Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Easy Does It

Just One Look by Lindsay Cameron

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Read this as part of CBR14 Bingo: Minds. The main character plays mind games as a stalker. She also matches her mind against someone else in a game of corporate espionage.  After reading consecutive stinkers from two of my favorite writers (Charles Willeford and Stephen King), it was refreshing to dive into this entertaining thriller from a new name. I was searching for something corporate-y at the bookstore the other day and I came upon this one randomly after finding the authors name on a list of financial thrillers. […]

It’s Only a Matter Of…

Trust by Hernan Diaz

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Read as part of CBR14Bingo: Dough. The book involves a man who makes a lot of money (“dough”) off the stock market in the 20s and 30s and how stories revolve around him. I was excited to get this one given both the premise and reviews. I have a yen for these kinds of neo-Gatsby stories set in the early part of the 20th century that examine finance and/or gangsterism juxtaposed with the American Dream. Legs by William Kennedy qualifies for this label, as does Jennifer Egan’s Manhattan […]

The Sidewalks of New York

Tales of Times Square by Josh Alan Friedman

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I’ve always had this burgeoning curiosity of the old Times Square, even before seeing (and enjoying) HBO’s The Deuce. Who were the people that worked these parlors? The sex shows? The hustles? Where did they go when they were done? What are the truths and the myths surrounding the deuce? And moreover, how did one of America’s major entertainment landmarks become a red light zone of sex? Josh Friedman’s collection of story/essays covers almost all of this. I learned about the performers and the reluctance that drove […]

The Story the Torn Gown Told

The Sewing Girl's Tale: A Story of Crime and Consequences in Revolutionary America by John Wood Sweet

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CBR 14 Bingo: Question Lanah Sawyer was questioned again and again in an effort to get at a truth she had already told. One evening, a teenage girl and a man who called himself a lawyer went for a walk on the Battery. But Lanah Sawyer refused to stay silent about what he had done to her – and charged Harry Bedlow with rape. I have heard of Lanah Sawyer before, briefly, though I cannot recall whether it was in history class or in Gail […]

July 2022 Leftovers

The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware

From Crook to Cook: Platinum Recipies from Tha Boss Dogg's Kitchen by Snoop Dogg

Brighton Rock by Graham Greene

Plunder of the Sun by David Dodge

Stunt: A Mythical Reimagining of Nellie Jackson, Madame of Natchez by Saida Agostini

The Last Pirate of New York: A Ghost Ship, A Killer, and the Birth of a Gangster Nation by Rich Cohen

The Guest List by Lucy Foley

Defender of the Innocent: The Casebook Files of Martin Ehrengraf by Lawrence Block

Voluntary Madness by Vicki Hendricks

Two Gentlemen of Lebowski: A Most Excellent Comedie and Tragic Romance by Adam Bertocci

The Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor by Gabriel García Márquez

A Night to Remember by Walter Lord

Slonim Woods 9: A Memoir by Daniel Barban Levin

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman

My Summer Darlings by May Cobb

The Cat Who Saved Books by Sōsuke Natsukawa

Firestarter by Stephen King

The Editor by Steven Rowley

Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson

Crossroad Blues by Ace Atkins

Lucky by Jackie Collins

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Here are reviews for the books I read in July that I didn’t have time or energy to do a full review on. Note: I was out of work in July so I read a lot. The Woman in Cabin 10 *** Read this while on a cruise ship and it definitely gave me some interesting feelings! A relatively entertaining thriller. I’d read another Ruth Ware book but wouldn’t rush out to do so From Crook to Cook: Platinum Recipes From Tha Boss Dogg’s Kitchen**** […]

“You ever see somebody ruin their own life?/ His poor wife.”

The Scandalous Hamiltons: A Gilded Age Grifter, a Founding Father's Disgraced Descendant, and a Trial at the Dawn of Tabloid Journalism by Bill Shaffer

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CBR 14 Bingo: Scandal The yellow papers screamed scandalous headlines in this case of stabbings, baby trafficking, and mysterious deaths. When Ray Hamilton’s wife is arrested for stabbing the family’s wet nurse, a great deal of scandalous truth comes out – namely, that the child is not his, nor hers. I have not seen that seminal musical Hamilton, but I had read the doorstopper of a book it was based on. While I knew all about the successes and scandals of Alexander Hamilton’s life, I had […]



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