Cannonball Read 13

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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But You Can’t Take the Neighborhood Out of You

Gravesend by William Boyle

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Read as part of CBR13Bingo: White Whale  And so I circle back to the beginning of William Boyle’s catalog, with his new one Shoot the Moonlight Out already in hand. I tried reading Gravesend multiple times over the years. But it didn’t stick. It reminded me of George Pelecanos’ work, which I admire more than enjoy: character-focused neighborhood-centric stories in which crime just randomly happens and people get drawn in because they can’t escape their circumstances. Those books always sound like fun more than they read like it. At […]

Fear in the Borough

Brooklyn Noir by ed. Tim McLoughlin

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This is the OG of the Akashic noir series, a series I greatly enjoy, being both a city lover and a fan of mystery/noir tales. I don’t always like short stories. I enjoy a book that I can really sink my teeth into, a plot that grips me, an argument to be made in non-fiction. These are usually my exception to the rule. I used to make fun of Brooklyn a lot. It’s become synonymous with gentrification, upper-middle and upper-class whites inhabiting working class neighborhoods, […]

Mary Dixie Carter’s The Photographer

The Photographer by Mary Dixie Carter

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Another scary, psychological thriller with an unwell woman at the center (and a person on the cover #cbr13bingo). Delta Dawn is a photographer in New York City, and she spends most of her time taking photos of children’s birthday parties having discovered her knack for making children look happy and healthy and like their parents’ dreams.  She routinely photoshops images that are less than perfect to fulfill the fantasy these wealthy families pay her to portray. When she meets the Straub family, Delta feels she […]

Vacation Reading

Stonewall: The Definitive Story of the LGBT Rights Uprising that Changed America by Martin Doberman

The Pursuit of Pearls by Clara Vine

Lust, Caution by Eileen Chang

While Justice Sleeps by Stacey Abrams

The Rocksburg Railroad Murders by K.C. Constantine

March Violets by Philip Kerr

Can't Knock the Hustle: Inside Brooklyn's Season of Hope: How Basketball Helped Us Survive Power, Politics, and a Global Pandemic by Matt Sullivan

The Lime Pit by Jonathan Valin

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I was on vacation last week and, as you can tell from the stack in the header, I read a LOT… Stonewall: The Definitive Story of the LGBT Rights Uprising that Changed America **** I wish this had focused more on the Uprising itself, as opposed to being a semi auto-biography on those who were involved in it. But it’s still a fascinating story at the nascent days of the LGBTQIA+ Movement, the challenges and complexities, and what emerged from it. A good gateway into learning […]

And As We Age

Killer Content by Olivia Blacke

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I recently discovered the term “geriatric millennial.” That’s apparently a catch all for millennials who were born between the years 1980-1985. Damn whoever invented in. I know I’m far out of the target audience for BRANDZ these days but I’m far from geriatric. Yeah I got a bad back and student loans and can’t afford a house and don’t have the energy to stuff… BUT! Anyway, I was thinking about that term recently because this is one of the first cozy mysteries I’ve read. I […]

Reading, Reading, Reading

Broken Places by Tracy Clark

The A.B.C. Murders by Agatha Christie

Solos by Kitty Burns Florey

The Lady Upstairs by Halley Sutton

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Finishing off the year right with another round of great crime fiction… Broken Places 4 stars A really good debut novel that’s pure Chicago without being annoying. A little predictable towards the end but well-written nonetheless. Also, much love for featuring black Roman Catholicism, which is a different expression than the commonly mass produced (re:white) Roman Catholicism of crime novels and movies.   The A.B.C. Murders 4 stars This one was about to highlight why I’m not a big Christie fan, despite usually enjoying her novels. Whereas […]



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