Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“Everyone has a thousand wishes before a tragedy, but just one afterward.”

Beartown (Beartown #1) by Fredrik Backman

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WOOF. That’s the first thing that comes to mind when I think about this book. I was a big fan of Backman’s heartbreaking and hopeful A Man Called Ove so when a friend said they had just finished it and was going on a bit of a Backman Bender (alliteration!) I was happy to join in for a two person book club. But alas, I gotta say now that I’m done, I would not have finished this book if I was not reading it with a […]

Ok I’m bragging, but who will if I don’t? Cannonball #9

The Duel: A Story about Peace by Ines Viegas Oliveira

A Stronger Home by Katrina Chen and Elaine Su

My Dear Sea by André Carrilho

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I was reading picture books recently and found that all had a strong theme, but I was not sure if I really liked them. I knew I liked the idea of them, but did I like how they were done? So, I present to you them and see what you think. All were read via an online reader copy. The first was The Duel: A Story about Peace by Ines Viegas Oliveira, and translated by Rosa Churcher Clarke (due mid-November 2024). The theme sounded obvious […]

Deadpool Does D&D

How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying by Django Wexler

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Imagine if you took Deadpool, made him a her named Davi, made him the main playable character in a video game, and tossed into a D&D sort of world in which (true to video game), every time he dies, he goes back to the re-set position. And this happens hundreds of times as Davi keeps losing to the Dark Lord. But then, Deadpool/Davi decides that, instead of trying to save the world from the Dark Lord, why not just become said Lord instead? And let’s […]

The mills of the gods grind slowly, but they grind small

Zanzara by Gloria Vitanza Basile

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Born in poverty and raised in a squalid orphanage, Phaedra’s life transforms completely when her identity as a prince’s illegitimate daughter is revealed, vaunting her into the lap of luxury. But she has a long, tough path to tread still before she will reach her happy ending. I really, really love the crazy bloody bodice rippers of the 1970s and 80s. They are always wild and adventurous, often with a strong historical grounding, and take you careening through the kind of heroine’s journey that leave […]

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 […]

Dan Brown Writing Victor Hugo would need a CW

The Watchers by Jon Steele

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Bingo 15: Violence The Watchers, had it been better known, would likely have faced bans for the violence, the sex, and the use of religion. I was also a little surprised there was no CW; it kind of needs one given how graphic certain parts of the story get in terms of the sexual and standard violence, some suggested but an awful lot directly shown, especially the last 100 pages or so. Basically, The Watchers is what I image you’d get if Dan Brown had […]



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