Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Murder mystery with women you won’t like

Scenes of the Crime by Jilly Gagnon

by Leave a Comment

This is a classic beach or vacation read, with I Know What You Did Last Summer vibes but. You know, I say that, but I haven’t read that actual book. I might have watched the movie a looooong time ago though. Ok, there are major differences probably. But we have a group of friends, including Emily, who lost their friend Vanessa one fateful night at her family winery conveniently high up on a treacherous ocean cliff. At Emily’s suggestion, several years later, the friends reunite. […]

God help this woman, I sure can’t!

Negative Space by Gillian Linden

by Leave a Comment

“No one is suggesting anyone should react to anything in any particular way.” I think that is the guiding principle of many people who, whether they realize it or not, end up showing tolerance and ambivalence at the same time. And it sums up how I felt about this book. When I first started listening to this book, I thought the narrator was a teenager. She is timid, insecure, anxious, questioning of every little thing around her. I soon realized she is a teacher at […]

Secret Agent Man

A Perfect Spy by John Le Carré

by 1 Comment

John Le Carré’s books are often labors of love to read. This was both love and labor with neither of them necessarily intertwining. I don’t want to go into details but there was a specific moment at my job this past week where I had to face down reminders of a rough work moment from years before. Nothing bad in terms of abuse or harassment but awful stuff. And it felt good to be reading “Magnus Pym’s” (Le Carré’s, David Cornwell’s) story at the same […]

Only Room for One Goat at the Top

The Feast of the Goat / La fiesta del Chivo by Mario Vargas Llosa

by Leave a Comment

This is my first go-around with Mario Vargas Llosa, and this book was the month’s choice for a world literature bookclub that was held back in May.  I had known for weeks that this was the chosen book, so I thought I had plenty of time to track down a copy to read. However, when I checked the local e-libraries, none of them had any of Vargas Llosa’s books available—in English. Interestingly, Harris County’s online library seems to have almost his entire back catalog in […]

The Mysterious Island

The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne

by Leave a Comment

This will be a very short one because I’m feeling very lazy. The Mysterious Island is also a movie, with fantastic stop-motion animation by Ray Harryhausen. It’s one of my favorite movies and has been since I was a child. Harryhausen uses incredible techniques, such as manipulating an actual crab shell (purchased at Harrod’s in London) into a gigantic monster crab that the protagonists fight. They also fight a giant cassowary-like bird, giant bees, and late in the movie a horrifying sea monster. The use of […]

Murder on an interplanetary cruise

The Spare Man by Mary Robinette Kowal

by Leave a Comment

What: A murder mystery in space!  Lovebirds Tesla Crane and Shal Steward are celebrating their honeymoon on an interplanetary cruise ship.  Tesla’s notoriety has them traveling incognito and all is going well until Shal finds a woman who has been stabbed in the corridor.  When the woman dies shortly thereafter, he is accused of murder.  Tesla and Shal work to solve the murder, clear his name, and try to have a honeymoon! Who:  Tesla Crane is a ridiculously rich heiress and retired roboticist.  Living with […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo