France – Page 4 – Cannonball Read 17

Medieval Armageddon

Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman

December 14, 2023 by Jake Leave a Comment

This was…not the book I was expecting. I figured it would just be three people questing their way through medieval horror episodes. And it is that. The thing is: the horror is taking place during the bubonic plague, which has also apparently opened a portal to hell freeing the demons to do cosmic battle with the angels…hence the horrors on earth. Yeah this book is a lot. And it’s really good. The three main characters are cyphers for the larger story Christopher Buehlman is trying […]

“I met a man who wasn’t there…”

The Adversary by Emmanuel Carrère

October 10, 2023 by esme Leave a Comment

Strange worlds, bingo I ‘found’ Emmanuel Carrère in a Guardian summer reads column. I must not have read it too carefully, because I didn’t end up reserving the recommended book at my library, but an earlier work, which I then absolutely tore through. The Adversary is a work of true crime, superbly translated by Linda Coverdale, about a man who annihilates his family. Jean-Claude Romand is a bourgeois doctor, a World Health Organization (WHO) researcher, who lives in France near the Swiss border. He is […]

Missed book two, but three was still fun

School Trip (New Kid volume 3) by Jerry Craft

October 10, 2023 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

While you can read the graphic novel, School Trip (New Kid volume 3) solo, you should read volumes one and two first. Jerry Craft has created another interesting look into the life and times of the “new kid at school” Jordan, and how he changes, grows and has the crazy growing pains of being a kid today. And these are not just the usual homework, bullies and friend issues, but he is also dealing with being a kid of color, and is different from most […]

How much of yourself you have to leave behind in order to look like everyone else

Lie With Me by Philippe Besson

October 5, 2023 by carmelpie Leave a Comment

I’m in this state of one-way desire. I feel this desire swarming in my belly and running up my spine. But I have to constantly contain and compress it so that it doesn’t betray me in front of others. Because I’ve already understood that desire is visible. ― Philippe Besson, Lie With Me I’m guessing that there was probably no bolt of lightning, just a warm night full of wine and fluttering moths and the feeling that nothing is really important and everything is possible. […]

I REALLY GOT TO GO

Marcel's Masterpiece: How a Toilet Shaped the History of Art by Jeff Mack

A History of Toilet Paper (and Other Potty Tools) by Sophia Gholz

August 2, 2023 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

There once was a man who came to New York from France around 1915. He had been a painter, but decided he wanted to do something else. And at a time when people thought art could only be “pretty paintings and sculptures by hand” this man decided to turn a urinal upside down, sign it and call it dart. That man was Marcel Duchamp. And Marcel’s Masterpiece: How a Toilet Shaped the History of Art by Jeff Mack tells us that and more. My rule […]

Getting paid to stand around being scary

Standing Heavy by gauZ'

July 29, 2023 by Merryn Leave a Comment

Bingo: Africa; Postcard: Côte d’Ivoire In Nouchi, the popular slang of the Ivoirian city of Abidjan, standing heavy means a lowly paid job that keeps the employee on their feet. This witty novel takes us into the heads of young men from Côte d’Ivoire at the end of long chains of Parisian subcontracted security services, their lack of papers overlooked so long as they meet the racist morphological profile – heavy-set, tall, strong, deferential, and scary. Getting paid for standing is not as easy as […]

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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