Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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This was perfectly fine and I did not like it at all.

A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay

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I actually think what’s going on here is that I really do not like most possession/exorcism stories. Despite loving the friendship aspects of My Best Friend’s Exorcism*, I had a hard time getting through that book and I like it the least of all Grady Hendrix’s stuff, and now I think I know why. The possession story arc mimics dysfunction, and the breakdown of familial relationships (often) or friendships is highly unpleasant to me. I also don’t get anything out of it. Starting about thirty […]

Not with a bang, but a whimper

The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay

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One of the most frightening things about the idea of a home invasion is the vast unknown of what the intruders want. Why would they come into your home – are the seeking violence? Money? Revenge? If our safety can be so easily upturned, we yearn desperately to be able to compartmentalize and thus counter-attack – what can we offer to restore our equilibrium? In Paul Tremblay’s version of a home-invasion, the reader is invited to consider these questions along with the characters. Would we offer […]

I liked this weird little gremlin book.

The Pallbearers Club by Paul Tremblay

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To be clear, the book isn’t about gremlins, I’m just calling it a gremlin book because it’s weird and small and has claws but is also kind of harmless and laughable in the right light. Also also, gremlin is a fun word to use. This book is impossible to *really* talk about without spoilers, so I’m going to have a pretty big spoiler section and a smaller non-spoiler section in this review. I will try to keep the spoiler section relatively spoiler-free in the sense […]

Foul foe, or foul play?

A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay

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A Head Full of Ghosts is a possession/exorcism tale… or is it? The eldest teenage daughter of the Barrett family, Marjorie, is not quite herself. She’s telling horrible stories, hearing voices, and vomiting green goo. She’s terrifying her little sister Merry with tales both true and imagined. Although she’s taking her prescription medication and dutifully attending her various medical appointments, her condition does not appear to be improving. Her parents or – more specifically – her father, reach out to a local catholic priest, Father […]

Rest Ye, Merry Gentleman

The Little Sleep by Paul Tremblay

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Read as part of CBR14 Bingo: cozy. The main character is a narcoleptic and his body frequently drags him off into a deep, cozy sleep.  It’s clear that I need to read more of Paul Tremblay’s work. While I didn’t love The Pallbearer’s Club, I enjoyed Tremblay’s writing style. He came across as accessible and fun, someone I could easily digest while providing enough pathos for his protagonists to feel like they are more than literary ciphers. I grabbed this on a lark in a bookstore, […]

Growing Things and Other Stories

Growing Things and Other Stories by Paul Tremblay

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At this point everyone who reads my reviews should know I do an overall rating for the collection, with individual ratings for the stories. So here we go! “Growing Things”-(3 stars)-This follows Merry from “A Head Full of Ghosts”. I didn’t find this scary honestly, and just kind of went well okay. “Swim Wants to Know if It’s As Bad As Swim Thinks”-(3 stars)-I honestly had to read more about what this even was since the title confused me. For those who don’t know, SWIM […]



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