Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

December 2023 Leftovers

Mandarin Plaid by SJ Rozan

Lady Killer, Volume 1 by Joëlle Jones

Zatanna: The Jewel of Gravesend by Alys Arden

Batman, Vol. 6: Graveyard Shift by Scott Snyder

The Confession by Domenic Stansberry

A Friend is a Gift You Give Yourself by William Boyle

Joe Dogs: The Life and Crimes of a Mobster by Joseph Iannuzzi

Robert B. Parker's Cheap Shot by Ace Atkins

Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. by Ron Chernow

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Merry Christmas. We may need to dispense with the cold/snow songs. They’re about as realistic as Santa at this point. Mandarin Plaid **** SJ Rozan continues to improve with each book in this series. This one has layers and moves well to its conclusion. I’m not gonna be totally sold on a white person writing from the perspective of an AAPI one but I think Rozan does a better job with it than she did in the first one. May have to go long with […]

‘I claim my place. And if the pattern of the world refuses to let that place exist, I will change it. ‘

He Who Drowned the World by Shelley Parker-Chan

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There will be spoilers from She Who Became the Sun here, be warned.  He Who Drowned the World was one of my more anticipated reads this year, and Emmalita was so very kind and sent me a copy. So, I owe it to squeeze this review in before the year’s end.  She Who Became the Sun was an absolutely fantastic book that really put Shelly Parker-Chan on the map. But it was also a book that was eager to give you a gut punch. Or […]

Awkward encounters in the giant wooden elephant and beyond

Treachery on Tenth Street by Kate Belli

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When I put the fourth book in the Gilded Gotham Mystery series (just released) on a Christmas list, I realized I may not have read the third, so I got it from the library. Almost fitting in a way, since Treachery on Tenth Street actually (non-spoiler) ends with a reference to the eventual arrival of Christmas. The mystery is almost secondary here, since there is a good bit of emphasis on characters realizing how they feel about each other. The obvious attraction has been clear […]

“When a man dies from a bullet entering his chest, it’s a homicide. When a man dies from a meteorite landing on his head, it’s a Tragedy. Don’t use bullets. Use meteorites. Don’t commit a homicide. Commit a Tragedy.”

Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide by Rupert Holmes

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Basically, this book is murder heists. As I finally sit down to start typing this review, I still haven’t decided if I’m going to round up or down from my 4.5 star rating, so I guess we’ll see what I talk myself into by the end of these several paragraphs. Rupert Holmes, of “Piña Colada Song” fame, has given mystery lovers a real treat. Especially if you like mysteries that play with genre and format, which this very much does. Something I didn’t know going […]

An unsettling tale of true friendship and demons, literal and metaphorical.

My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix

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I don’t know exactly why I’m having such a hard time writing a review for this book. It’s pretty straightforward! (if weird). Best friends in the 1980s (get ready for some Reagan-era skewering) persevere through the power of friendship over evil. Plus lots of 80s nostalgia (including some contemporary language usage that was definitely common then but isn’t accepted now, so be warned if that might bother you). The thing about Grady Hendrix is that he knows how to write characters who are realistic and […]

Medieval Armageddon

Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman

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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 […]



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