Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


Join the CBR18 Book Bingo Reading Challenge—Now Underway!   

Kicking off this year’s Bingo Card with an excellent historical romance

Any Old Diamonds by K.J. Charles

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#CBR12Bingo: Money! Official book description (because I’m still reviewing books I read three months ago): Lord Alexander Pyne-ffoulkes, the younger son of the Duke of Ilvar, holds a bitter grudge against his wealthy father. The Duke intends to give his Duchess a priceless diamond parure on their wedding anniversary — so Alec hires a pair of jewel thieves to steal it. The Duke’s remote castle is a difficult target, and Alec needs a way to get the thieves in. Soldier-turned-criminal Jerry Crozier has the answer: he’ll […]

An impossible job, near certain death, terrible odds…I love a good heist!

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

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Six of Crows was recommended to me before I had heard of the Grishaverse.  After receiving it as a gift in the 2018 Cannonball gift exchange, I discovered that it was part of a larger world setting and I should probably read the preceding trilogy first.  It took me a while to get around to the “Shadow and Bone” trilogy and then another length of time to get back to Six of Crows.  I’m glad I waited and read the trilogy first, otherwise, the world […]

Though It All Comes Together, Still Felt Like Too Much Story in One Heist Novel

The Palace Job by Patrick Weekes

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I’m not sure if it’s been me this year or the novels I’ve picked but I’ve had a lot of novels that have been good/fine without being blown away by too many of them.  This one also fell strongly in the “it’s alright” category for me even though I know others quite loved it. The basic plot description is that Lock, the main character, wants to steal a priceless manuscript from an important political leader – since it once belonged to her family who died […]

Charlotte plans an art heist

The Art of Theft by Sherry Thomas

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This is the fourth book in a five book series. It’s not really the best place to begin. This review will also possibly contain spoilers for earlier books in the series. A Study of Scarlet Women is where you want to start. Official book description: As “Sherlock Holmes, consulting detective,” Charlotte Holmes has solved murders and found missing individuals. But she has never stolen a priceless artwork—or rather, made away with the secrets hidden behind a much-coveted canvas. But Mrs. Watson is desperate to help her old […]

Deck the Halls

Easy Death by Daniel Boyd

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One of the smartest reading decisions I’ve made in a long time is my commitment to reading at least one Hard Case Crime novel per month. I’ve collected them for the last 7-8 years or so but typically, I only read one or two a year. It makes no sense given that I love the imprint, love crime fiction, and am usually entertained by the stories. I think I take for granted that these books will always be there or that I’ll be around to […]

Damn, she’s good

The Sudden Appearance of Hope by Claire North

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Reading ClaireBadger’s review of 84K reminded me of how much I enjoyed Claire North’s The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August last year, and I was inspired to move another of her novels to the top of my TBR list. I’m happy to say I was not disappointed, as The Sudden Appearance of Hope was every bit as much mind-bending fun. As Hope says on the first page, the world began to forget her when she was sixteen years old: first her teachers, then her […]



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