Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Simenon (1-2)

Maigret and the Saturday Caller by Georges Simenon

Maigret and the Tramp by Georges Simenon

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“There was a moment, between Quai de Orfevres and Pont Marie, when Maigret paused, so briefly that LaPointe, who was walking beside him, paid no attention.” Maigret fishes out a man who apparently was thrown into the river to murder him and it turns out to be the “tramp” of the title of the book. But further investigation into the man reveals a doctor, now gone missing for some time, and in investigating that disappearance with the classic “qui bono” in mind leads to a […]

It’s rather a lot to tell. But I suppose I should start with the parrot.

A Restless Truth by Freya Marske

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CBR15PASSPORT (Stamp #4: Books from different countries. Do international waters count? If not, written by an Australian.) This is the second book of the Last Binding Series. If you haven’t read it yet, by all means read the first in the series that I reviewed here: A Marvellous Light. It’s a surprisingly fresh take on the well-worn “magic is real” carpet set in the early 1900s. Spoilers abound if you haven’t read the first book. In the aftermath of Robyn and Edwin’s discovery that snobby magical aristocrats are conspiring […]

We are women without a voice…We are women out of time and place, without even the language of the country we reside in.

Women Talking by Miriam Toew

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CBR15PASSPORT (Stamp #3: Books from different countries. Set in Bolivia about a Mennonite community written by a Canadian.) This book is a lot. Whatever triggers you have will be triggered. Toew’s novel is based on a real-life series of sexual assaults that occurred at a Mennonite colony in Bolivia in 2005. The victims ranged in age from 3 to 65 and the assailants were their friends and family members. Drugged with animal tranquilizers, the women would wake bloodied and bruised with no recollection of what had taken […]

Because when women understand chemistry, they begin to understand how things work.

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

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CBR15PASSPORT (Stamp #2: Books recommended by friends. Friends, grocery store clerks, Cannonballers, everyone who has ever read it….) Everyone on the planet has probably read this book already. Many of you reviewed it. It took me forever to actually get to it myself. And I have reasons. So, this will mostly be a review (Can I call it a review? I’m going to call it a review.) about why it took me so long to read a book that hit pretty much all of my buttons. A […]

A story of finding yourself

The Long Run by James Acker

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The Long Run is such a great story of two young boys finding their way and finding themselves along the way. Sandro is invisible in so many ways and he’s learned to protect his softness by keeping to himself, especially as his dad and brothers like to “pick on him” in a way that crosses from affectionate into toxic. Bash is having trouble deciding who he is and who he wants to be outside what those around him expect, and in the process has been […]

We Should Have Seen It Coming

Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

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I am a mood reader prone to slumps and I also rely on my public library (and four additional in-state systems who have reciprocal relationships with my county – libraries are a miracle and you should support yours more) so I don’t always get to read the hot new book when it is hot and new. I know this was the big book around here last year, I read the stats post. So I doubt I’m adding anything new to the conversation here when I […]



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