Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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Some Early Steinbeck

The Pastures of Heaven by John Steinbeck

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If you have noticed a lot of Steinbeck reviews the last few months, that’s on me.  I currently live in the Monterey Bay Area and decided that while I live here, I should read the works of the man who was so inspired by this place.  Steinbeck is from Salinas, CA, the largest city in the area but many of his books take place in and around the county.  The famous Cannery Row of Monterey is actually named for his book, which popularized the nickname […]

Living in Steinbeck’s World

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Save your drafts as you go! I lost a really long double review for these books due to my own negligence.  Ugh….   I moved to Monterey a year and a half ago, the home of Steinbeck and the setting for both of these novels.  Both take place at real locations in the greater Monterey area, though Tortilla Flat is a fictional neighborhood, which added to my interest.  Both novels follow a few main characters who live together and experience the effects of their shenanigans. […]

I’ll be up at night from reading this book

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One of my pals started a horror book club and McNamara’s book was selected. It was already on my radar, but this put it at the top of the list. Unfortunately, it is so dang popular that I wasn’t able to get the book until after the meet-up, but once the audio hit my inbox I was committed. I heeded the advice of everyone else which was NOT to listen to it at night time. This was my early morning walk/morning commute listen. Definitely a […]

“What did it matter where you lay once you were dead? You were sleeping the big sleep.”

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The biggest mistake I made when reading this 1939 hardboiled detective classic was that I checked it out from the library. There were so many clever or insightful passages that I wanted to underline but I couldn’t. Since I am a good citizen, I didn’t mark up the library book. Still, I had so much fun reading this one. Even though it’s over seventy-five years old, the book pops with intriguing characters, real danger, and straight razor dialogue. While I don’t have my favorite quotes and […]

Aliens?

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I will admit I had serious reservations about this book going in. And even into the first three chapters, the only thing that kept going through my head was: But for the most part, this book blew my socks off in the best possible way, and I’m really glad I didn’t DNF it after those first few chapters. “Gods without Men” has a very “Station 11” feel to its structure, and if you liked “Station 11”, I would highly suggest this book. Centered around a […]

Millennials are so screwed if this is our future.

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  I was surprised to find California by Edan Lepucki on several “Best” lists this year. While I did find it to be an easy, quick read I didn’t find the story itself to be as entertaining or engrossing as many of the reviews lead me to believe it would be. I didn’t regret reading California, but I certainly wouldn’t credit Lepucki with having written “a gripping and provocative debut novel” either. Frida and Cal live in the woods. Alone. In a shack. Apparently the […]



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