Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time
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A pig needs a knife

Black Flame by Gretchen Felker-Martin

October 3, 2025 by BlackRaven 2 Comments

A few days after I finished the Black Flame novel by Gretchen Felker-Martin, I was trying to describe it to a coworker. I was not doing a good job. I said it was horror and you could see it at a surface level or in a deeper manner. We follow a woman, who is a seriously closeted lesbian, who restores old film. She is used as the “official Jew”  (she is called the “mailroom Jew” when sent to meet a reporter who is deliberately hurtful, […]

Filed Under: Fantasy, Fiction, Health, History, Horror, Mystery, Religion, Romance, Speculative Fiction, Suspense Tagged With: closeted, family, film, Gretchen Felker-Martin, LGBTQ, motion pictures, paranomal, Social Themes, transgender

BlackRaven's CBR17 Review No:426 · Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Health, History, Horror, Mystery, Religion, Romance, Speculative Fiction, Suspense · Tags: closeted, family, film, Gretchen Felker-Martin, LGBTQ, motion pictures, paranomal, Social Themes, transgender ·
Rating:
· 2 Comments

An old 16 millimeter camera and a real fantasy world

Final Cut by Charles Burnsa

April 11, 2025 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

I gave Final Cut by Charles Burnsa a four for the illustrations. They are complicated and straightforward. The story is complex to the point of almost not understanding it. There is no real action (unless you count the two couples who get down and dirty with some mad monkey love), yet a lot is going on. There is language, drug use, alcoholism, nudity, and vomit. There is actually a story behind why I wanted to read this book. And I have no idea what it […]

Filed Under: Fantasy, Fiction, Graphic Novels/Comic Books, Health, Horror, Mystery, Romance, Science Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Young Adult Tagged With: Aliens, art, Charles Burnsa, film, friendship, Mental Health, movies, Social Themes

BlackRaven's CBR17 Review No:205 · Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Graphic Novels/Comic Books, Health, Horror, Mystery, Romance, Science Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Young Adult · Tags: Aliens, art, Charles Burnsa, film, friendship, Mental Health, movies, Social Themes ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

This book itself is also a fiasco, ironically. CBRBINGO – Fiasco

Fiasco: A History of Hollywood's Iconic Flops by James Robert Parish

September 3, 2024 by narfna 2 Comments

I keep forgetting to post this review. I think my brain is trying to block out my having read this book on purpose to protect from either, a) dropping dead of a rage aneurysm, or b) dropping dead from the poisonous word salad the author spews on every page. I would not have read this book or even had it on my radar but Cannonball Read’s BINGO board this year had a ‘FIASCO’ square, and when I found this book I thought it would be […]

Filed Under: Non-Fiction Tagged With: cbr16bingo, fiasco, Fiasco: A History of Hollywood's Iconic Flops, film, Hollywood, James Robert Parish, narfna, non fiction

narfna's CBR16 Review No:59 · Genres: Non-Fiction · Tags: cbr16bingo, fiasco, Fiasco: A History of Hollywood's Iconic Flops, film, Hollywood, James Robert Parish, narfna, non fiction ·
Rating:
· 2 Comments

“Montserrat had three loves. One was horror movies. The other was her car. The third was Tristán.” CBR BINGO – Disco

Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

August 28, 2024 by narfna Leave a Comment

Okay, so this rating makes it seem like I wasn’t a huge fan of this book, but I liked it, I really did! It’s been over a month now, and it’s still in my head and it feels good, hasn’t soured, haven’t forgotten it. But I had a bit of a hard time getting through it while reading, and the magic system was a bit too woobly for me. This is fantasy horror book set in Mexico City in the 1990s, following Montserrat, a film […]

Filed Under: Horror Tagged With: 90s, cbr16bingo, film, historical fiction, horror, Mexican horror, Mexico City, narfna, Silver Nitrate, silvia moreno-garcia

narfna's CBR16 Review No:57 · Genres: Horror · Tags: 90s, cbr16bingo, film, historical fiction, horror, Mexican horror, Mexico City, narfna, Silver Nitrate, silvia moreno-garcia ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

Some might call her the first film maker ever, but for certain the first woman.

Lights! Camera! Alice!: The Thrilling True Adventures of the First Woman Filmmaker by Mara Rockliff

August 1, 2024 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

Lights! Camera! Alice!: The Thrilling True Adventures of the First Woman Filmmaker by Mara Rockliff and Simona Ciraolo hit on the highlights of Guy’s life. The set up is like a classic movie with their title cards (the afterwards will let you know that they are titles of Guy’s films). The focus, while on Guy covers a lot of areas that the adult (graphic novel) biography I read didn’t seem to. Positive and upbeat. The illustrations, while fun and clever, might have been “too cute” […]

Filed Under: Biography/Memoir, Children's Books, History, Non-Fiction Tagged With: Alice Guy, Alice Guy-Blaché, film, France, French film director, Mara Rockliff, Performing Arts, Simona Ciraolo, United States, women

BlackRaven's CBR16 Review No:343 · Genres: Biography/Memoir, Children's Books, History, Non-Fiction · Tags: Alice Guy, Alice Guy-Blaché, film, France, French film director, Mara Rockliff, Performing Arts, Simona Ciraolo, United States, women ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

I’m pretty sure I will forget almost everything about this in less than a year.

It Happened One Fight by Maureen Lee Lenker

January 8, 2024 by narfna 3 Comments

I pre-ordered a signed and personalized copy of this book from The Ripped Bodice because I really like Maureen Lee Lenker after listening to her appear many times on one of my favorite podcasts, Screen Drafts. She always comes on and talks about classic movies, and she talks about them with such confidence, knowledge, and deep affection; I like her so much that I decided beforehand that I was going to love her romance novel just as much. Well. It Happened One Fight (the title […]

Filed Under: Romance Tagged With: film, historical romance, It Happened One Fight, m/f, Maureen Lee Lenker, narfna, Old Hollywood, Romance, screwball comedy

narfna's CBR16 Review No:3 · Genres: Romance · Tags: film, historical romance, It Happened One Fight, m/f, Maureen Lee Lenker, narfna, Old Hollywood, Romance, screwball comedy ·
Rating:
· 3 Comments
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