Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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A juicy gossipy fiction about old Hollywood

Scandal in Babylon by Barbara Hambly

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This book was entertaining.  Set in 1924 in Hollywood, amidst the glitz and glamour of old Tinseltown in it’s glory days, we are plunged into the story fairly quickly.  Emma Blackstone has come to the U.S. to be an assistant of sorts to her famous sister-in-law Kitty Flint, star of the movie being filmed.  Emma lost her husband in the war, and was in need of somewhere to live when Kitty swooped in to help.  Now Emma finds herself on a movie set, keeping an […]

“Everyone loves a beautiful dead girl.”

Windhall by Ava Barry

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Windhall is a novel about Hollywood, the way men treat women, fame, obsession, and Los Angeles. Hailey is an antisocial journalist at a counterculture zine turned blog (I think) in LA. He is obsessed with the decades old murder of a Hollywood star at the home of an infamous director. His obsession weaves in with his own family’s story, as well as the DNA of modern day Los Angeles. It’s hard for him to separate the glamour and allure of the city with the facts, […]

A story of two Hollywood legends

The Girls in the Picture by Melanie Benjamin

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This is another fictionalized book about real people by Ms Benjamin (who wrote “The Swans of Fifth Avenue”) – and it’s an intriguing read!  I’m sure we all have the basic knowledge of Mary Pickford who was America’s sweetheart, the “girl with the curls” who married Douglas Fairbanks Sr. and lived the glamorous star life.  What I didn’t know is that there was another woman from that era who was also forging a path for herself in a man’s world – Frances Marion, a writer […]

My Sister Hated It

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My sister hated The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.  I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t love it either.  I think I wanted more, or, maybe, I just wanted it to be better. It glosses over a lot of Evelyn’s relationships and especially with the relationship that Evelyn claimed was the most important. I also had the same problem with it that I had with All the Stars in the Heavens in that, reading this book from the mindset of someone not living in those […]

Bad Impulses

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Although I have a “To Read” list on Goodreads and have books and authors scribbled down on the backs of various envelopes and whatnot, I am also a pretty impulsive reader. Especially at my favorite local used book store.  It’s a wonderful place where they give you credit for any books you bring in and also offer a 50% discount when you use that trade credit.  When I’m there, I completely ignore my scribbles and my “To Read” list and just buy books on impulse. […]

Husbands and Heartache

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“Seven husbands. Which one did she love best? Which one was the real one?” This book had me turning the pages pretty quickly to find out what would happen next, and I read nearly all of it in one day.  It tells the tale of  Hollywood legend Evelyn Hugo, who escaped the humble beginnings in Hell’s Kitchen to live out her dream of becoming an actress in Hollywood.  Born Evelyn Herrara, of Cuban descent, she is a blend of Marilyn Monroe, Sophia Loren and Elizabeth […]



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