Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Thanksgiving 2024 Leftovers

Remembrance Day by Henry Porter

Dead Lions by Mick Herron

Zero Days by Ruth Ware

Whisper Down the Lane by Clay McLeod Chapman

Killing Castro by Lawrence Block

Deadly Beloved by Max Allan Collins

Spy Hook by Len Deighton

London Rules by Mick Herron

Real Tigers by Mick Herron

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Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate. Remembrance Day**** An interesting take on the English-vs-Irish spy novel and while the author telegraphs too many things, he knows how to keep a story moving. Barely clears the 4-star threshold but if I invest time to read something almost 500 pages long, it has to be at least “good” and this was. Dead Lions, Real Tigers, and London Rules**** I had originally meant to do a big long post on my love/grr relationship with Mick Herron’s Slough House […]

Mythology in a Modern World

The Wicked + The Divine by Kieron Gillen, Jamie McKelvie

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I first tried to read The Wicked + The Divine in September 2017, and got through the first five volumes, but felt the series was weird and confusing. Earlier this month, I scrolled through my library’s entire adult graphic novel collection, and saw that the series was now completed, so figured this was as good a time as any to give the series another chance. And I’m so glad I did! The core premise of WicDiv and the phrase that gets repeated as a central […]

“They wear red bandannas knotted around their necks, as if their throats have already been cut.”

Rednecks by Taylor Brown

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When the coal miners of West Virginia attempt to unionize for better working conditions, the resulting conflict escalates close to the level of civil war – and a Lebanese-American doctor caught in between must choose where his allegiance lies. I’ve read about the Battle of Blair Mountain and the West Virginia Mine Wars before, but only in vague detail in high school history courses. Now, of course, I know a lot more – indeed, feel as though I saw it with my own eyes. Though […]

Mash ’em, boil ’em, stick ’em in a stew

How to train your dragon 4: how to cheat a dragon's curse by Cressida Cowell

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The fourth How To Train Your Dragon book continues telling the adventures of the fledgling viking, Hiccup, as he finds his place in the world. Hiccup is the weedy and clever son of his viking clan’s chief, Stoik the Vast. Though he’s proven to his father (3 times now, given this is #4 in the series) that he is a cunning and clever future-chief, they continue to clash with one another. This time, the rub centres around Hiccup’s friend, Fishlegs. Stoik thinks that Hiccup would […]

Meet my emotional support Canadian cop turned contract killer

Exit Strategy by Kelley Armstrong

Made to be Broken by Kelley Armstrong

Wild Justice by Kelley Armstrong

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In a recent conversation, someone mentioned that they were revisiting Kelley Armstrong’s Nadia Stafford series because they needed some bananas distraction and a series about a hit woman with a moral code worked. And then I found the first book, Exit Strategy, available in my AudiblePlus catalog. It was perfect. Disconnected enough from reality to be distracting, but not so disconnected that I had to pay attention to deep world building. The narrator of the three books, Jennifer Ikeda, does a great job. Exit Strategy […]

Where this series shines, and where it falls apart

Lost in the Moment and Found by Seanan McGuire

Mislaid in Parts Half-Known by Seanan McGuire

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After going back and rereading my favorite Wayward Children book (In an Absent Dream), I decided to pick up the last two that I hadn’t read yet. I loved one, didn’t care for the other, and I think I pinpointed what works for me with these books and what doesn’t. Lost in the Moment and Found is the story of Antsy (Antoinette), whose father has died and mother has remarried. Her mother’s new husband is Bad News, and Antsy runs away from home to escape him. She […]



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