Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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Problems of a Family of Psychics

Spoonbenders by Daryl Gregory

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I discovered this book in a roundabout way. When I was reviewing a short story collection, I ran across a story I really liked and wondered what else the writer had done. I was pleasantly surprised to find Mr. Gregory had several novels, so I ordered Spoonbenders (recommended by several readers). It’s strange, wonderful, gritty, and a three-dimensional jigsaw puzzle. The Telemachus family is highly unusual. They’re psychics but not very good ones. Teddy, the dad, isn’t psychic, but he is the greatest card-playing shyster […]

Riches and Wonders

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What a strange little book. The Beautiful Ones is the story of three people: Antonina “Nina” Beaulieu, her cousin Valerie, and the telekinetic performer Hector Auvray. Hector and Valerie have a tragic romantic history, and when their paths cross again during Nina’s first Grand Season in the big city, she is drawn, unwittingly, into a romantic triangle with the two of them. At its heart, The Beautiful Ones is pretty standard romance. It has some noteworthy trappings, however. It appears to take place during La Belle Epoque, […]

Satisfying end to the series

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This is the third book in Stephen King’s Bill Hodges trilogy, so if you haven’t read the prior two I would skip this review to avoid spoilers.   Full disclosure, I am a huge King fan, and while I wouldn’t say I have a bias when it comes to his stuff (he has certainly written things I haven’t enjoyed) I am naturally inclined to like his work.   End of Days brings the Bill Hodges trilogy to its completion, starting with Mr. Mercedes and then […]

I think people remember this book for the wrong reasons.

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Here’s what I knew about Carrie before I picked up this book: 1. Sissy Spacek played Carrie in the movie from the 1970s. 2. There was a scene in a shower with Carrie’s period and tampon throwing. 3. She is a loser who gets invited to the prom by the most popular boy in her class as a cruel joke instigated by her classmates. 4. At the prom, they elect her prom queen and then dump a bucket of pig’s blood on her. She snaps and her telekinetic […]



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