Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Holiday Reads Part Deux, because I apparently read better in a tent

Craven Manor by Darcy Coates

The Spy Who Came in From the Cold by John Le Carré

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Craven Manor (Darcy Coates) *** Daniel is down on his luck. He’s a decent guy (this is made abundantly clear) but the only thing keeping him from homelessness is his slob of a cousin. One day, a letter is pushed underneath the door of Daniel’s apartment, mysteriously offering him a job on a mysterious manor that Daniel has never seen even though he grew up in the town. With great trepidation, he makes his way over to Craven Manor, an abandoned home in the middle […]

Unfussy (and that’s a good thing)

The Boy from the Woods by Harlan Coben

Dead Lake by Darcy Coates

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After forcing my way through one of the hallmarks of 19th century European literature (voluntarily, no less) I decided I deserved something less fussy, and so I picked Coates (always a reliable plck for moderately scary yet uncomplicated) and Harlan Coben, whom I’d never read before and kept putting off because people were giving me high expectations.  Let me preface this by saying I’m typing this after spending the entire weekend abroad with my students and coherence is not my forte at the moment, so […]

the december rush

The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman

The Haunting of Gillespie House by Darcy Coates

Your Fathers, Where Are They? And Your Prophets, Do They Live Forever? by Dave Eggers

Not a Happy Family by Shari Lapena

Near the Bone by Christina Henry

How to Take Smart Notes by Sonke Ahrens

The Lightness by Emily Temple

The Very Nice Box by Eve Gleichman, Laura Blackett

The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris

A Children's Bible by Lydia Millet

Come Tumbling Down by Seanan McGuire

Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman

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Franny, Jet, and Vincent Owens take special joy in disobeying their mother’s rules. They wear red shoes and black clothes. They read books about magic. They fall in love. It’s the Lower East Side in the 60s. Who can blame them? I didn’t realize this was a prequel. I just picked it up at an airport bookstore when I had 3 hours to kill and a low phone battery. I’m grateful this is the only book that called out to me. I’m always drawn to […]

Zombies or ghosts? Why not both?

The Haunting of Ashburn House by Darcy Coates

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Look, this isn’t a masterpiece. I don’t think Coates meant it to be that either. But  it was fun and sometimes that’s all you need. The Haunting of Ashburn House is the pretty scary story of Adrienne, a 20-something woman who inherits an old house from her great aunt, Edith. Broke, without any living relatives and as good as homeless, Adrienne chooses to move into this house with her cat Wolfgang because then at least she’ll have a roof over her head. The house is […]

The Haunting of Rookward House is my new favorite Darcy Coates novel

The Haunting of Rookward House by Darcy Coates

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The Haunting of Rookward House is a creepy horror novel and it’s the first book in a while to actually scare me. Main character Guy is down on luck. He’s living with his mom and unable to find a job. While helping Mom clean out the attic, he discovers the deed to Rookward House, which Mom doesn’t really remember inheriting. Mom seems a bit ditsy. Guy immediately decides that selling Rookward House is the answer to their problems as it will give them enough money […]



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