Cannonball Read 15

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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About Jake

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I love reading! (Learn more about this Cannonballer: Jake's Quick Questions interview.)

Jake's Reviews:

> FAQ Home
> Articles by: Jake

Oh, you mean the GANGS of New York

Rogues' Gallery by John Oller

March 27, 2023 by Jake Leave a Comment

I was jonesing for a New York City gangster tale last week. I finally started Herbert Asbury’s Gangs of New York but quit when I realize that the book is less glorious embellishment and more fan fiction. Frustrated, I looked for a substitute and then remembered I purchased John Oller’s Rogues’ Gallery on a lark. It aspires to be a corrective to Asbury’s highly fictionalized accounting which was held as a historical standard for years. Oller is more scholarly than smooth but this might scratch the itch if you’re […]

Filed Under: History, Non-Fiction Tagged With: Immigration, John Oller, New York City, Rogues Gallery, Teddy Roosevelt, true crime

Jake's CBR15 Review No:32 · Genres: History, Non-Fiction · Tags: Immigration, John Oller, New York City, Rogues Gallery, Teddy Roosevelt, true crime ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

Generational Trauma

Mystic River by Dennis Lehane

March 21, 2023 by Jake Leave a Comment

“Will anything save me from this months-long reading slump I’m in?” so I cried. Deepti Kapoor’s Age of Vice came close but I think that was largely due to the fact that I haven’t read many stories set in India so I didn’t know the familiar tips and tricks Stateside writers do. Aside from that one, I’ve read a lot of good stuff this year but I’ve also quit a lot because…well I don’t know the “because.” Have my standards gotten higher? Am I just tired of […]

Filed Under: Mystery Tagged With: Boston, crime, Dennis Lehane, Massachusetts, Mystic River

Jake's CBR15 Review No:31 · Genres: Mystery · Tags: Boston, crime, Dennis Lehane, Massachusetts, Mystic River ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

Wolf Women

Watch the Girls by Jennifer Wolfe

March 15, 2023 by Jake 3 Comments

Whew. This book is something. Don’t know if I loved it or hated it but I know I won’t forget it! I almost quit it five times and yet I couldn’t put it down. I can usually handle bleak, depressing crime fiction but oh man, this one is bleak!* It mostly works until it doesn’t…but the ending kind of comes together but it doesn’t? I really need more people to read this so I can parse it out. A few more points… -Loved: Jennifer Wolfe […]

Filed Under: Featured, Mystery Tagged With: california, horror, Jennifer Wolfe, mystery, thriller, Watch the Girls

Jake's CBR15 Review No:30 · Genres: Featured, Mystery · Tags: california, horror, Jennifer Wolfe, mystery, thriller, Watch the Girls ·
Rating:
· 3 Comments

Jersey Girl

Death of a Dancing Queen by Kimberly G. Giarratano

March 13, 2023 by Jake Leave a Comment

CW: This book has a tragic trans angle. I won’t spoil how and while I think the writer handled it well enough, it still touches on some worn tropes that could be hard for some. Please be warned. They say that if you like to write, write a book you’d want to read. I had no hand in writing Death of a Dancing Queen, obviously, but by-and-large this is a book I’d want to write: interesting PI character, well-described setting, villains of both the regular- and underworlds respectively. […]

Filed Under: Fiction Tagged With: Billie Levine, Death of a Dancing Queen, Kimberly G. Giarratano, mystery, new jersey

Jake's CBR15 Review No:29 · Genres: Fiction · Tags: Billie Levine, Death of a Dancing Queen, Kimberly G. Giarratano, mystery, new jersey ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

Nun of the Above

Scorched Grace by Margot Douaihy

March 6, 2023 by Jake 3 Comments

As readers, we all dream of books that are specifically written for us. Certainly, we sometimes like to be challenged and pulled out of our comfort zone. But most of the time, we sit around asking questions like: Man, I wish someone would write a book in the hardboiled vein of a badass Catholic nun trying to solve a mystery in sun soaked New Orleans. Or words to that effect. Anyway, yes, Margot Douiahy wrote a book that was basically fine tuned to someone who likes the […]

Filed Under: Mystery Tagged With: LGBTQIA, Margot Douaihy, mystery, New Orleans, nuns, Religion, Roman Catholicism, Scorched Grace

Jake's CBR15 Review No:28 · Genres: Mystery · Tags: LGBTQIA, Margot Douaihy, mystery, New Orleans, nuns, Religion, Roman Catholicism, Scorched Grace ·
Rating:
· 3 Comments

Successionary

Unscripted: The Epic Battle for a Media Empire and the Redstone Family Legacy by James B. Stewart and Rachel Abrams

March 1, 2023 by Jake Leave a Comment

Look, I’m simple: if you bill a book as a “non-fictional Succession,” load it with family drama and a bunch of wannabe Richard IIIs and Lady Macbeths, and put billions of dollars and a major media or financial empire at stake, I’m absolutely going to devour it. This is no exception. As to the quality of the book, it’s fine. Quite good at times. James B. Stewart wrote the magnum opus of these kinds of books in Disneywar and I was kind of expecting that. But it didn’t […]

Filed Under: Non-Fiction Tagged With: CBS, James B. Stewart and Rachel Abrams, Les Moonves, Media, Sumner Redstone, true crime, Unscripted, Viacom

Jake's CBR15 Review No:27 · Genres: Non-Fiction · Tags: CBS, James B. Stewart and Rachel Abrams, Les Moonves, Media, Sumner Redstone, true crime, Unscripted, Viacom ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments
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