Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


You can’t break the ties that bind

A Box Full of Darkness by Simone St. James

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This is the most I have enjoyed a Simone St. James novel in a while. She is always a dependable author and storyteller but some of her novels go beyond that. For me those have been The Broken Girls and The Sun Down Motel. We can now add this one to the list for me. It’s also dedicated to Stephen King, and it feels especially fitting for this novel to be the ones dedicated to King. Not only does she return to the setting of […]

Really Should Have Left This One in the Drafts

Lockdown by Peter May

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In a nutshell: A pandemic has hit, and London is in full total lockdown (like, checkpoints and military shooting people who aren’t supposed to be there lockdown). While building a temporary hospital, contractors discover bones that were not there the day before. Best for: I’m not sure. Quote that made me think: N/A Why I chose it: I’ve been mostly enjoying this author this year and this one was available from the library. Review: Wooof. So this book had so much potential, but I struggled […]

What Does A Lonely Heiress Gotta Do to Get a Little Love Around This Joint?

The Case of the Lonely Heiress by Erle Stanley Gardner

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So let’s all shed a tear for the wealthy heiress who nevertheless is just so goldarned lonely that she has to post an ad in <i>Lonely Heats Are Calling</i>, publisher Robert Caddo, for companionship.  The magazine, of course, is in some ways a scam, but the letters they publish are real.  Since Caddo himself is wishing to hire Mason, we have a chance to find out how the racket works.  The self-published magazine is readably available around town for a nominal cost – no subscribers.  […]

Balance

The Tightrope Wanderer by Federica Ortolan and Marco Leoni

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Ironically, not feeling well while reading an online reader copy might have helped me love the story even more than I would have if I was in perfect health. You see, The Tightrope Wanderer by Federica Ortolan and illustrator Marco Leoni would have probably been just another story about a person who did what he loved, grew old and then moved on. And it would have been nice, but nothing special. Instead, I came away with an appreciation for it that I am not really […]

Give a hoot or you’ll be sleeping with the fishes

Owl Capone by Christy Ewers and Rob Sayegh Jr.

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I read and have read (and watched too many movies, television shows, plays) too many mysteries and gangster themed items. Or so it felt when I picked up Owl Capone by Christy Ewers and Rob Sayegh Jr. My first thought was Owl Capone? OH boy! This is going to be scary. What does he actually serve in his sandwich shop? Is he going to make you a sandwich you can’t refuse? And yes, there are a lot of spins of the “Capone” innuendo, with some […]

Quirky is the World

qualo & Mage vs. the Rage of the Bakunawa: A Graphic Novel Volume 1 by Kara Bodegón-Hikino

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Quirky is the first word that comes to mind about Squalo & Mage vs. the Rage of the Bakunawa: A Graphic Novel by Kara Bodegón-Hikino. And then maybe silly, odd, not necessarily original but not derivative (okay, that’s a phrase). And maybe it is not the smoothest read, but it was a fun read nonetheless. It did its job by entertaining and (for me) was an easy read to give myself a break from all the difficult things I was reading. Yet there is enough […]



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