Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time
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Early Fall Leftovers

To Start A War: How the Bush Administration Took Us Into Iraq by Robert Draper

The Travelers by Chris Pavone

A Walk Among the Tombstones by Lawrence Block

Dark Fire by CJ Sansom

The Menendez Murders: The Shocking Untold Story of the Menendez Family and the Killings that Stunned the Nation by Robert Rand

Stasi Child by David Young

The Cover Wife by Dan Fesperman

So Thirsty by Rachel Harrison

Revelations of Divine Love by Julian of Norwich

Geiger by Gustaf Skördeman

Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001 by Steve Coll

Slow Horses by Mick Herron

The Devil Knows You're Dead by Lawrence Block

October 14, 2024 by Jake Leave a Comment

I’ve read some interesting stuff lately and I wish I had made more time to document it but life gets in the way that life sometimes does. Not all bad, just life. To Start A War**** I had a long thing here about connecting this to the 2024 election but I don’t want to talk current electoral politics on here, at least the specifics of them. A good book if you want to know the intelligence (ha) perspective of how we wound up in a […]

Filed Under: Fiction, History, Horror, Mystery, Non-Fiction, Religion, Suspense Tagged With: #Henry VIII, #history, 9/11, A Walk Among the Tombstones, Afghanistan, Berlin, Chris Pavone, Christian mysticism, Christianity, CIA, CJ Sansom, Colin Powell, Condolezza Rice, Dan Fesperman, Dark Fire, David Young, East Germany, espionage, Forever Wars, Geiger, George W. Bush, Germany, Ghost Wars, Gustaf Skördeman, Hamburg, historical fiction, horror, Julian of Norwich, Karin Muller, lawrence block, London, Matthew Scudder, Matthew Shardlake, medieval england, mick herron, mystery, New York City, Osama Bin Laden, Rachel Harrison, Religion, Revelations of Divine Love, Robert Draper, Robert Rand, Sara Nowak, Slow Horses, So Thirsty, Stasi, Stasi Child, Steve Coll, Sweden, The Cover Wife, The Devil Knows you're Dead, The Travelers, Thomas Cromwell, To Start a war, Tudor England, vampires, War in Iraq

Jake's CBR16 Review No:168 · Genres: Fiction, History, Horror, Mystery, Non-Fiction, Religion, Suspense · Tags: #Henry VIII, #history, 9/11, A Walk Among the Tombstones, Afghanistan, Berlin, Chris Pavone, Christian mysticism, Christianity, CIA, CJ Sansom, Colin Powell, Condolezza Rice, Dan Fesperman, Dark Fire, David Young, East Germany, espionage, Forever Wars, Geiger, George W. Bush, Germany, Ghost Wars, Gustaf Skördeman, Hamburg, historical fiction, horror, Julian of Norwich, Karin Muller, lawrence block, London, Matthew Scudder, Matthew Shardlake, medieval england, mick herron, mystery, New York City, Osama Bin Laden, Rachel Harrison, Religion, Revelations of Divine Love, Robert Draper, Robert Rand, Sara Nowak, Slow Horses, So Thirsty, Stasi, Stasi Child, Steve Coll, Sweden, The Cover Wife, The Devil Knows you're Dead, The Travelers, Thomas Cromwell, To Start a war, Tudor England, vampires, War in Iraq ·
· 0 Comments

July-August 2024 Leftovers

Heartsick by Chelsea Cain

Brief Answers to the Big Questions by Stephen Hawking

Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare

Conversations With Friends by Sally Rooney

Confucius for Christians: What and Ancient Chinese Worldview Can Teach Us about Life in Christ by Greg A. Ten Elshof

Lucky At Cards by Lawrence Block

A Dance at the Slaughterhouse by Lawrence Block

Case Closed: Lee Harvey Oswald and the Assassination of JFK by Gerald Posner

Doing the Devil's Work by Bill Loehfelm

The Kneeling Man: My Father's Life as a Black Spy Who Witnessed the Murder of Martin Luther King, Jr. by Leta McCullough Seletzky

The Third Bullet by Stephen Hunter

Burning Angel by James Lee Burke

The Queen City Detective Agency by Snowden Wright

Poetic Justice by Andrea J. Johnson

September 14, 2024 by Jake Leave a Comment

Because I’ve been posting most of my reviews due to Bingo, I haven’t kept up with the leftover ones until now. Hope everyone had  a good summer. It’s my least favorite time of year but this one wasn’t so bad. Heartsick***: I took this book too seriously when I tried to read it the first time. I relaxed and enjoyed the ride the second. Goofy fun, nothing more. Brief Answers to the Big Questions****: I do enjoy listening to Hawking’s desire to push the boundaries […]

Filed Under: Biography/Memoir, Fiction, History, Mystery, Non-Fiction, Suspense Tagged With: A Dance at the Slaughterhouse, Andrea J. Johnson, Archie Sheridan, astrophysics, Bill Loehfelm, Bobby Lee Swagger, Brief Answers to Big Questions, Burning Angel, Case Closed, Chelsea Cain, CIA, Confucianism, Confucius for Christians, conversations with friends, cozy mystery, David Robicheaux, Delaware, Doing the Devil's work, FBI, Gerald Posner, Greg A. Ten Elshof, Gretchen Lowell, hard case crime, Heartsick, historical fiction, Ireland, James Lee Burke, john f kennedy, Julius Caesar, lawrence block, lee harvey oswald, Leta McCullough Seletzky, Lucky At Cards, Martin Luther King Jr., Matthew Scudder, Maureen Coughlin, Memphis, mississippi, mystery, New Orleans, New York City, Oregon, plays, Poetic Justice, Portland, Religion, roman empire, Sally Rooney, science, serial killers, Snowden Wright, stephen hawking, Stephen Hunter, the kennedy assassination, The Kneeling Man, The Queen City Detective Agency, The Third Bullet, the universe, true crime, Victoria Justice, william shakespeare

Jake's CBR16 Review No:149 · Genres: Biography/Memoir, Fiction, History, Mystery, Non-Fiction, Suspense · Tags: A Dance at the Slaughterhouse, Andrea J. Johnson, Archie Sheridan, astrophysics, Bill Loehfelm, Bobby Lee Swagger, Brief Answers to Big Questions, Burning Angel, Case Closed, Chelsea Cain, CIA, Confucianism, Confucius for Christians, conversations with friends, cozy mystery, David Robicheaux, Delaware, Doing the Devil's work, FBI, Gerald Posner, Greg A. Ten Elshof, Gretchen Lowell, hard case crime, Heartsick, historical fiction, Ireland, James Lee Burke, john f kennedy, Julius Caesar, lawrence block, lee harvey oswald, Leta McCullough Seletzky, Lucky At Cards, Martin Luther King Jr., Matthew Scudder, Maureen Coughlin, Memphis, mississippi, mystery, New Orleans, New York City, Oregon, plays, Poetic Justice, Portland, Religion, roman empire, Sally Rooney, science, serial killers, Snowden Wright, stephen hawking, Stephen Hunter, the kennedy assassination, The Kneeling Man, The Queen City Detective Agency, The Third Bullet, the universe, true crime, Victoria Justice, william shakespeare ·
· 0 Comments

Let’s Keep This Conclave Ragin’ Bros!

Conclave by Robert Harris

July 29, 2024 by Jake Leave a Comment

Read as part of CBR16 Bingo: detente. A cardinal attempts to keep peace while the church world is suspended over who will be the next Pope, despite shenanigans happening on the side. Also, shoutout to Spencer Hall, whose tweet eleven years ago still makes me laugh and is the title for this review. When I saw the trailer for Conclave, I knew I would be reading the book it was based on no matter what. I have mixed feelings on Robert Harris’ books but they […]

Filed Under: Mystery, Suspense Tagged With: cbr16bingo, Christianity, Conclave, detente, Pope, Religion, Robert Harris, roman catholic, Roman Catholicism, Rome, Suspense, vatican city

Jake's CBR16 Review No:115 · Genres: Mystery, Suspense · Tags: cbr16bingo, Christianity, Conclave, detente, Pope, Religion, Robert Harris, roman catholic, Roman Catholicism, Rome, Suspense, vatican city ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

“Clean hearts and clean minds, cleanliness at all times! Nothing dirty, nothing bad, always happy, never sad!”

Mister Magic by Kiersten White

July 11, 2024 by narfna 2 Comments

I continue to be baffled by the hAtReD for this author’s last adult book, Hide, which I thought was perfectly fine and a good time. But I’m not going to go out of my way to defend it. I didn’t like it that much. But I will defend this one loudly! Luckily, I think overall it is getting better reviews, but still not as good as I think it deserves. First of all, I think it was a mistake (not sure if the author’s or […]

Filed Under: Horror Tagged With: fundamentalism, horror, Kiersten White, Mister Magic, narfna, Religion

narfna's CBR16 Review No:45 · Genres: Horror · Tags: fundamentalism, horror, Kiersten White, Mister Magic, narfna, Religion ·
Rating:
· 2 Comments

“We all had tattoos, scars, secrets, and losses. We all wanted to be forgiven.”

Scorched Grace (A Sister Holiday Mystery, #1) by Margot Douaihy

July 8, 2024 by narfna Leave a Comment

30 Books in 30 Days, Vol. 4 Book 10/30 The ending killed my buzz a little on this one, which up until then had been extremely interesting with arresting imagery (not something I normally care about!) and an extremely unique look at modern religion, from the perspective a queer, chain-smoking, tattooed Catholic nun who was a former punk rocker until traumatic events pushed her to seek solace—as her mother did before her—in a sisterhood of fellow nuns. Plus, there is a mystery here, but honestly, […]

Filed Under: Mystery Tagged With: A Sister Holiday Mystery, Gillian Flynn Books, LGBTQIA, Margot Douaihy, mystery, narfna, Religion, Scorched Grace

narfna's CBR16 Review No:44 · Genres: Mystery · Tags: A Sister Holiday Mystery, Gillian Flynn Books, LGBTQIA, Margot Douaihy, mystery, narfna, Religion, Scorched Grace ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

This was perfectly fine and I did not like it at all.

A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay

June 21, 2024 by narfna Leave a Comment

I actually think what’s going on here is that I really do not like most possession/exorcism stories. Despite loving the friendship aspects of My Best Friend’s Exorcism*, I had a hard time getting through that book and I like it the least of all Grady Hendrix’s stuff, and now I think I know why. The possession story arc mimics dysfunction, and the breakdown of familial relationships (often) or friendships is highly unpleasant to me. I also don’t get anything out of it. Starting about thirty […]

Filed Under: Horror Tagged With: A Head Full of Ghosts, exorcism, horror, literary horror, narfna, Paul Tremblay, possession, reality TV, Religion

narfna's CBR16 Review No:39 · Genres: Horror · Tags: A Head Full of Ghosts, exorcism, horror, literary horror, narfna, Paul Tremblay, possession, reality TV, Religion ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments
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