Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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 […]

This week, in ‘Men Doing Stupid Shit’…

Before She Met Me by Julian Barnes

10 Things That Never Happened by Alexis Hall

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Two books this week, both about men who do things they either haven’t thought through, or that they should maybe stop thinking about. altogether.  Before She Met Me (Julian Barnes) *** Graham is an academic and teaches history at university. He’s left his shrewish wife Barbara for Ann, a former b-list actress, and he is very happy with her until the day when he accidentally sees his wife in a dumb b-movie. In it, Ann is seen in bed with another actor. Graham’s mind latches […]

“Just thinking of all the ways this can go horribly wrong.”

10 Things That Never Happened by Alexis Hall

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Sam Becker manages a bed and bath department store and has some wacky employees reporting to him.  While the employees keep making Sam’s retail life interesting in various ways, he likes his job.  He however does not like his boss, Jonathan (“His Royal Dickishness”).  The feeling is mutual, as Jonathan is out to make money and Sam’s store is not making their targets.  So Sam gets called down to headquarters (in London) to be given an ultimatum – fire some of the staff and get […]

Four Weddings and a Funeral

Husband Material by Alexis Hall

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CBR16 Bingo: Rings (a whole bunch of rings being exchanged in this book) In Boyfriend Material, Luc and Oliver met, pretended to date for a number of reasons, pretended to be in love, fell in love, broke up, and then decided to actually date for real. By the time this book starts, they have been together for a good while (I want to say at least a year?) and as is often the case at a certain age of your life, they keep being invited […]

A Head Wound Hail Mary

10 Things That Never Happened by Alexis Hall

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We spend a good few minutes wrangling with nachos. To be honest, they’re a good fit for the very unusual occasion of two people who are blatantly into each other having a meal where they have to pretend they aren’t. They’re not so messy it’s embarrassing, they require just enough cooperation that you’ve got to interact, but not so much it gets sexy. ― Alexis Hall, 10 Things That Never Happened “Worst comes to absolute worst, I’ll just arrange to get whacked on the head […]



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