Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

A couple of horror novels to prove I still read books.

The Man Who Fell to Earth by Walter Tevis

Bad Seed by William March

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The Bad Seed (1954) – 4 stars I’ve been intending to write this review for some time….which means I’m really struggling to dredge up memories of the book. Published in 1954, The Bad Seed tells the story of Rhoda Penmark, an 8 year old sociopath, and her mother, who is uncovering the truth of her daughter’s callous indifference to human suffering. Rhoda murders a classmate over a penmanship award that she felt she deserved, and she would go on to murder the maintenance man at […]

Getting caught up on unreviewed books from last year

The Hustler by Walter Tevis

Horseman, Pass By by Larry McMurtry

The Last Picture Show by Larry McMurtry

The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien

Sweet Bean Paste by Durian Sukegawa

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My world fell apart last November with the election of Donald Trump, and I’m still trying to put the pieces back together. Nothing literal (lucky me). I’ve just spent the past few months detached from….everything outside of my personal bubble. I’m getting back to normal, though. No less angry – but better able to be a part of the world, I guess. Unfortunately, reading has been one of the things that has fallen by the wayside. I haven’t had the mental energy to read and […]

Space Oddity

The Man Who Fell to Earth by Walter Tevis

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Before I’d ever read any of his books, I admired Walter Tevis for his range. Tevis is mostly known for four novels which have now all been adapted quite successfully. The Hustler, and it’s sequel The Color of Money, are about a great pool player. The Queen’s Gambit, as anyone with a Netflix account can tell you, is about a female chess champion. And then there’s The Man Who Fell to Earth. Adapted into a movie starring David Bowie, it tells the story of an […]

All Hail the Queen

The Queen's Gambit by Walter Tevis

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Netflix’s adaptation of The Queen’s Gambit was one of my favorite things of 2020. After blitzing through all seven episodes I even started playing chess again and enjoying it despite how terrible I am. Between Anya Taylor-Joy’s incredible performance, the unique subject matter, and the incredible vintage clothing there was a lot to love. So I eagerly snapped up a copy of the source material and plunged in. The danger of course with reading a book after seeing the adaptation is that the book will […]

The characters have as much personality and development as chess pieces

The Queen’s Gambit: A Novel by Walter Tevis

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Author Walter Tevis had a knack for writing stories that seem to adapt well to the screen. The Queen’s Gambit, written in 1983, is a current hit series on Netflix, but Tevis, who died in 1984, also penned The Man Who Fell to Earth, The Hustler, and The Color of Money. I have not seen The Queen’s Gambit (or any of the other films) but I can say that the novel reads very much like a screenplay. He gives the reader action and tension on […]

King Her

The Queen's Gambit by Walter Tevis

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As I’ve gotten older, I’ve shrugged off my manly man view of what real sports are. Cheerleading is a sport. Golf is a sport. Bowling is a sport. And for God’s sake, chess is a sport. I’d rather get sacked by Aaron Donald than try and sit in front of a grandmaster and play them at chess. A few years ago, I read Michael Weinreb’s entertaining The Kings of New York about a chess team at Brooklyn’s Edward R. Murrow High School. Weinreb, a writer who usually entertains me, […]



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