Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

A Quick Little Walk on the Dark Side

The Best American Mystery Stories 2018 by Louise Penny (editor)

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I’m going to say that while I did like this collection, I don’t necessarily know that I personally would have called all the included stories “mystery” stories. A lot of them fell into more of a ‘suspense’ or general ‘crime’ genres rather than a true mystery story. That didn’t bother me most of the time, but it was enough of a thing that I wanted to get it out there for anyone who may want to check this one out. As with most short story […]

If You Go Down In The Woods Today You’re Sure of a Big Surprise…

Still Life by Louise Penny

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 I added Still Life to my library queue after hearing another Cannonballer mention it I think in the CBR Facebook thread. This is one of the best parts of the CBR, I find so many great books I would never have found on my own. Chief Inspector Armand Gamache is a man who has found his place in the world. He is one of the best CIs on the force, but he is past the time when promotions and big commendations are coming along, partially […]

“who hurt you once before, so far beyond repair”

The Nature of the Beast (Inspector Gamache #11) by Louise Penny

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This is my first Inspector Gamache book without narrator Ralph Cosham. It took me a bit to get used to hearing Gamache’s voice in my own head without the aid of Cosham, but after ten books Cosham is Gamache’s voice for me and once I got started it all worked itself out. The tenth book, The Long Way Home, was a departure for both Penny and her characters and in some important ways this book is a return to form. We have at the core […]

“I’m sorry. I was wrong. I need help. I don’t know.”

Bury Your Dead (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #6) by Louise Penny

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I’m officially hooked on this series. With the exception of books two and three, which I thought were dips in quality, this series just keeps getting better. Part of my enjoyment comes from this being essentially now a serialized story. The first four you could pick up out of order and still get everything out of them that Penny wanted you to. But this one almost entirely depends, narratively and emotionally, on the previous five books, but mostly the fifth. Spoilers for previous books to […]

Ringing in the New Year with Inspector Gamache <3

Kingdom of the Blind by Louise Penny

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Well, CBR10 was an epic disaster for me (I think I reviewed one book? maybe?), but we’re going to give ‘er another go this year. And what better way to kick things off than with the latest instalment in the Inspector Gamache series. There are very few books that I pre-order and am willing to pay full price for the hardcover immediate release. This series is one of those exceptions. This is the 14th book to date, and I can’t stress enough that you should […]

“It was vital to be aware of actions in the present. Because the present became the past, and the past grew. And got up, and followed you.” #CBRBingo

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This was my favorite of these books so far, by quite a large margin. I would say it probably even surpasses the first book for me, mostly because there was no Agent Yvette Nichol here to muck things up (though she has gotten much better since that first book). There was just something about the central mystery here that really appealed to me. This is book five in the Inspector Gamache series, and he continues to be a very calm, steady presence for Penny to […]



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