Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

I want to ride my bicycle and eat noodles

Noodle on a Bicycle (Caldecott Honor Book) by Kyo Maclear and Gracey Zhang

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I can be a snob when a book is given high praise. Especially winning something like the Caldecott or even a Caldecott honor award. Now, that is not to say the book wasn’t deserving, but I have the personality that says, “Was it really that good?” Usually, I can enjoy it, but no, it was not worth the “hype.” I said usually. The picture book Noodle on a Bicycle (Caldecott Honor Book) by Kyo Maclear and Gracey Zhang (as the illustrator) was worth the award(s) […]

Those Still Living…

Tokyo Redux by David Peace

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Read as part of CBR15Bingo: getaway. I’m swapping this one out for “violence (banned).” Though this book is plenty violent. Plus, I really want an excuse to write about this book and make it count for CBR15Bingo.  I don’t know what to say really. This trilogy wrecked me. And to think, I wouldn’t have picked it up if not for journalist Max Read’s suggestion. I read the last three books of David Peace’s Red Riding Quartet last year and you can look at the tag […]

August 2023 Leftovers

Red Cat by Peter Spiegelman

You're Not Listening: What You're Missing and Why It Matters by Kate Murphy

Gangland by Chuck Hogan

Death and the Good Life by Richard Hugo

You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington by Alexa Coe

Britt-Marie Was Here by Frederik Backman

Occupied City by David Peace

Sleepless City by Reed Farrel Coleman

Bad Summer People by Emma Rosenblum

Run Time by Cathy Ryan Howard

Loyalty by Lisa Scottoline

None Of This Is True by Lisa Jewell

The Club by Ellery Lloyd

Not in Bronxville by Rita K. Farrelly

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Unquestionably the worst month in the calendar. Red Cat*** It’s not the writer’s fault that I just finished Robert Kolker’s excellent Lost Girls in light of the apprehension of the man they think is the Gilgo Beach murderer. But my threshold for murdered sex workers was low going into this. I only finished it because it filled a specific square for my library summer reading game. It’s not bad; the mystery is done well but it doesn’t stand out as far as the rest of […]

To be homeless is to be ignored when people walk past while still being in full view of everyone.

Tokyo Ueno Station by Yu Miri

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“To speak is to stumble, to hesitate, to detour and hit dead ends. To listen is straightforward. You can always just listen.” ― Yū Miri, Tokyo Ueno Station CBR15Bingo: Asia & Oceania CBR15Passport: The story takes place in Japan. Based on the gold medals on the book cover, the charming cover art, and the synopsis of the book, I was expecting a quirky, sometimes weepy, ghost story set in one of my favorite places in the world. To put it simply, this book is bleak. […]

To The Victors Go

Tokyo Year Zero by David Peace

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What often grates me about David Peace’s endless style of repetition works here. Whereas his Red Riding Quartet was full of a bunch of self-loathing white policemen and journalists who couldn’t deal in a world their fathers had built, Tokyo Year Zero has a more compelling lead detective: a man who may or may not have committed a war crime in China now operating as a police officer in the first year of Allied occupation in Tokyo. His nation has lost and must now deal with […]

This Series Will Make You Want to Move to Tokyo

Is Kichijoji the Only Place to Live? (Vols 1-5) by Maki Hirochi

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CBR14Bingo: New (the manga is about real estate agents helping people find new apartments) This was my second read of this series and it lived up to my happy memories as a piece of escapism. Is Kichijoji the Only Place to Live? is about two sisters who run a small real estate agency in Tokyo’s popular Kichijoji neighborhood. Whenever someone comes in and says that they want to find a new place in Kichijoji, the sisters end up dragging them to a different neighborhood that […]



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