Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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An Interesting Experiment in Meta Fiction

Chasing the Boogeyman by Richard Chizmar

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In the summer of 1988 a serial killer began stalking the small town of Edgewood, Maryland. Young girls killed and mutilated, their bodies left on display, and zero evidence left behind by the killer. Richard Chizmar, a recent graduate from the University of Maryland, returns home in the middle of the spree just as a curfew has been enacted. As he prepares for his wedding and begins his writing career, he finds himself more entwined with the case than he would have thought possible. Between […]

Another Group of Old Friends That All Actually Hate Each Other

The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley

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There is something compelling about an old group of friends that is held together more by nostalgia than by any actual feelings for one another. The inside jokes, the same stories told over and over, the images that are formed of people when they’re still growing up that stick to them even into adulthood. The resentments they feel towards one another as their lives go in directions they didn’t anticipate. And the secrets they keep from each other. If those twisting webs of secrets and […]

Her name! Was Victoria!! Sandwich!!!

The Jam Sandwich Detectives by Clare Thompson

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Thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the audio ARC. It hasn’t affected the contents of my review. Okay, picture Big Little Lies, but less literary and more cozy mystery-esque. A group of moms attend a cake bake-off where everyone has baked a Victoria Sponge, but before many cakes can be tasted and judged, the host (whose name is also Victoria Sandwich!) drops dead. One of our main characters, Rachel, has the blame pinned on her by the other mothers because of some offhand comments she’d […]

Slow burn chills

The Haunted Blizzard by Aviaq Johnston and Athena Gubbe

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The Haunted Blizzard by Aviaq Johnston and Athena Gubbe (illustrator) is a bizarre story set in an equally bizarre blizzard. Some tension, a big reveal, and questions left unanswered. The beautifully dark images tell more of the story than the minimal text. Perhaps for the more mature audiences. Let me start over. The Haunted Blizzard by Aviaq Johnston and the illustrator Athena Gubbe is a  bizarre story. It is set in a blizzard. The students are sent home due to the storm starting. A group […]

When am I going to learn just to read?

My Grandma the Chameleon by Maria Lofgren

The Together Treehouse by Michael Engler and Joëlle Tourlonias

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When am I going to learn that I will just need to read a book without second guessing my choice? Two books I did this too are My Grandma the Chameleon and The Together Treehouse. The first, My Grandma the Chameleon by Maria Lofgren had me, “Do I want to read this? Maybe… nah… well, oookay…” Now, granted, I was not OMG the best book ever when I finally did read (via an online reader provided by a publisher email, due in mid-April 2026) but […]

Pulp Fiction

And Dream of Evil by Tedd Thomey

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This book was a ton of fun. I have a 1954 copy of Tedd Thomey’s And Dream of Evil, a pulp fiction masher with a lurid cover and that old book smell. This is a true tough guy romp with pert breasted dames and lots of fistfights and shoot outs. Mysteries on top of mysteries unfold at a brisk pace. The main character John Rennick–a retired Marine from World War II who now works on oil rigs–wakes up after a beating on a hotel roof […]



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