Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

It’s hard to resist a book described as “The Dark Sapphic Romance that Inspired Dracula”

Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu

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Originally serialized in the magazine The Dark Blue from 1871-72, Carmilla is the first vampire story. Not only did it serve as the inspiration for for Bram Stoker’s Dracula, it was written by a woman. The novel is just over 150 pages long and is presented as a scientific account of events in the life of a young woman named Laura. The novel opens with an unknown intellectual explaining that he is including Laura’s case in volume 1 of a Dr. Hesselius’ collected papers. So […]

A Sheep Detective Story!

Three Bags Full: A Novel by Leonie Swann

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This charming murder mystery was originally published in German in 2005. The Deluxe Edition that I read came out this year, and apparently an animated movie with Hugh Jackman and Emma Thompson is due in 2026. I happened to see the sequel to this novel (Big Bad Wool) in Barnes and Noble, so I asked if they had the first book. If you enjoy cozy murder mysteries, look this one up. The action takes place in a quaint little Irish village called Glennkill, famous for […]

“What is the correct collective noun for us..? Maybe ‘a repugnance of twats’ is most apt?”

The Twat Files by Dawn French

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I am a big fan of British humor, whether on TV, film or the page. While I haven’t seen a lot of the French-Saunders comedy team’s sketch work, I know who they are. I am more familiar with Jennifer Saunders due to Ab Fab, but I was aware that Dawn French had a series called The Vicar of Dibley and I recognized her as “The Fat Lady” in the HP movie franchise. French has written several books, and this latest one The Twat Files got […]

“…it is sad, of course, to forget. But it is a lonely thing to be forgotten.”

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

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This novel is about one life lived over the course of 300 years. Adeline LaRue (Addie) was born at the end of the 17th century in a little village called Villon-sur-Sarthe, but she is still alive in New York City in 2014. This novel is about Addie’s fateful deal with a mysterious dark force and the consequences that follow. It’s a novel about independence, love, death, sacrifice, memory, and the muse that inspires art. As a child, Addie was close to her father and to […]

This was sadly a complete dud

The Love Haters by Katherine Center

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2.5 stars Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for this ARC. My opinions are my own. Katie Vaughn is worried about being fired, so she lies about being able to swim, and is persuaded to go to Key West to film a recruitment video about the coast guard. There she meets Tom “Hutch” Hucheson, the seemingly perfect older brother of her co-worker Cole, who has not been informed that his brother has weaselled out of filming the video. Katie is also pretty much […]

“You see, she had absolutely nowhere else to go”

Elvis and Me (1985) by Priscilla Presley with Sandra Harmon

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Content note for book and review: Grooming, addiction, domestic violence So I’ve recently got into writer/comedian/actress Chelsea Devantez‘s podcast Glamorous Trash, which does deep dives into celebrity memoir and generally unpacking celebrity myth making and narratives in a funny, thoughtful, sometimes poignant, and very incisive and sympathetic way. I listened to the episodes about the memoirs I’d read, and then ordered a bunch more that looked interesting to read before listening to their episodes. (Do other people approach podcasts like book series/binge-watching, whereby they listen […]



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