Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Archives for December 2021

A city that comes alive

The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin

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The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin is a unique science fiction novel that brings cities to life. When a city becomes “great” a human inhabitant becomes its avatar. Except at the start of this novel, the homeless Black boy is chased into hiding. Enter the awakening of the human avatars of each of the five boroughs. The book follows each avatar as they discover their connection to the city. There is a mysterious entity that doesn’t want the city to fully become a great […]

It’s no Goon Squad, but Egan is an impressive writer

Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan

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My first experience with Jennifer Egan was A Visit From the Goon Squad. I loved that book; it’s one of my favorite books of all time. Well, my brother and his wife gave me Manhattan Beach (2017) by Jennifer Egan for Christmas awhile ago (probably in 2017). Even though I knew I wanted to read another Egan book, I kept putting off Manhattan Beach. I had trouble finding the time for a book I owned when there were always new library books to read. I felt kind of bad […]

If you think Ali Wong is hilarious, read this book!

Dear Girls: Intimate Tales, Untold Secrets, & Advice for Living Your Best Life by Ali Wong

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I have always loved Ali Wong, so had been meaning to read Dear Girls: Intimate Tales, Untold Secrets, & Advice for Living Your Best Life for a while. Thus, I was delighted it was picked for my Mocha Girls Read book club in March. Semi-memoir, semi-humor, Dear Girls is a collection of hilarious letters to her young daughters for when they grow up. Wong talks about her upbringing, education, marriage, and of course her family. The audiobook is fantastic. This is a must if you’re […]

Like hanging around with a couple of great mates who just happen to be famous, incredibly smart and interesting

Well Hello: Meanderings from the world of Chat 10 Looks 3 by Annabel Crabb and Leigh Sales

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Leigh Sales and Annabel Crabb are treasured Australian icons of tv, journalism and political reporting. They started a podcast in 2014 to discuss books, food, theatre, movies and other things they were up to (but definitely no politics! that’s for work hours!) and quickly amassed a bit of a cult following. The ‘fan club’ has its own social media community which now boasts around 50 000 members in Australia and beyond and is one of the most kind and caring online communities I’ve ever been […]

A Black Feminist Essay Party

Slay In Your Lane: The Black Girl Bible by Yomi Adegoke, Elizabeth Uviebinené

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Slay in Your Lane: The Black Girl Bible by Yomi Adegoke and Elizabeth Uviebinené explores how Black British women navigate the world. It explores Black feminism through a series of essay interviews rather than a guide to the Black female experience. It was more of an anthropological deep dive. The book is divided into themed topics with interviews from a variety of Black British female professionals. From education, careers, dating, and more, the authors discuss their personal stories and share statistics to inspire Black women. […]

Shining a light in dark places

Phosphorescence: On awe, wonder & things that sustain you when the world goes dark by Julia Baird

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When Julia Baird was very sick with a horrible cancer she became obsessed with searching out phosphorescence in nature and this metaphor about finding a source of light and wonder during dark times drives the premise of this book. It is at once quite personal and very well researched. It contains sage advice as well as interesting anecdotes. The prelude starts out with a lot of fascinating facts about bioluminescent phenomena – ‘living lights’ such as glow-worms, ghost mushrooms and vampire squid. I loved reading […]



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