Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

If you haven’t caused a scene in a psych unit, it’s just because you haven’t been inside long enough.

The Devil in Silver by Victor LaValle

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The titular devil in LaValle’s The Devil in Silver comes in many forms. Its most obvious is the monster that roams the halls of the New Hyde psychiatric ward at night, attacking patients who leave their doors unlocked. When Pepper is committed against his will after committing a crime he doesn’t fully remember, he quickly comes face to face with this evil. Along with some of his companions on the ward, he sets out to solve the mystery of this hushed up resident of the […]

“Remember, never take no cut-offs and hurry along as fast as you can”

The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of the Donner Party by Daniel James Brown

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The Indifferent Stars Above is the gripping tale of the Donner Party who in 1846 set off from their homes in the east of the United States of America to travel overland to California, only to discover that the ‘shortcut’ they’d been promised was no such thing, leaving them to flounder in a hostile landscape as winter set in. As the months passed and with no thaw in sight, a small number of the party would attempt to reach civilisation and get help, leaving the […]

Definitely A Product of Its Time

Pet Sematary by Stephen King

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I read this shortly before the movie came out although I didn’t end up seeing the movie.  I like the idea of horror, and I enjoy reading it on occasion, but I don’t like watching it that much.  I used to, but at some point, I decided I didn’t like jump scares, and haven’t really watched much horror since.  I did see Get Out, but it was at home and during the day. The thing is the story itself is intriguing and I can absolutely […]

Antoine Revoy, you are a mean, mean, meeean, man!

Animus by Antoine Revoy

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animus [ an-uh-muh s ]   NOUN strong dislike or enmity; hostile attitude; animosity. purpose; intention; animating spirit. (in the psychology of C. G. Jung) the masculine principle, especially as present in women (contrasted with anima).   How can you sleep at night knowing you crushed my soul? How could you rip my heart out? How dare you create a horrific masterpiece? Was the clue I saw a clue? Animus is a graphic novel I found by accident. First/Second mentioned that they had acquired Revoy’s latest graphic […]

Nonfiction reviews for CBR Bingo

The Trial of Lizzie Borden by Cara Robertson

Masters of Sex: The Life and Times of William Masters and Virginia Johnson, the Couple Who Taught America How to Love by Thomas Maier

The Amnityville Horror by Jay Anson

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So part of my “catch up while husband is overseas” plan involved writing 5 reviews per day but since that took roughly 100 years last night I decided to shoot for a more reasonable three. I am also going to try and find common threads between my reviews so it makes a bit more sense. All of the below reviews are “true stories” but I only needed one to check off the True Story Bingo square- CBR Bingo: True Story The Trial of Lizzie Borden, […]

Reproductive Freedom and the Apocalypse

The Book of the Unnamed Midwife by Meg Elison

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  Content warning: sexual violence, stillbirth A worldwide plague kills nearly everyone on the planet. A midwife wakes in a San Francisco hotel. (It’s practically “28 Days Later.”) She stocks up on antibiotics—and, critically, birth control—and walks into an extra-hellish hellscape. Since females experienced the highest mortality rate, the rare woman or girl that survives is a treasure. Commodity. Object. The midwife trains herself to be self-sufficient. She carries a gun. However, the key to her survival is her avoidance of other people—that is, men. […]



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