Cannonball Read 14

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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Really, LA County Library, I’m still reeeeeeeading it!

Lush Life by Richard Price

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OK, not so sure why this one hit me the way it did.  But I always really, really try to finish any book I start.  And the LA County library system has, about a year ago, stopped charging overdue fees.  So I got a few “Hey, book is due!  Just saying!” e-mails.  (Bear in mind you automatically get 3 3-week check-outs, so 9 weeks.)  But yesterday, I actually got a message that said, “Hey, if you lost it, just fess up and pay for the […]

Nostalgic Earworms Ahead!

Skinnamarink by Sharon, Lois & Bram w/Randi Hampson; Ill by Qin Leng

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My memories of childhood are exceptionally vivid: I probably can’t tell you if I ate breakfast or not, but if you want to know who I sat next to in third grade, or every phone number of anybody I was friends with before I went to college, I got you. I only mention this because Sharon, Lois, & Bram feature heavily in my memories from about age 5 till about 10, and they made such an impact that some things, like the beloved-in-our-house “Skimmarink” song, […]

Matt Scudder – Nostalgic NYC Noir

When the Sacred Ginmill Closes by Lawrence Block

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My dad was a huge fan of the prolific author Lawrence Block. Block is best known for two series of books, one following ex NYC cop Matthew Scudder and his battles with alcohol and guilt, as well as a light-hearted series about the charming burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr, who always seems to find himself on a job in a fabulous residence that also happens to contain a dead body. Most of the Scudder novels are included with my Audible subscription, so I have been enjoying revisiting […]

Still not entirely sure what is going on in this story, but it’s an intriguing set-up

Paper Girls, vol 1 by Brian K. Vaughan and Cliff Chiang

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3.5 stars CBR13 Bingo: Gateway It’s just after Halloween 1988, and four 12-year-old newspaper delivery girls have a very unusual night, full of surprises, peril, and unexpected occurrences. I went into Paper Girls knowing literally nothing about it except that it was written by Brian K. Vaughan and illustrated by Cliff Chiang, both artists whose work I’ve liked in the past. Did I know it was set in the late 1980s? Nope. Did I know the protagonists were pre-teens? Big old no. Had I given […]

“Just because it is in Malibu’s nature to burn, so was it in one particular person’s nature to set fire and walk away.”

Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid

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TJR did it again. She’s very good at what she does. This book is extremely readable, and I think it might even be my favorite of the three books of hers I’ve read so far. I loved Evelyn Hugo and Daisy Jones, but this one spoke to me personally in a way those didn’t. Bad dads and dysfunctional families, what are you going to do. Malibu, 1983. The four Riva siblings throw an end of summer party every year that has become infamous. If you […]

what happens to the torch-bearers, the candle holders, the vigil keepers?

The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai

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There is so much that I want to tell you about this book, but I won’t. I took so many notes, and placed so many scraps of paper between pages, but I do not want to ruin a single realization for you. Rebecca Makkai has crafted an intricately woven tapestry that you have to witness in its full glory; I do not want to give you a magnifying glass before you have had a chance to first witness the enormity of the project. The Great Believers hits […]



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