Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“He also has only nine months to live, although he doesn’t know it yet.”

The Life of Chuck by Stephen King

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Based on the African proverb “When an old man dies, a library burns down” and the line from Walt Whitman’s poem Song of Myself “I am large, I contain multitudes”, The Life of Chuck is about the life of Charles “Chuck” Krantz, told backwards from his death to his early childhood, and how his death is causing the death of the universe held inside of him. Setting aside the contents for a moment, you have to love any book with Tom Hiddleston on the cover. […]

Night & Day by John Connolly

Night & Day by John Connolly

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This took me several months to complete and I really wish I had DNFed it. I didn’t because I love John Connolly so much, but honestly this anthology was not great. And when I realized 50 percent of the book is in essence a biography of Christopher Lee and his involvement with a film called “Horror Fest” I should have been fully done. I adore the Charlie Parker series since Connolly has done a great job of blending mystery/horror/magical realism, etc. I was hoping for […]

Review of the Alibis Collection

Death Row by Freida McFadden

The Ex-Wives Club by Sally Hepworth

False Note by David Lagercrantz

The Skydivers by Chris Bohjailian

Good Neighbors by Chad Zunker

Small Things by Wanda M. Morris

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4 stars for this one. I thought the first story in the “Alibis Collection” was really strong and honestly the best out of the bunch. I thought that McFadden actually stretched herself in this one in a good way. I didn’t see the twists coming and loved how she tied things up her. “Death Row” follows a woman named Talia Kemper has been on death row for years after being convicted of the murder of her husband. We find Talia remembering things before she was […]

Hello Darkness My Old Friend

Dark Tales by Shirley Jackson

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I think I’ve found my favourite genre! It only took me 37 years (as of today)! Dark Tales is a collection of dark short stories by Shirley Jackson. They range from biting yet realistic dissections of suburban life to classic ghost stories and fever-dream-like tales with loose endings frayed as cut ribbons. My favourite stories were ‘Paranoia’, in which an ordinary businessman is hunted through the big city by mysterious figures, and ‘What a Thought’, in which a housewife experiences life- ending changing urges after […]

Letter Slot by Owen King

Letter Slot by Owen King

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Not a bad short story, but one that I have read before in different ways. Stephen King has done a ton of short stories about being careful what you wish for, so this felt very King-like. Of course it makes sense when you know who Owen King is (Stephen King’s son). I think that King could have changed it up a bit by showing a different/darker ending. I thought that is where he was headed, but instead we get something different. I don’t know, it […]

Night and Day in Misery by Catriona Ward

Night and Day in Misery by Catriona Ward

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Trigger warning: Physical abuse is described, but not in detail. Suicide A really good friend of mine that primarily reads horror said that this book really is a great take on grief based horror fiction and I agree. Catriona Ward has explored this in some of her other works, but this one was well done. I think that it just flowed perfectly. You have the sadness for the main character, Stella, but at times man, I was mad. As things started to slot into place […]



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