Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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notes on an absolutely barbaric practice still thriving in the US of A

Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka

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BINGO: “N,” how silly of me to forget. hot take maybe a slight round up, but I really did find it unputdownable towards the end This is one of those flip forward flip backwards books that walks you through (in second person, always a gutsy choice) the present day, when Ansel is scheduled to be executed, and the past, where you see through the lens of three different women “how he became who he became.” The conceit is to strip the importance of the serial […]

Not All Serial Killer Novels are the Same

Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka

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Bingo: Purple You do not feel the same love that everyone else does. Yours is muted, damp, not bursting or breaking. But there is a place for you, in the category of personhood” Danya Kukafa’s Notes on an Execution is an incredible read and proof that you can write a novel about a serial killer where nothing is gratuitous, the characterization is complex, and the plot is full of nuances that lend depth to the work. The book opens with Ansel, a serial killer who […]

The Serial Killer Book I’ve Been Waiting For

Notes On An Execution by Danya Kukafka

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I went in to this book so wary! I’m not a huge fan of serial killers or the true crime mania that glorifies men who murder (mostly) women. So even though I’d seen glowing review after breathless recommendation of Notes On an Execution, I doubted I’d get past 20%. I am never so pleased to be wrong than when it comes to loving an unexpected book. The premise of this one is simple, it is the day of Ansel Power’s execution. There are brief chapters […]

“Human nature could be so hideous, but it persisted in this ugliness by insisting it was good.”

Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka

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Look at me, reviewing a book I just finished yesterday*. I am determined to review all my October books in a timely fashion** so as not to make my backlog problem worse than it already is. (Sigh.) This was sort of a bummer one to start my October spooky reads on because it was all serious and stuff, no fun at all to be had here. But I can’t deny it was very well done. *But posted here in December, whoops. I finished this in […]

Very few people believed that they were bad, and this was the scariest part. Human nature could be so hideous, but it persisted in this ugliness by insisting it was good.”

Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka

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Cannonball Read Bingo: Scandal In one word: Evocative This book came by recommendation of a like-minded reading pal who threw the phrase “best book I read all year” out, so I decided that reading it was a no-brainer, especially as I was looking for something dark and spooky. It doesn’t get much darker than a male serial killer of women, especially as true crime is having such a surge in popularity in recent years. Plus, I needed something for my Cannonball Read bingo “scandal” card […]

Could’ve done with a few more notes…

Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka

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The problem with picking up books based solely upon their opening lines is you are routinely caught off guard by what comes after that initial bit. With this book, I just assumed what was in store for me was another wrongful conviction story. Boy, I learned right quick that I was dead wrong (pun intended) on that one. I’d have known that if I’d read any of the blurbs on the back, but I tend to skip those. I will say that I was pleasantly surprised […]



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