Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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A return to form–not the heights of #1, but definitely a strong improvement over outing #2

Husband Material by Alexis Hall

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With this, the last, we say goodbye to our British gay disasters, Oliver and Luc. It’s been six (6!) years since we first met them in Boyfriend Material, which remains one of my favorite books despite its flaws (which are, mostly, because they are about flawed characters). In the middle there we had Husband Material, which tried to do that rare thing: talk about what happens after HEA, with middling results. And now, the final stage: fatherhood, and what that means for two complicated gay […]

Father Figure

Father Material (London Calling #3) by Alexis Hall

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Now that Luc and Oliver’s relationship has survived a few ups and downs – from fake dating to real dating, almost getting married – they figure it’s time for the next step: a dog. They get an adorable dog of indeterminate race named Spud, in spite of Oliver’s attempts to name him something elegant and statesque because Spud looks like a potato. Luc immediately feels inadequate in the face of Oliver’s immaculate preparation (reading a shitload of books and taking notes), his stern but loving […]

(Es)sex and Pirates

Glitterland by Alexis Hall

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Ash Winters is one of those characters you find in a lot of books: the Failed Male Writer. Once a darling of England’s literary scene, Ash now writes pulpy yet wildly successful thrillers as he battles with crippling depression. Then he meets Darian, frequently described by Ash as a glitter pirate: a male model from Essex. There’s spray tan, nylon and the kind of clothing that pairs glitter with artfully crafted holes. Ash is a snob, so he looks down on Darian, but Darian is […]

Tigers, Spooks and Podcasters

Real Tigers (Slough House #3) by Mick Herron

Spook Street (Slough House #4) by Mick Herron

A Murder Most Actual by Alexis Hall

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A.k.a. The reviews I didn’t feel like writing, but hey, I read the books.  Real Tigers & Spook Street I read the first two books in the Slow Horses series. I got them from my library, which unfortunately only carried translations.  Pro tip: translations suck and avoid them where you can.  They’re not bad translations, but all the whimsy and finesse are lost. I got the rest of the series in its original English, and whether that’s the sole reason I enjoyed the next parts […]

Weddings: a Bit of a Faff

Husband Material (London Calling #2) by Alexis Hall

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In Husband Material (predictably the sequel to Boyfriend Material; number three in the series, Father Material, is still pending), Luc and Oliver are still a happy couple. They are thirty-ish, and anyone who is thirty-ish will remember that that is the age at which one seems to have a matrimonial or matrimonially-adjacent activity seemingly every week. There are four in this book. There is also a funeral. The sequence of events naturally leads Luc to the question whether or not he should propose to Oliver. […]

“Like eating very expensive chocolate, savouring every moment because you don’t know when you’ll have it again.”

Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall

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Luc O’Donnell is the son of two rockstar parents: his mother is a French-Irish (but mostly French) folk singer, his father a legendary rock star who has been absent from Luc’s life since he was a toddler. Luc is, to put it mildly, a mess: when we meet him, he is trying and failing to make out with a guy who turns out to be a Buzzfeed reporter. After the terse encounter ends, Luc flees the club, faceplants outside on the kerb and is promptly […]



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