Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Disney Songs, Supernatural Problems, Romance, and Death

Masters of Death by Olivie Blake

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Bingo 19: Queer Lives I’m not sure where I saw the blurb for Masters of Death but it was pretty catchy; it also did not hint at the queerness within, but that’s ok. I have to say, I found this pretty enjoyable. There are about 8 main characters, some more main than others, and half of the book revolves around them finding or re-finding their special person. Everyone is ‘inter-species’ to some extent, and one of the more important couples is  same sex; the member […]

São Paulo and the Gates

Paradise City by Joe Thomas

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Read as part of CBR15Bingo: South America. The story takes place (and is largely a commentary on) the city of São Paulo, Brazil, which is located in South America.  There’s a specific kind of fevered, conspiracy-addled, crime fiction that only works in the right hands. Told in a postmodern, often repetitious style that many find grating (including, often, me). And the endings are often ambiguous, incomplete, or complete in a way that you cannot possibly accept or understand. You have to be willing to go […]

Those Still Living…

Tokyo Redux by David Peace

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Read as part of CBR15Bingo: getaway. I’m swapping this one out for “violence (banned).” Though this book is plenty violent. Plus, I really want an excuse to write about this book and make it count for CBR15Bingo.  I don’t know what to say really. This trilogy wrecked me. And to think, I wouldn’t have picked it up if not for journalist Max Read’s suggestion. I read the last three books of David Peace’s Red Riding Quartet last year and you can look at the tag […]

“If an old story is enough to scare people away, then the whole world should scare them.”

After Dark with Roxie Clark by Brooke Lauren Davis

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CBR 15 Bingo – Adulthood: This YA book is a coming-of-age story for Roxie and Skylar, who must grapple with the difficult themes of guilt and closure before they can move past a massive tragedy. A year after Roxie’s sister’s boyfriend is found brutally murdered on the outskirts of town, an unexpected discovery sends Skylar on a frenetic search for the killer, heedless of who might get hurt in the process. This is a fitting read for spooky season – a family curse? A ghost […]

August 2023 Leftovers

Red Cat by Peter Spiegelman

You're Not Listening: What You're Missing and Why It Matters by Kate Murphy

Gangland by Chuck Hogan

Death and the Good Life by Richard Hugo

You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington by Alexa Coe

Britt-Marie Was Here by Frederik Backman

Occupied City by David Peace

Sleepless City by Reed Farrel Coleman

Bad Summer People by Emma Rosenblum

Run Time by Cathy Ryan Howard

Loyalty by Lisa Scottoline

None Of This Is True by Lisa Jewell

The Club by Ellery Lloyd

Not in Bronxville by Rita K. Farrelly

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Unquestionably the worst month in the calendar. Red Cat*** It’s not the writer’s fault that I just finished Robert Kolker’s excellent Lost Girls in light of the apprehension of the man they think is the Gilgo Beach murderer. But my threshold for murdered sex workers was low going into this. I only finished it because it filled a specific square for my library summer reading game. It’s not bad; the mystery is done well but it doesn’t stand out as far as the rest of […]

That Feeling When Your Dog Retrieves a Dismembered Leg

Flight Risk by Cherie Priest

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CBR 15 Bingo – North America: This book is set in rainy Seattle, Washington, and we see plenty of the splendor of its nature as well. Leda, a travel agent and part-time psychic, gets swept up in the case of a dual disappearance when a couple is reported missing in seemingly unrelated circumstances. This is the second book in The Booking Agents series, which follows Leda and a skeptical police detective, Grady, as they solve confounding crimes. I read the first book a few years […]



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