Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


Join the CBR18 Book Bingo Reading Challenge—Now Underway!   

About Pooja

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Ardent reader of pretty much anything, including the backs of shampoo bottles. (Learn more about this Cannonballer: Pooja's Quick Questions interview.)

Pooja's Reviews:

Murder on the New Frontier

Kingdom of Devils: A Tale of Murder in the Shadow of the American Revolution by Katherine Grandjean

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CBR18 Bingo: Map – We follow the Harp brothers’ rampage across maps of Tennessee, Kentucky, and Mississippi – and the brothers’ troubles started with land ownership disputes. On the heels of the American Revolution, Wiley and Micajah Harp went on a violent rampage across Tennessee and Kentucky, but while their crimes may have seemed inexplicable to their contemporaries, they may be tied to the dark realities of the newly promised American Dream. I had never heard of the story of the Harps before, and I knew […]

The Logical Conclusion to Gingers Lacking Souls

Promise Me the Dawn by Jill Gregory

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CBR18 Bingo: Clown – Justin is an utter clown for believing that Belinda should have unconditional trust in him when she’s known him for like two weeks. When orphaned Belinda comes to Salem to stay with her cousin, she little imagines that she will forced to work as a servant, will be swept up into the ongoing witch hysteria, or that she will fall in love with a mysterious stranger. I picked up this particular bodice ripper because of its setting during the Salem witch trials. […]

Hack Your Way Out of Your Troubles

Whack Job: A History of Axe Murder by Rachel McCarthy James

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CBR18 Bingo: Repair – The axe is a tool used to fix a lot of things – houses, sheds, ships.  In this book, it can provide a murderous solution to people’s problems too. The phrase ‘axe murder’ conjures images of a brutal, gruesome, and somewhat old-fashioned crime. The history of the axe murder is much longer than its presence in newspapers though, and more intimately intertwined with the lives of its perpetuators and its victims than one might think. Firstly, Whack Job is a truly excellent […]

Sometimes a Friend Group is Just a Girl and a Murderous Haunted Doll

She's A Doll by Barbara Truelove

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CBR18 Bingo: Friends – The emotional center of this story is the friendship between Lucy and Nicola. After Lucy is murdered by her best friend’s brother, she does not go gently into that good night but instead possess a porcelain doll and decides that she must kill Kyle. But a doll body is weak, so she turns to Nicola, a former classmate, for help in her mission. I’ve long believed that horror and humor are two sides of the same coin, so I really enjoy when […]

“People always say that your wedding day is the happiest day of your life, but honestly, people should try solving murders more often.”

Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto

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CBR18 Bingo: Joker – Vera is a wild card in the investigation around Malcolm’s murder, and shakes up the lives of the suspects out of the blue. After a dead man is found in Vera Wong’s teahouse, being rather unimpressed by the police’s efforts, Vera decides to investigate the death herself. Unfortunately, she finds herself liking all her murder suspects a little too much. A word to the wise: Don’t read this book while hungry. Vera cooks up veritable feasts throughout the book, and the […]

“There’s no point in denying it. Anger is my faithful companion.”

After We Left Cuba by Chanel Cleeton

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CBR18 Bingo: Justice – Beatriz spends the whole novel searching for justice for the death of her brother and her family’s exile from Cuba after the rise of Fidel Castro. Though Beatriz and her family have found safety in Palm Beach after fleeing from Cuba, she has not found peace, and rages about the death of her twin brother and the policies of Castro. Working with the CIA gives her a chance to get revenge, but it may also complicate her relationship with politician Nick. […]



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