CBR12 Book Bingo – Gateway

Home Before Dark by Riley Sager

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What was it like? Living in that house. Home Before Dark is a gateway book for me for two reasons: 1. It’s my first introduction to Riley Sager, and now I am OBSESSED with his books; 2. It’s my intro into LOVING horror books. I have spent a great deal of my life afraid of the horror genre, due to a traumatic viewing of the original Carrie at an impressionable age. In my adult life, I read Carrie to try to rid myself of the deeply embedded fear […]



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