Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“No one could ever truly love a twisted person like me as an equal.”

Training Mister Sakurada by Kaya Azuma

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I have been reading a lot of BL lately, so I think a good chunk of my reviews will end up being on this topic this year. I am not usually a romance novel reader, but I love a gay romance comic. I’ve been into this genre since the first manga boom of the early 2000s when everything was shrinkwrapped and the majority of the titles getting translated had terrible art for some reason, so it’s been nice to survey the scene in 2023 and […]

CBR15 Bingo: Sex (Bingo AND Cannonball)

Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey

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CBR15 Bingo: Sex (the protagonist is a god-touched masochist courtesan spy) Kushiel’s Dart is the first novel in the Kushiel’s Legacy series, which came to number six books in total. Jacqueline Carey also wrote an additional trilogy in her Terre D’Ange universe, and over the course of all of her books, pretty much explored every continent in her alternate-history fantasy world. This first book is set in an alternate historical version of Europe, set at about Renaissance times, or somewhat earlier, although the descriptions of […]

May-July Leftovers

There Will Be Fire: Margaret Thatcher, the IRA, and Two Minutes That Changed History by Rory Carroll

City of Dreams by Don Winslow

Madame Restell: The Life, Death, and Resurrection of Old New York's Most Fabulous, Fearless, and Infamous Abortionist by Jennifer Wright

Under Color of Law by Aaron Philip Clark

The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson

The Last Quarry by Max Allan Collins

Tripwire by Jack Reacher

Baby Moll by John Farris

Only the Dead Know Brooklyn by Thomas Boyle

The Laundromat: Inside the Panama Papers Investigation of Illicit Money Networks and the Global Elite by Jake Bernstein

Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem

Winning Fixes Everything: How Baseball's Brightest Minds Created Sports' Biggest Mess by Evan Drellich

X by Davey Davis

Our Last Season: A Writer, A Fan, A Friendship by Harvey Araton

The Testament of Mary by Colm Tóibín

Hard Rain by Samantha Jayne Allen

The Boys From Biloxi by John Grisham

Ex Machina Book Four by Brian K. Vaughan

Jacket Weather by Mike DeCapite

Straight Cut by Madison Smartt Bell

The Crust on Its Uppers by Derek Raymond

That Kind of Danger by Donna Masini

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green

Spenser Confidential by Ace Atkins

Crook Manifesto by Colson Whitehead

Weyward by Emilia Hart

The Mysterious Disappearance of Leon, I Mean Noel by Ellen Raskin

The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix

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I usually do these at the end of the month but then I went through a big reading slump March-May. And then I roared back but realized I was behind. So apologies for this being so long. There Will Be Fire **** A good, readable text on a moment in history I knew little about. Even after reading Patrick Radden Keefe’s Say Nothing, I still had a lot of problem keeping track of all the socio-political dynamics so it’s good that Rory Carroll makes it accessible […]

I was wholly unprepared for such tenderness and humor

For Real by Alexis Hall

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CBR15Bingo: Europe square CBR15Passport: Books from different countries (England) “A soft pulse of desire went through me, not for sex or pain or humiliation or some other release, but for this, this quiet closeness. Someone to hold in the dark.” ― Alexis Hall, For Real “What could I do with a boy who had brought me to my knees twice, yet still held my hand in the dark? What could I give in return for such kindness? Such faith? I would so gladly bear all […]

“Better to be feared than desired.”

Stone Heart by Katee Robert

Radiant Sin by Katee Robert

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Stone Heart – 3 stars Medusa, an assassin working for Athena, is sent to kill Calypso, the inconvenient mistress of a high-profile politician. But Calypso, beautiful and cunning, will do anything to save her life – including seducing Medusa. This book serves as a prequel of sorts to the series, introducing the reader to the world of Olympus and the machinations of the Thirteen. I enjoyed the new perspective that we got on living in the city – unlike in the main books of the […]

Much more than super hot, sticky, sweet

Cinnamon Roll (Bold Brew Book 9) by Anna Zabo

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So, I read this tweet from our very own Emmalita recommending Cinnamon Roll (Bold Brew Book 9) by Anna Zabo because it is a masterclass in setting up the story. It is that. It is also a fantastic example of BDSM romance that is actually safe, sane and consensual while being SUPER sexy. (And BDSM isn’t even a particular kink of mine, so that says A LOT.) Even more importantly, it is a romance novel where the leads actually communicate with each other. I was […]



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