Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

I live for the burning snap of a freshly carbonated beverage.

We Are Never Meeting in Real Life. by Samantha Irby

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It turns out that I am not very good at making friends unless I am already trapped in an insufferable hellscape with someone who doesn’t mind my cracking a few inappropriate jokes as we circle life’s drain. ― Samantha Irby, We Are Never Meeting in Real Life. Forget figuring out how many dates until it’s appropriate to have sex—I want to know how many we have to get through before it’s acceptable to stop. ― Samantha Irby, We Are Never Meeting in Real Life. Have […]

Thanksgiving 2024 Leftovers

Remembrance Day by Henry Porter

Dead Lions by Mick Herron

Zero Days by Ruth Ware

Whisper Down the Lane by Clay McLeod Chapman

Killing Castro by Lawrence Block

Deadly Beloved by Max Allan Collins

Spy Hook by Len Deighton

London Rules by Mick Herron

Real Tigers by Mick Herron

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Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate. Remembrance Day**** An interesting take on the English-vs-Irish spy novel and while the author telegraphs too many things, he knows how to keep a story moving. Barely clears the 4-star threshold but if I invest time to read something almost 500 pages long, it has to be at least “good” and this was. Dead Lions, Real Tigers, and London Rules**** I had originally meant to do a big long post on my love/grr relationship with Mick Herron’s Slough House […]

Based on truth, lies, myths, and rumors

Al Capone by Swann Meralli

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Al Capone by Swann Meralli and illustrated by Pierre-François Radice is told from Capone’s POV but due to who he was, and the images given, we know he is not a reliable narrator. However, he does tell you “the facts” but his version is colored by his personality and the fact he is telling his mother his side of things. It is an interesting graphic novel that highlights important events that will start with him as a child (which little to nothing is known), continue […]

Life’s big hard questions – what will happen? Who will I become/have largely been answered. And now I feel like there’s this huge absence where the mystery used to be. And I guess that’s really what I’m after.”

Wellness by Nathan Hill

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I am trying a new thing…each of my reviews will begin with “in five words,” wherein, wait for it, I sum up the book in five words.  (It’s a HOOK baby… or that’s the hope.) In Five Words: modern, love story, transformative, satire My first-ever podcast guest, CliftonStrengths coach Heidi Convery-Liscum, recommended this book on Episode 10, she was effusive in her praise and said that it gripped her and she would not soon forget it. What she said made such a strong impression that […]

February-March 2024 Leftovers

The Wars of the Roses: The Fall of the Plantagenets and the Rise of the Tudors by Dan Jones

A Lowcountry Bride by Preslaysa Williams

Bone White by Ronald Malfi

Alexander the Great by Phillip Freeman

Nero: Matricide, Murder and Music in Imperial Rome by Anthony Everitt and Roddy Ashworth

Beyond a Boundary by C.L.R. James

A Stab in the Dark by Lawrence Block

The Killing Kind by John Connolly

Shōgun by James Clavell

Nobody's Angel by Jack Clark

A Murder in Hollywood: The Untold Story of Tinseltown's Most Shocking Crime by Casey Sherman

Village in the Dark by Iris Yamashita

Nestlings by Nat Cassidy

Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic by Tom Holland

The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age by Michael Woolraich

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Rain, rain, go away. I thought my reading count looked too low and then I realized I didn’t do leftovers for February, so here’s Feb-March combined. The Wars of the Roses: The Fall of the Plantagenets and Rise of the Tudors ***** Jones is such a talented historian. Gets all the important stuff of the Wars of the Roses in great detail and lets the story entertain. His Templars book will soon be on my radar. A Lowcountry Bride**** Had to read this for a library […]

Jump on the Earth Train

Jumper: A Day in the Life of a Backyard Jumping Spider by Jessica Lanan

The Day the River Caught Fire: How the Cuyahoga River Exploded and Ignited the Earth Day Movement by Barry Wittenstein

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Science and history can be a fun subject for kids. However, it always seems that people hit on the same historical event or scientific areas. Therefore, I am interested when I find books that do not cover the “same old same old,” or find a fresh take on an old favorite. While both books are available, I read them via online reader copies. When I saw Jumper: A Day in the Life of a Backyard Jumping Spider, My first thought was, “Oh a spider.” My […]



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