Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


The Sun Down Motel is a rollercoaster ride of nail-biting terror

The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James

by Leave a Comment

The Sun Down Motel hooked me from the start. I loved it that first night of reading. But when I picked it up the second night, I was filled with dread. I wasn’t sure I wanted to continue. I chalked it up to being tired and read on. I’m glad I did because it’s an amazing book. But it is a tense book, absolutely gripping and nerve-wracking. I had a headache yesterday evening from clenching my jaw while reading this. I didn’t even realize I […]

“Fear of the dark. Until I came here, I thought that was for children.”

Dark Matter by Michelle Paver

by Leave a Comment

In 1937, four young men travel to Spitsbergen where they plan to overwinter in a remote bay for scientific purposes. Through unfortunate circumstances and unforeseeable events, one of them is left there on his own, in the endless night of an Arctic winter, in a place the locals call haunted, with only a few dogs and his own thoughts as companions. What makes this book is the atmosphere. Paver manages to bring the Arctic wasteland to life by describing everything in a vivid and evocative […]

Less Bite Than I Imagined

Dracula by Bram Stoker

by Leave a Comment

Written in 1897, Bram Stoker’s Dracula is obviously one of the most famous horror stories of all time, introducing the character of Count Dracula and a slew of vampire lore. The story of the count travelling to England to spread his evil, and a group of men and women led by expert on the undead Abraham von Helsing trying to stop him, is told through a series of diary and journal entries, letters, telegrams, and newspaper articles. And herein already lies one of the fundamental […]

King in Brief

Everything's Eventual by Stephen King

by Leave a Comment

Everything’s Eventual is a collection of fourteen stories, all of which were published in the ’90s or very early 2000s. Occasionally that comes through with halting references to email or other tech stuff of that era, but for the most part the stories are somewhat timeless. Quality-wise they are a mixed bag, as I suppose all short story collections are. I’ve been reading this collection inbetween other books for a few months new, so in writing this review I struggled to remember what the lesser […]

“Anyway, we delivered the bomb.”

In Harm's Way by Doug Stanton

by 5 Comments

A lifelong Jaws fan, the most I ever really knew about the USS Indianapolis was what was related by Quint in one of my favourite scenes in cinema, so when I spotted this book, complete with its same-surname-as-me author, it was a must buy. It turns out – as always –  that reality is far, far more horrifying than any Hollywood blockbuster could ever wish to be. For those who don’t know what happened to the Indianapolis and her men, a brief synopsis. Fresh from […]

Why don’t you find yourself a new wife, Pops?

Audition by Ryu Murakami

by Leave a Comment

I guess I didn’t really like this one. I’ve never seen the movie and so part of that appeal is lost for me, and I ended up reading it because it was available on Hoopla and short and figured why not. The story begins with an aging filmmaker, a widower with a son, looking for a new wife or thinking about growing into old age in a relationship rather than alone. He and a friend come up with the idea to create a casting call […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo