Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

I probably rewrote this review a billion times before I thought I was done, then realized I needed more, so just read this book okay? 

You Can Never Die: A Graphic Memoir by Harry Bliss

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I learned early on in my journey of reading Harry Bliss that there are two styles when it comes to his artwork. One is kid friendly and the other adult friendly. However, via an online reader copy of You Can Never Die: A Graphic Memoir, I learned there is a third type to Bliss: the really adult Bliss. This memoir takes slices of life and puts them on the page of a journal. These journal entries, illustrations and more come out in the book. He […]

The Opposite of Euphoria

Negative Space by B.R. Yeager

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Read as part of CBR 16 Bingo: dreams. One of the main characters consistently has dreams that impact the plot of the story. CN: This book has many references to suicide, sometimes graphically. I won’t go into detail here but it’s impossible to review without mentioning it. If that’s something that makes you uncomfortable, sit this one out. Like many a child of the 80s and 90s, I’m a product of DARE’s Just Say No Culture. I never did drugs, was terrified of them as […]

Horror Month 2023: #12

Ghosts of East Baltimore by David Simmons

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While Horror Month 2023 has been a minor disappointment, it did encourage me to finish books I would have otherwise put off reading. That includes this little ditty, which I greatly enjoyed. I’ve worked and lived in Baltimore. I love the city so much. But it is a city of heartbreak. Violent crime, racial disparity, income inequality, a paucity of resources for young people, drug overdoses everywhere. It’s not the citizen’s fault, it’s the city’s for being so inept, the state of Maryland for being […]

CBR15 Bingo: Edibles

Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala

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CBR15 Bingo: Edibles (this book features both a lot of food and quite a few drugs) Lila Macapagal used to live in Chicago and dreamed of opening her own restaurant, but both her business and relationship failed miserably. She’s back in her hometown, helping to run her tita (aunt) Rosie run the family restaurant, where they serve Philipino food. Unfortunately, Lila’s ex-boyfriend is a food critic and seems determined to come back, again and again, to sample the food and write scathing things about the […]

Of butterflies and spirits

A Blanket of Butterflies (The Spirit of Denendeh Volume One) by Richard Van Camp

As I Enfold You in Petals (The Spirit of Denendeh, Volume 2). by Richard Van Camp

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A while back I found a reader copy request form. After asking and receiving it, I realized it was book two. I did find book one, but never got around to reading it. After receiving the second book, there was still no reading of it. I only realized why I had the delay the night I read them. They are books that must be read “at the right time,” otherwise you will not be ready for them. The books were A Blanket of Butterflies (The […]

January 2023 Leftovers

Two Kinds of Truth by Michael Connelly

Queen of Thieves by Beezy Marsh

Anxious People by Frederick Backman

The Dead Season by Tessa Wegert

A Diet of Treacle by Lawrence Block

The Club: How the English Premier League Became the Wildest, Richest, Most Disruptive Force in Sports by Joshua Robinson & Jonathan Clegg

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Here are brief reviews for the books I read in 2023 that I either didn’t have time to review or that didn’t merit 250 words… Two Kinds of Truth*** First new read of 2023! I continue to plow through the Bosch series. I enjoyed most of what I read recently but this was just blah. Boring, predictable dueling plots, though one is resolved with an interesting twist. Read better, read worse in this series. Looking forward to getting to some of the Renee Ballard books. […]



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