Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Almost Perfect Collection of Short Stories

Blackbird House by Alice Hoffman

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The only reason why I didn’t give this collection 5 stars is that not all of the stories grabbed me the same way as “The Red Garden.” Also though there is the linkage of the Blackbird House, we have so many loose endings with the people who come and live in that house. I loved “The Red Garden” because many of the people in those stories popped up as young children and then as adults or were referred to in some way so you know […]

Welcome to Blackwell, Massachusetts

The Red Garden by Alice Hoffman

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So this was a really great book to choose for the Sleepy Hollow square. Taking place in a small town in Massachusetts, Alice Hoffman follows the town founders and descendants of Blackwell, Massachusetts. Mixing in historical incidents as well as some magical realism, the town and the residents feel like a very real place after a few chapters. The flow between chapters is great and sometimes a person you read about as a child appears in a short story later. I do wish that a […]

A mystery, a thriller, and two collections

The Sentence is Death (Hawthorne #2) by Anthony Horowitz

I'll Never Tell by Catherine McKenzie

Full Throttle by Joe Hill

Someone Who Will Love You in All Your Damaged Glory by Raphael Bob-Waksberg

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(4 stars) The Sentence is Death (Hawthorne #2) by Anthony Horowitz I really like Anthony Horowitz. His mystery novels are such incredible homages to the larger concept of A Mystery Novel. He manages to poke fun at the genre while simultaneously improving it with his writing. The Sentence is Death, his second novel in a series about a curmudgeonly ex-police officer named Hawthorne, was fantastic. Once again, a fictional version of Horowitz (Anthony) acts as the main character and narrator, and the entire novel is […]

Graveyard Surf

Night Shift by Stephen King

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CBR11Bingo: The Collection The stories in Night Shift, Stephen King’s first collection of short stories, read for the most part like spec scripts for The Twilight Zone. They’re high-concept stories with dynamite premises and most of them have that signature Twilight Zone ironic ending or twist. King is great at establishing a world filled with realistic characters even as the plots themselves are bizarre and occasionally ridiculous. The collection kicks off with “Jerusalem’s Lot”, set in the vampire-infested town of King’s Salem’s Lot more than […]

If Uncle Stevie’s name is on it, odds are I’m going to read it.

Flight or Fright by Stephen King, Bev Vincent

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CBR11bingo #TheCollection Its no secret that I am not a huge fan of flying. I understand that it is the safest way to travel. But I usually choose to drive if I can. I like to be able to choose my own route, to leave when I want to leave, to stop when I want to stop. I like to be in control of my journey. I think the lack of that control in an airplane is part of what makes me uneasy. Oh, and […]

CBR11 #5: The Darkness on the Edge of Town

You Might Forget The Sky Was Ever Blue by Michael Chin

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First of all, I have to admit that this review is probably going to be a little biased because the author happens to be a friend of mine. I’ve known Mike for twenty-three years (Jesus, really?) since I was fourteen. We went to nerd camp together — a total of nine weeks over the course of three years. We took writing classes together and wrote letters during the off-season (yes letters! On paper!) A character in his first published work was based on and named […]



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