Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Read It Here First

Lady in the Lake by Laura Lippman

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I won a free ARC from Goodreads in exchange for this review. Thanks Goodreads! Laura Lippman’s been on a bit of a roll with her standalone novels. Wilde Lake was really good and Sunburn is, in my estimation, the best thing she’s ever done. Most of what I loved about reading Lippman’s Tess Monaghan novels growing up was the Baltimore tourism. Being a native of the city, it’s fun to see a bestselling author talk about places I know like they’re real. But her standalone works show how she […]

She was my other half when I had not realized I was incomplete.

A Dangerous Collaboration by Deanna Raybourn

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As soon as Goodreads alerts me that a new Veronica Speedwell mystery is coming out, I immediately put in a request at the library. Thankfully, most of the folks that utilize my library either are ill informed about the publishing date of these books or don’t yet know about them. I can generally get my hands on a brand new copy immediately. This is both a good thing AND a bad thing. I get to read it sooner, but I tear through the book too […]

It took all the strength I had not to fall apart!

I Am Still Alive by Kate Alice Marshall

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I’m really sorry for naming this review after the most cliche song I could have quoted — OR AM I? Sixteen-year-old Jess has been through it this year.  She survived a terrible car crash that killed her mother on impact. She’s left scarred and her leg is irrevocably damaged, despite the diligence she has devoted to her physical therapy. And now, the court has ordered her custody to the father she has barely known, transported there by an old family friend named Gil. Gil does […]

Hot Mess #19

Wicked Prey by John Sandford

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I don’t even know what to say. You have Lucas’s ward (Letty) trying to justifying killing someone because if she does it that means Lucas won’t be involved with it. It makes zero sense and it turned me off the character. She also has a couple of disgusting comments about using people that made me dance the whole way towards she’s a psychopath. Between that story-line and the other one Sandford was too all over the place in this one. I didn’t care about the […]

Not Quite as Light as I Was Hoping For

One for the Money by Janet Evanovich

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[Trigger warning for sensitive material mentioned below.] I first started the Stephanie Plum series many years ago – probably at least 10. I was recently looking for some light reading when I was going through an emotionally challenging time, and since I recalled the series being pretty light and many of the books are in my bookcase, I went ahead and grabbed the first one: One for the Money. The premise is that Stephanie lost her job several months ago and hasn’t been able to […]

If A Book Falls out of a Cliche Tree, Is It Still Good?

Bloody January by Alan Parks

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There’s so much to like about Alan Parks’ Bloody January that I’m almost willing to forgive its many faults. Almost. Not quite. 4-stars is my standard for what I consider a “good read.” 4-stars means the book met the minimum standard for entertainment (and/or education) and quality. I give out 4-stars like its candy. Bloody January should easily slot into a 4-star read. And yet, it pulls hard on every cliche. The drunk detective with a dark past. The hooker with a heart of gold who can’t shake the […]



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