Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


Coming into the Light

The Girl in His Shadow by Audrey Blake

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I enjoyed this novel both because of its heroine, Nora Beady, but also for all the interesting details about the practice of medicine in the mid 19th century–fascinating and horrifying in equal measures. Nora is the ward of a famous British surgeon, Horace Croft, who saved her from a cholera infection that killed her whole family when she was a child.  Croft is brilliant and eccentric and that may be why he encourages Nora’s interest in biology, anatomy, and medicine, even though in mid 19th […]

It’s not too late to be in the year’s best

The Women by Kristin Hannah

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So there’s good news and bad news. Good news is, I loved this book. Bad new is that I had my top five already written up before I finished The Women, and now I have to rewrite it. It’s definitely worth the extra work though (although the book that got booted might disagree). The Women is set during the Vietnam war and follows the path of Frankie McGrath, who comes from an affluent family that proudly celebrated military service. Following the path her brother took, […]

Air Fair

Munichs by David Peace

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The first David Peace book I ever read was The Damned Utd. I had no idea I was reading a “David Peace book.” I know that sounds like a weird way to look at it but Peace’s style is so distinct in its repetition, bringing the banal to life whether you want to it to or not. I’ve heard it be described as an “occult” writing style because of the way he hides things within his story. Seems accurate to me. The Damned Utd. was good AND accessible, […]

To Vigil the Ante

Even the Wicked by Lawrence Block

Revelation by CJ Sansom

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Just as with Trump’s election last month dovetailing into subjects I read, the recent shooting death of healthcare CEO Brian Thompson by a vigilante killer coincided with me reading two consecutive books on vigilante justice. Going to review both vis-a-vis how they speak to the moment. Even the Wicked Growing up, vigilante justice was always right wing coded. Dirty Harry. Death Wish. I still remember the popular “Beer For My Horses” song in which Willie Nelson and Toby Keith talk about public hangings and “putting […]

Historical Fiction meets True Crime

The Mesmerist by Caroline Woods

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The Mesmerist by Caroline Woods is captivating historical fiction based on a real place in Minneapolis, The Bethany Home for Unwed Mothers, as well as on a true crime story that transpired in the area in 1894. The story revolves around three women. The mysterious Faith, a traumatized young woman who, judging by her dress, worked as a “sporting woman” in a brothel. She does not seem to speak, but she does come with a suspiciously large amount of money on her person. Abby Mendenhall, […]

A cozy paranormal romance for the holidays~

Clara, Darling by Chace Verity

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Chace Verity is one of my absolute fave authors, and they’ve held that title since their debut, Team Phison, so any time they have a new release I get all excited. Clara, Darling is a holiday (Christmas) novella, but unlike Verity’s previous Christmas story (Team Phison Forever), this has much less family trauma and is almost dream-like in its story tell. Sadie has been married to Alvin for ten years, but in all that time she’s never forgotten her best friend and first love, Clara. […]



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