Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

The old west gets fenced in

The Last Kind Words Saloon by Larry McMurtry

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This slight and swift-moving novella follows Wyatt Earp and his best bud, Doc Holliday, around an increasingly settled west. In addition to these two main characters, who do little but gamble, drink and very occasionally get into some gunplay, we meet Wyatt’s wife, Jessie, a rancher, Charlie Goodnight, a madam, San Saba, and an intrepid lady reporter, Nellie Courtwright. Several of the other Earp brothers are mentioned but exist mostly off-screen, as impetus for the plot (Virgil become sheriff, Morgan opening a new saloon). McMurtry’s […]

“And so I began my criminal career there in the house of God, with a leaky pen instead of a pistol and books instead of silver for my reward.”

Outlawed by Anna North

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I still don’t know how I feel about this one and it’s been over a month. It was a super fast read, read it only about three hours, and parts of it I really liked, I guess overall I just wasn’t in the mood for a story that wasn’t all HEAs all over the place. Or that at least didn’t kill the one character I liked the most. Thanks for that, by the way. Outlawed is an alternate history western set in 1894-5, in a […]

Damn the Man

Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey

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I listened to Sarah Gailey’s Magic for Liars last year and enjoyed it, but this was even better. Upright Women Wanted is set in a Wild West style world from the future, where a continuous war has torn the country apart and men dominate society. Information, the tool we use to grow and learn and resist, is tightly controlled with approved materials from the Librarians. The goal for this society is to keep people uneducated and very carefully educated. At the start of the story, […]

cbr12bingo – Gateway (plus two “bingos” and a Double Cannonball!)

Coyote Doggirl by Lisa Hanawalt

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Are you familiar with Lisa Hanawalt? If not, how is that even possible? She is a brilliant cartoonist, show-runner, writer, illustrator, podcast host- the list goes on forever and ever. She designed the entire look of Bojack Horseman, has created comics for Lucky Peach (RIP) and Drawn and Quarterly, and is the creator and show-runner of Tuca and Bertie. You may not be entirely familiar with her work, but you must have seen her brightly colored and lovingly created plant and animal people at least in passing- she is everywhere! […]

“And then I had my greatest stroke of genius since that ham sandwich with pickles that time.”

Karen Memory by Elizabeth Bear

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At one point, I was considering giving this five stars, I was having so much fun with it. Some pacing issues towards the end, as well a tiny quibble with the ending brought me back down to earth, though. But overall, fun! Karen Memory is a book I wasn’t really looking forward to reading, for what reason I’m not sure. I’d never read Elizabeth Bear before (but will in future!), and sometimes Westerns just don’t work for me (and other times I love them). But […]

Gonna ride til I can’t no more

The Lost Man by Jane Harper

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I didn’t think it was a good idea to start in on another mystery after falling so hard for The Dime, fearing that anything would suffer in comparison, but my library loan was expiring soon so I jumped into The Lost Man and hoped for the best. Turns out it was the best one two punch combo ever. They both have a western kind of feel and are slow burns. The Lost Man takes place in the same universe as Jane Harper’s wonderful Aaron Falk […]



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