Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Paranormal Activity but Passive-Aggressive

The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St James

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Bingo Square: B (Book) This wasn’t my favorite St. James, though it was still an entertaining read. But when reading a Simone St. James novel, I guess I just want a bit more ghost story to it all. Of course there is a ghost and a supernatural connection because it is after all a novel by Simone St. James but after a spooky set up in the beginning, the supernatural elements feel a bit less relevant for the plot than in some of her other […]

The (rear) end

My Brother's Butt Is Haunted by Dan Poblocki and James Rey Sanchez

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Just in time for the Halloween season (or more accurately, late summer 2025), My Brother’s Butt Is Haunted by Dan Poblocki and illustrated by James Rey Sanchez will be out. Hopefully. I mean someone could raise a stink and say it is inappropriate, it is a real foul bomb or something. I mean, many people will think this is a gas, but you know people can sometimes not get into the spirit of things. When two brothers go to spend the night together at their […]

Trans YA horror in a small town

Lockjaw by Matteo L. Cerilli

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Lockjaw by Matteo L Cerilli is a YA horror that explores small town niceness and what makes a monster real. I’m still fairly newly into horror and very particular, but I like seeing the themes of monstrosity explored through marginalized lenses, so I took the chance to read Lockjaw with glee. This is a story told from several points of view and does some time jumps that aren’t obvious, for reasons that become evident about halfway through the book. I found several elements absolutely heartbreaking, […]

Even New Houses Can Be Haunted

The House Next Door by Anne Rivers Siddons

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This is the only horror novel Anne Rivers Siddons ever wrote, and the only book of hers I’ve ever read, so I feel like we were on some sort of haunted parallel footing here. This is a very well done haunted house story written in a lyrical style, but with a lot of brutal, horrible scenes. The contrast between the nice, aesthetic portions of the book and the growing realization that a nasty little scene is right around the next page makes for a tension-filled […]

The Rights of Women and Machines

The Haunting of Tramcar 015 by P. Djeli Clark

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Bingo 14: Machinery The Haunting of Tramcar 015 takes place in the same world as many of the author’s other works, a steampunk alternative history version of Cairo. The titular tramcar is a major part of the setting, the plot, and we even get some attention to the technical specs on how the tech is supposed to work; thus I would argue this novella/novelette qualifies for the technology focus square. The other reason for the label is that there’s a pretty detailed discussion of whether […]

Books don’t usually make me cry; this book was clearly an exception.

The Haunting of Brynn Wilder by Wendy Webb

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Brynn Wilder has had a terrible, terrible year. She has recently had to handle the end of a decades long romantic relationship, the loss of a close family member, and the dissolution of her passion for her job. In an attempt to reset and recharge, she escapes to the tiny town of Wharton on the shores of Lake Superior where she is staying in a local inn for the summer. Though Brynn is trying to escape from what has caused her so much grief and […]



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