Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“Write everything down.”

I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman by Nora Ephron

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This was my first Nora Ephron book, and likely my last. [If this isn’t a good representation let me know and I’ll certainly revisit!] This is a collection written in the early 2000s, far enough past 9/11 that it’s enjoyably light and perhaps too far from the present that some of the lines are a little…dated? I don’t know. She lived in a different world than I ever have or will – fancy NYC apartments with five-digit monthly rents, East versus West Manhattan sunlight woes, door […]

Throughout Generations

A Long Line of Dead Men by Lawrence Block

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It took me twelve books total to realize how much I love the Matthew Scudder series. But I do. I’m so glad I re-discovered this in the last few months. The early books were just simple whodunnits, no more no less. Competently written yet not necessarily worth the time and effort to invest in the whole series. Yet my thirst for gritty New York tales is almost impossible to slake, so I kept coming back to these. Slowly but surely, Block continued to improve as […]

Bodies Hit The Floor

Killing Williamsburg by Bradley Spinelli

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A big ol’ content warning: this book is about suicide. Suicide is on almost every page. The book itself includes graphic depictions of suicide and bodies in a post-mortem state as a result of suicide. Though I won’t go into detail myself, there’s no way to avoid talking about suicide in this review. If you are triggered by suicide or have a history with suicidal ideation, please skip both this book and this review. … Along with Colson Whitehead’s Zone One, this is another New York […]

…And the Streets Are Mean

The Devil Knows You're Dead by Lawrence Block

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I wanna start backwards and focus on the end of this book, even though I won’t spoil anything. I’m appreciative of Lawrence Block’s ability to always give the Matthew Scudder novels a fresh, unique ending. Each one has its own twist that I didn’t see coming or, while I may have guessed what exactly was coming, still surprised me with its execution. That’s a big reason why I’ve come to love these books, along with the great New York atmosphere, and the genuine complexity of […]

Vacation Reading

All I Did Was Shoot My Man by Walter Mosley

Scythe by Neal Shusterman

The Last Place You Look by Kristen Lepionka

The Big Blowdown by George Pelecanos

Pickup At Union Station by Gary Reilly

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I got some great reading done while I was on vacation this past week. No knockouts but a nice range of good-to-good-enough books. Didn’t have time or resources to catalogue each individually so I’ll do small reviews of every book here. All I Did Was Shoot My Man I continue to be pleasantly mystified by Walter Mosley’s Leonid McGill series. These books are so odd, so transgressive considering what else is out there. He clearly has a gift for this kind of writing. The plot […]

Come for the Historical Lady Police Offer, Stay for the Cozy Mystery

An Orphan of Hell's Kitchen by Liz Freeland

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Full disclosure, I requested this book based on its description and did not realize it was the third book in a series! It’s a testament to the author that I didn’t feel out of sorts reading this novel out of order as she did a good job ensuring any plot points from the first books were subtly explained or inconsequential. Louise, our main character, is a policewoman in New York City right before the United States enters World War I. Louise has German immigrant parents […]



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