Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Blood of Scotland

A Distant Echo by Val McDermid

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It’s crystal clear that I need to read more Val McDermid. A Place of Execution was one of the best things I read in 2021, but I consistently punt on her books. I finally bought 1979with some Christmas money after returning it three times to the library unfinished. I don’t know why, don’t ask me to explain it. She’s very good. Like the other one I read, this is a character driven crime novel with a mystery that’s resolved in a textured way. There are […]

The Cartographers (DNF)

The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd

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I come from the review school of “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all” and so generally avoid sharing my did not finish (DNFs) books. I’m a mood reader! Taste is subjective! Don’t yuck someone else’s yum! I’ve set books aside thinking I hate them and picked them up months later and fallen absolutely in love! So, yeah, this is very strange and uncomfortable for me, but this book made me so angry I have to share. Basic synopsis: […]

“Southern Cheap is, I’m gonna eat stale cookies while I serve you these fresh, warm buttered biscuits. Yankee Cheap is, I’ve got ten million dollars in the bank but I’m gonna cut off the thermostat during a blizzard and here’s my great-great-grandpa’s mothballed coat from the War of 1812 if you don’t have the character and fortitude to generate your own body heat.”

Girl, Forgotten (Andrea Oliver, #2) by Karin Slaughter

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I meant to read this back in August when it came out, but I couldn’t make the timing work (I even read the first book in the series in prep, though I didn’t review it). I finally got around to it, and I really liked it! I’m definitely reading more Karin Slaughter books (these two books were my first of hers). You can read this book on its own if you don’t want to bother with reading the first Andrea Oliver book, Pieces of Her. […]

“I’m not holding you against your will; I’m holding you against your car.”

Mr. Perfect by Linda Howard

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CBR15 Passport Challenge: Books recommended by friends #1 When a list of attributes that “Mr. Perfect” must have goes viral, the worst that the four authors think will happen is some unwanted publicity – but they realize that things can get much worse as someone begins picking them off one by one. I picked this book up on a whim – I’d never read this book before, but one of my Goodreads friends reviewed and it seemed like a fun read. Most of the romantic […]

Love Island

Death in the Family by Tessa Wegert

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There are two things going on with this book, one I loved, the other I just found meh. The good thing is the main case. It’s a Knives Out esque Rich People Being Bad tale playing out on a storm swept island. I liked the way our heroine, Det. Shana Merchant navigated between the good, bad, and ugly of this family, while Tessa Wegert impressively for a rookie effort did a good job peeling back the layers to get to the conclusion. 99% of the […]

Joys and Sorrows of London

Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson

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Happy Cannonball Read 15! This isn’t my first read of 2023, but it’s the first one that merited a review. Shrines of Gaiety is one I put down before Christmas because I didn’t have the time and wanted to fully engage with it. I picked it back up this week hoping it wouldn’t tail off…and it didn’t. Even the ending, which many didn’t like, I enjoyed and I’m almost willing to forgive Kate Atkinson for her past transgressions as to why I can’t get into […]



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