Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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Eliza and James, sitting in a tree, M-U-R-D-E-R-I-N-G

How to Kill Your Rival by Effie Campbell

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3.5 stars Thank you to Boldwood Books and NetGalley for this ARC. This has not influenced my review in any way. This book is on sale now. Eliza Hamilton (yup, that is her name; not sure if the author is a fan of the musical or if the name is a coincidence) is the heir apparent to the Death Council, a secret organisation full of hired killers. While her father is battling cancer, she is to lead in his place, but most of the other […]

Obsession: Not the hot new perfume

Ryunosuke Akutagawa's Hell Screen: The Manga Edition (Tuttle Japanese Classics in Manga) by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa and Mihiro

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Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s Hell Screen: The Manga Edition (Tuttle Japanese Classics in Manga) by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa and Mihiro (adapter) is very literary. Being just enough spooky to not be “safe for work” but not necessarily over the top, but it is mature. And I cannot tell you what I feel about the story because W T F?????????????????  It is torture porn (but you know, done nicely). It is the madness of a man who has greatness and those around him who want and envy it. It […]

Don’t judge a movie by its book

The Thicket by Joe R. Lansdale

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Did Joe R. Lansdale have Peter Dinklage in mind when he wrote the character Shorty’s look, or was I projecting? Maybe a bit of one, a lot of the other. You see, the novel, The Thicket, only came to be on my TBR list because I had seen the movie starring Dinklage. I won’t go into that too much, but will say it is not a horrible movie as it had its moments, and I had fun picking apart those, “You did that?” scenes. But […]

Saddle up cowpokes

Gumshoe: A Graphic Novel by Brenna Thummler,

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To be honest, Gumshoe: A Graphic Novel by Brenna Thummler, didn’t “do it” for me as I had hoped. Thummler’s books Anne of Green Gables A Graphic Novel,  Sheets, Lights, and Delicates were good, but sometimes you don’t hit a homerun with an author you’ve enjoyed. With that said, ages at least 10 and up, but more likely 12 and up, will have a blast. We have Willa, a young girl with social anxiety, who runs away from home and meets up with a gang of […]

Very Mixed Bag

Gone Baby Gone by Dennis Lehane

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Bingo: Steal. Little girl is stolen from her mother. I read Dennis Lehane’s Mystic River recently and found it a solid thriller. I thought I’d pick up another of his books, Gone Baby Gone, but it wasn’t nearly as good. It seems the book is a part of a series featuring two private investigators, Patrick and Angie. Professional partners as well as lovers, they are brought in on a case about a missing girl. The girl’s mother is negligent and leaves the girl alone while […]

Putting the Sex in Texas

Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera

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Listen for the Lie, by Amy Tintera, is the other book that I took with me on vacation last week, as a backup to The Ferryman. Like The Ferryman, it is a mystery. Unlike The Ferryman, the ending wasn’t particularly interesting, exciting or unexpected. Instead, the final chapters of Listen for the Lie were just super horny. In fact, the whole book was surprisingly sexually charged for being about a non-sexual murder. It’s almost like someone told the author that sure, murder is okay, but […]



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