Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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When They Don’t Come Out the Other Side.

Wormhole: My journey into the dark heart of alternative medicine by Hannah McElhinney

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Wormhole is a book that manages to pack a significant amount into its rather slim page count. Author Hannah McElhinney’s cousin, Laura, travelled from Australia to Malaysia back in 2022 for a ‘medical procedure.’ After Lauren went radio silent for a few days, her family was contacted by a mysterious friend who none of them had ever heard of, telling them that there had been complications with her treatment and that she could not be brought out from under anaesthetic.  Within days, members of Lauren’s […]

We’re Traveling, We’re Traveling—Off the Page and Down the Rabbit Hole

Conspiracy Nation: Exposing the dangerous world of Australian conspiracy theories by Ariel Bogle; Cam Wilson

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I’ve been looking forward to this one for a while. Cookers, sovereign citizens and conspiracy theorists can be a fascinating bunch, albeit in the same way a train wreck is fascinating. Yes, it can be very amusing to watch them try and ‘pseudo law’ their way out of trouble when they caught doing something very stupid, but there’s often something darker lying under the surface. For every giggle you get from listing to some SovCit proclaim ‘I’m traveling, I’m traveling!’ after being pulled over by […]

Two Writers

We Are Watching by Alison Gaylin

Saint of the Narrows Street by William Boyle

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I finished two books this past week and enjoyed them to varying degrees. One was by a favorite author, another by an author I’ve struggled with in the past. Let’s get to the latter first since I like going in reading order… We Are Watching**** I’ve always felt cold toward Alison Gaylin’s work. She’s a very good writer and yet, there’s an emotional distance in her books that I can’t land with. It’s the same issue I get when watching most Christopher Nolan movies: yeah […]

A gripping Southern noir

All Sinners Bleed by S.A. Cosby

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When not reading romance, I love me some mysteries! I usually stray into cozies with pun titles, but been known to enjoy a good detective novel too. All Sinners Bleed was my first read from S.A. Cosby. The novel follows Titus Crowne, a newly elected Black sheriff when tragedy befalls the hometown where he serves. A school shooting uncovers buried secrets and forces the town to reckon with the concept of murderers in their midst. Titus was in the FBI and came home to live […]

The Agnostic’s Bible

The Ultimate Evil: The Search For the Sons of Sam by Maury Terry

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I’m a religious person but I don’t begrudge someone their beliefs. Each person has their own journey. Might make me the world’s worst evangelist but whatever, I’ll take it. If God is real, God knows more than I do so I’ll let Them figure it out. I say this because when it comes to conspiracy theories, I tend to parrot a line I’ve heard many an agnostic use over the decades: maybe God is real, maybe not, either way, if God is real, God’s probably […]

In the City of LA

The Empty Glass by JI Baker

A Student of History by Nina Revoyr

Friend of the Devil (Reckless #2) by Ed Brubaker

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By both design and coincidence, I read three consecutive books on Los Angeles over the last 48 hours. The first two were good 4-star reads and the third was an excellent 5-star one… The Empty Glass Oliver Stone’s Blonde. This got poor reviews and I guess I get it? I suppose it depends on what your expectations are. Me personally, I enjoyed this wild romp through Los Angeles as a low level county morgue guy tries to unravel a government conspiracy around Marilyn Monroe’s death. […]



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