Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Holmes in 1942

A Study in Crimson by Robert J. Harris

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Robert J. Harris’ A Study in Crimson was inspired by the Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes movies. It moves the famous detective from Victorian England to World War II-era England. The time shift of Holmes, Watson, et al. provides a nice shift in perspective and setting. Holmes and Watson were both involved in The Great War, and that experience shaped their youth and their lives. Watson is more or less the competent and curious doctor he always is, just older. He is more upbeat than a […]

Not for me, but my son loved it

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

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My son doesn’t like reading, which is a huge mystery in my house as my wife and I love books and have a house full of them. So it’s always a bit of a struggle finding something for him to read at night. I read Bone by Jeff Smith to him, and he loved it, and he got real into Captain Underpants and a series called Dog Man, both by Dav Pilkey, but I haven’t been able to find anything else to capture his interest. […]

I never left Brokeback Mountain

Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx

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I was obsessed with movies in the 2000s. It was that nascent period where people are first discovering themselves. Some use that time productively, some use it to get into trouble. I used it to watch way too many movies. I eagerly awaited the release of Brokeback Mountain. I was a fan of Heath Ledger, but I loved Ang Lee. The Wedding Banquet and Eat Drink Man Woman are two of my favorite movies. I had never read the short story upon which it was […]

An elegiac paean that didn’t convey what it’s author wanted

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry

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In 1981, Bruce Springsteen was in talks with Paul Schrader to star in a musical that would, six years later, become Light of Day, and starred Michael J. Fox in one of his first non-comedic roles. The film was originally titled Born in the U.S.A., which Springsteen would use to title a song he’d been working on about a Vietnam veteran. After going through several home demo permutations, it would eventually be the center-point for his 1984 multi-platinum album of the same name, and helped […]

Much Tragic. So Drama.

The Distracted Preacher and Other Tales by Thomas Hardy

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Must confess.  In my late teens, I went on a Thomas Hardy binge.  British lit wasn’t new to me, but something about Tess of the D’Urbervilles and Far From the Madding Crowd just hit my tragic drama queen teen heart.  Read everyone I could get my hands on, and in those days, there was a fair bit to be found, in school libraries and even public ones.  Inevitably the protagonist (and it was usually a heroine) came to a sad end, and I was there […]

A Cozy Story that Won’t Stress You Out

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna

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I must have felt like I needed a book hug, since I chose this one, which was described as a cozy read. I’ve heard of cozy mysteries and have been curious about the quaint worlds they inhabit. To be clear this is not a cozy mystery, it’s a cozy story – a gateway drug of sorts into cozy mysteries. This is a story about Mika, a witch who lives in England. Mike meets with other witches, in a sort of bi-monthly support group, but members […]



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