Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Twofer Her

Dogtown by Mercedes Lambert

Soultown by Mercedes Lambert

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A year-and-a-half ago, I was at Mysterious Bookshop in Manhattan, aka my favorite place in the world. I was in a mood to read some LA fiction. The problem is, I have an extensive knowledge of writers who set their books in Los Angeles so I needed help. And this is why we need bookstores. Of the recommendations I got, these lost classics were one. A human recommended them to me. Not a computer. Not a publisher-backed listicle. A human being. Two excellent dives in […]

Her Too?

Dark Sacred Night by Michael Connelly

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Ok so this is actually one of the better Connelly books I’ve read. It definitely merits the 4-star. So why three? There’s just this one thing I can’t let go and I can’t discuss it without spoilers… Also, these spoilers are going to reference the #MeToo Movement and sexual assault in general. I won’t go into graphic detail but if any of that makes you uncomfortable, give it a pass… (Spoilers ahead) Ok so Connelly wrote this at the height of the #MeToo Movement. I […]

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

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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 […]

The Stroll

These Women by Ivy Pochoda

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The thing I most admire about Ivy Pochoda’s These Women is how both feet are firmly in two worlds that she’s willing to write about. In making this a character-driven crime tale with a focus on the sex workers (maybe some of them victimized?), we get a clear picture about the unglamorous life of sex work, especially sex work in low income areas. The need for cash, the dehumanization, the stigma…and yet, these women just go about their business dealing with it all. There’s no glorification or […]

In A Summer Swelter

Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi with Curt Gentry

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I sort of came to this book backwards. I had made it a point in life to learn as little about Charles Manson as possible. I knew he was some sort of specifically evil serial killer, responsible for the deaths of Sharon Tate and others. I knew what he did happened in the 60s. I knew he was considered the modern day boogeyman. But when Once Upon a Time in Hollywood prepared to hit theaters five years ago, I decided it was time to learn more about […]

Hollyweird

Coldheart Canyon by Clive Barker

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I enjoyed this one almost in spite of itself. Being on a Hollywood/LA kick, I decided to tackle this during a space in my schedule where I’d have a lot of time to read. And I was able to binge it in two days. It helped that the writing is good. I loved Baker’s prose, his smooth storytelling ways, etc. And the characters were interesting enough to indulge in. The execution though. That was…something. Frankly, I can stand the weird stuff that Barker is known […]



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