california – Page 2 – Cannonball Read 17

From Lima, Peru for Sunny City, California

Vampirita and the Angry Mob (Book 1): A Charming Tale of a Young Vampire's Adventure in California by Mariana Llanos

May 31, 2024 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

Vampirita and the Angry Mob (Book 1): A Charming Tale of a Young Vampire’s Adventure in California by Mariana Llanos and illustrated by Laura Brenalla is the story of a “new kid in town” but has a slightly different twist to it with a vampire as our main character. However, the relatable issues of homesickness, not fitting in, and trying to be nice when you want to be anything but, is familiar. However, regardless of how much we know this story, the author has fun […]

April 2024 Leftovers

X = : Poems by Stephen Berg

Charcoal Joe by Walter Mosley

A Game of Lies by Clare Mackintosh

The Hurricane Blonde by Halley Sutton

Vineland by Thomas Pynchon

L.A. Requiem by Robert Crais

Watch It Burn by Kristen Bird

Sleep With Strangers by Dolores Hitchens

The Fixer: Moguls, Mobsters, Movie Stars, and Marilyn by Josh Young

One of Us Is Wrong by Sam Holt

The Fade Out by Ed Brubaker

The Second Murderer by Denise Mina

Blackmailer by George Axelrod

The Darkest Glare: A Story of Murder, Blackmail, and Real Estate Greed in 1979 Los Angeles by Chip Jacobs

Ripley's Game by Patricia Highsmith

May 6, 2024 by Jake Leave a Comment

Happy April, y’all! X = : Poems**** This is why library book bingos are necessary. I only checked this one out because I needed to read a book of poems and I wanted to check the nettlesome “X” off the A-Z reading list. A convoluted reason to begin with and this wasn’t even the book I thought I was getting! I thought I’d get a different X by a different author. I’m glad I got this one. Some of these really spoke to me, including […]

“We are never prepared. We are always overwhelmed at some point.”

Where the Waves Turn Back by Tyson Motsenbocker

April 13, 2024 by The Chancellor Leave a Comment

Where the Waves Turn Back: A Forty-Day Pilgrimage Along the California Coast by Tyson Motsenbocker My rating: 5 of 5 stars “Where the Waves Turn Back” is Tyson Motsenbocker’s memoir of walking the Camino Real from San Diego to San Francisco after the death of his mother. The book opens a few weeks before his mother’s death. She’s in hospice and the family has gathered to be with her. In one of her conversations with Tyson, she challenges him to take time to grieve and […]

If it wasn’t for a gardening club, taxidermists, and friends, Joshua Tree National Park wouldn’t be

Cactus Queen: Minerva Hoyt Establishes Joshua Tree National Park by Lori Alexander

March 15, 2024 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

Don’t get stuck by the lady known as the Cactus Queen! In Lori Alexander and Jenn Ely’s book Cactus Queen: Minerva Hoyt Establishes Joshua Tree National Park we learn of a woman who loved the desert, its nature and who found a way to make it available for everyone by saving it. I read this via an online reader copy, so I am assuming it will be a picture book size, but I really think everyone should read regardless of age or if the picture […]

Skin

Perdition U.S.A. by Gary Phillips

January 11, 2024 by Jake 2 Comments

I’ve written it in other reviews and I know it can come off as pandering so forgive me but one of racism’s many sins is that the Ivan Monk series isn’t more widely available. Yes it does have a certain niche following among those of us who peruse mysteries. But good God, I go to a mystery section at my local Barnes and Noble and there’s so…much…dreck (and Agatha Christie reprints which — to be clear — is not dreck but that estate really doesn’t […]

The Great Crime Boom

San Francisco Homicide Inspector 5-Henry-7 by Frank Falzon, Duffy Jennings

December 2, 2023 by Pooja Leave a Comment

As a homicide inspector in San Francisco during the 1970s and 80s, Frank Falzon investigated some of the most famous crimes of the decade, including the Night Stalker serial murders and the Moscone-Milk assassinations. I came to this book in a pretty serendipitous way. I’d just listened to an episode of My Favorite Murder in which the one of the hosts covered a case discussed in this book, which she’d come across because her cousin was a colleague of Falzon’s. Just a day later, when I […]

Zirza on A Gothic Classic for a ReasonIt's one of those wish-you-could-read-it-again-for-the-first-time books. I loved it.
Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

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