Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


Join the CBR18 Book Bingo Reading Challenge—Now Underway!   

More Bertie, Please

Espresso Tales by Alexander McCall Smith

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CBR Bingo: Reader’s Choice (replacing the Machinery square) Series: 44 Scotland Street. I read (and reviewed) Book 1 in 2017. What I remembered about this series prior to reading this book: Not very much–I definitely remembered Bruce, the Gaston of the book, who had some underwear-related adventure in the first book that made me laugh out loud although I can’t remember the details any more. And Bertie, the 6 year old whose mother forces him to wear pink pants because she’s trying to raise him […]

“The Only Currency More Powerful than Money in this World is the Violence of Man.”

Library of the Dead by T.L. Huchu

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I found the Library of the Dead when searching online for books that were like The Starless Sea.  As always, I got it (for free) out of the library to do a cursory read before committing to purchasing. And while there weren’t that many similarities between Morgenstern’s book and this one, Huchu’s first foray into speculative fiction is a great success. I’d never heard of Huchu before, but I will definitely be checking out his other publications based on how much I enjoyed this read. Edinburgh has […]

If there’s a library in the title and on the cover, shouldn’t it be part of the story?

The Library of the Dead by T. L. Huchu

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Bingo 5: Cityscape The Library of the Dead features the city of Edinburgh on the cover, both above and below ground. It has a pretty interesting premise: 14 year-old Ropa is a ghostalker, meaning she is a licensed professional who takes messages back and forth between the dead and the living. She’s dropped out of school to work full time to support her family, her grandmother and little sister. She’s got rather rough past, but she does have a few friends. One of them introduces […]

Ghostbusting in Harry Potter-ville

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Full disclosure: I had to read this quickly in one sitting in a coffee shop because I was going to see the author and have her sign it a few hours later. I’d pre-ordered City of Ghosts, but given when it was actually shipped (the day after it was released), I didn’t receive it until Saturday, and the talk/signing was Sunday. Mission was accomplished though, so I guess no harm done. I hadn’t realized this but City of Ghosts is actually V.E./Victoria Schwab’s first middle […]

I am an incurable, and nothing else behaves like me

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This book was just a lot of fun. 44 Scotland Street is a serial novel that was originally published in an Edinburgh newspaper. It takes place in Edinburgh, focusing mainly on the inhabitants of the titular apartment building. Among other characters, there’s Pat, a college-aged woman taking her “second gap year,” Bertie, a high-achieving 6-year-old with a helicopter mother, Domenica, the resident wise Mrs. Madrigal-type, and Bruce, who is honestly a completely fascinating character. In fact, while Pat is nominally the main character, and Bertie […]

I swear, Ian Rankin, if you kill John Rebus, I will come after you.

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2017 marks the 30th anniversary of Ian Rankin’s John Rebus series, one of my favorite literary detectives. Like Harry Bosch, Kurt Wallender, and even my beloved Bill Hodges, Rebus is a cop who’s very life revolves around his work. His family and non-police friends have mostly disappeared. He drinks and smokes too much and his diet isn’t exemplary. He thinks outside the box, and is often criticized or even punished for going against the rules. But he gets results. And he does it all against […]



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