Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

A low-stakes 1970s queer love story.

Daniel Cabot Puts Down Roots (The Cabots, #3) by Cat Sebastian

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Daniel Cabot Puts Down Roots, like all the Cabot books, is a low-stakes romance where there isn’t much conflict, just two people falling in love, or as in the case of this book, recognizing that they are already in love and coming to terms with it. No third-act breakups, no outside forces coming between them; even homophobia isn’t really an issue here. Our MCs are Daniel, son of the MC from the first in the series, and Alex, Ukrainian immigrant, doctor, neurodivergent, and Daniel’s best […]

Americana Sports

Loose Balls: The Short, Wild Life of the American Basketball Association by Terry Pluto

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Read as part of CBR15Bingo: North America. The story of the American Basketball Association takes place exclusively in the United States and the organization has the word “American” in it. The other day, I was at a basketball team store when I saw a New York Nets hat for sale. I’ve tried really hard not to purchase clothes and hats these days but I just couldn’t help myself. It was beautiful, with the old school Nets logo. It represented everything good about the old American […]

Take Me To Church

The Last Honest Man: The CIA, the FBI, the Mafia, and the Kennedys―and One Senator's Fight to Save Democracy by James Risen, Thomas Risen

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Read as part of CBR15Bingo: politics. Frank Church was a Senator from Idaho and the famous committee that bears his name was a Senate committee investigating the dirty deeds of America’s surveillance state. I’ll say this much for The Last Honest Man: the writers know why you’re here. I didn’t pick this one up to learn about the classes Frank Church took in college or what his favorite restaurant was when he was dating his wife. I picked this up to learn about Frank Church and […]

The Night Stalker … In Print

The Kolchak Papers: The Original Novels by Jeff Rice

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I like to find the original literary sources for movies that I like (see past reviews of Strangers on a Train, Rosemary’s Baby, Breakfast at Tiffany’s), so I was happy to find out that an old television show from my childhood, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, actually started life out as a book. The Kolchak Papers: The Original Novels includes the first two novels that introduced intrepid reporter Carl Kolchak, who has a flair for detecting the supernatural. They first debuted in 1970 and are now […]

Think a train might hit softer than these ladies

Wild: Or So I Was Born To Be by Cristian Castelo

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cbr14bingo Scandal Level 3 (the scandalous behavior) This first volume of “the Wild” series, is set in the late 1970s and is a coming of age on the roller derby track. Do not worry about winning, just try to stay alive, as you hallucinate, dreams and the rival teams after you. The ketchup, mustard and hamburger colors show in minimalist format, the gruesome ugliness of it all (and the spaghetti eating contest wall of shame). Cristian Castelo has a warp self of self. They made […]

The Lynx Knows

Secret Identity: A Novel by Alex Segura

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I waited for this book for months. Months! And for the most part, it was worth the wait. It’s very good. I’ve read other stuff from Alex Segura, from his Pete Fernandez mystery books to the first edition of his Black Ghost graphic novel series. I love his interest in how journalism, urban corruption, and dogged investigative work come together to tell an entertaining tale. It’s right up my alley. This ambitious novel set in the comic industry in 1970s New York City could fall flat for trying to […]



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