Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Amigos

Friends Helping Friends by Patrick Hoffman

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My mother recently asked me what “noir” means in the context in which I often use it: reading and watching. I tried to explain to her that noir isn’t the same as classic mystery or hardboiled in that there’s an event that happens that permanently changes the behaviors of all persons, drawing them into difficult circumstances. But that felt like a weak definition to me. So I’ll roll with Megan Abbott’s classic definition in this interview with LitHub… In noir, everyone is fallen, and right […]

If You’re Curious About the World of Anora…

Soft Core by Brittany Newell

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Note that this is suggested for people curious about the world of Anora, not people who want to read something like the actual movie. This book is likely to frustrate some readers if they don’t know what to expect. My guess is many folks will come to this looking for a trippy missing person mystery featuring a sex-worker-turned-amateur-sleuth. That’s not what this is at all. Yeah there is a missing person aspect to it and that sort of draws the character down to a rabbit hole. […]

“And what about a person’s life? How do you make a map of that? The borders people draw between themselves. The scars left along the ground of one’s heart.”

Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson

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In five words: secrets, Caribbean, sprawling, water, heritage This was a library book club pic that I had heard of (due to the Hulu adaptation) and found it to be intriguing and unique, if also a bit uneven. It’s a story of the gnarled knots and hidden corners of a family tree, and the lengths people will go to protect those they love. After a Thanksgiving Day family blowout, the Bennett family was on rocky ground. Benny, upset at her parents reception to a big […]

From Lima, Peru for Sunny City, California

Vampirita and the Angry Mob (Book 1): A Charming Tale of a Young Vampire's Adventure in California by Mariana Llanos

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Vampirita and the Angry Mob (Book 1): A Charming Tale of a Young Vampire’s Adventure in California by Mariana Llanos and illustrated by Laura Brenalla is the story of a “new kid in town” but has a slightly different twist to it with a vampire as our main character. However, the relatable issues of homesickness, not fitting in, and trying to be nice when you want to be anything but, is familiar. However, regardless of how much we know this story, the author has fun […]

April 2024 Leftovers

X = : Poems by Stephen Berg

Charcoal Joe by Walter Mosley

A Game of Lies by Clare Mackintosh

The Hurricane Blonde by Halley Sutton

Vineland by Thomas Pynchon

L.A. Requiem by Robert Crais

Watch It Burn by Kristen Bird

Sleep With Strangers by Dolores Hitchens

The Fixer: Moguls, Mobsters, Movie Stars, and Marilyn by Josh Young

One of Us Is Wrong by Sam Holt

The Fade Out by Ed Brubaker

The Second Murderer by Denise Mina

Blackmailer by George Axelrod

The Darkest Glare: A Story of Murder, Blackmail, and Real Estate Greed in 1979 Los Angeles by Chip Jacobs

Ripley's Game by Patricia Highsmith

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Happy April, y’all! X = : Poems**** This is why library book bingos are necessary. I only checked this one out because I needed to read a book of poems and I wanted to check the nettlesome “X” off the A-Z reading list. A convoluted reason to begin with and this wasn’t even the book I thought I was getting! I thought I’d get a different X by a different author. I’m glad I got this one. Some of these really spoke to me, including […]

“We are never prepared. We are always overwhelmed at some point.”

Where the Waves Turn Back by Tyson Motsenbocker

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Where the Waves Turn Back: A Forty-Day Pilgrimage Along the California Coast by Tyson Motsenbocker My rating: 5 of 5 stars “Where the Waves Turn Back” is Tyson Motsenbocker’s memoir of walking the Camino Real from San Diego to San Francisco after the death of his mother. The book opens a few weeks before his mother’s death. She’s in hospice and the family has gathered to be with her. In one of her conversations with Tyson, she challenges him to take time to grieve and […]



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