Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

About Sophia

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I love to read, and I love to learn. I wish I were retired so I could spend more time on my random hobbies!

Sophia's Reviews:

A little poetry, a little violence

The Painter by Peter Heller

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CBR15Bingo: “You are here” The Painter (2015) by Peter Heller is one of the books I specifically searched out for Cannonball Bingo. Looking for local books, I was doing google searches for the “best books that take place in Colorado” and saw The Painter. I had read The Dog Stars by Heller ten years ago and was impressed, so I was open to reading another book by him. In addition, Heller lives in Denver and the book takes place (at least partly) in the mountains of Colorado, which works perfectly […]

Where women of STEM find love

Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood

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After my book club chose to read The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood, I went on to read the rest of Hazelwood’s romance collection. Although none of these novels (and novellas) are perfect, I’ve found them all fun and interesting. Her female characters are women of STEM, something Hazelwood is herself. So they tend to be a glimpse into academia along with some steamy, heartfelt romance. Love, Theoretically (2023) is Hazelwood’s latest novel and had everything I was expecting. I devoured it quickly and genuinely enjoyed the story. Elsie […]

“Food was how my mother expressed her love.”

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

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I’d seen Crying in H Mart (2021) by Michelle Zauner on Barack Obama’s Recommended Reading List as well as NPR’s Best Books, but it never really called to me. My husband read it last year, but he was very vague on what it was about: he said it was a woman feeling lost about her life (or something). So that didn’t really make me want to read it either. But I never forgot it, and when I needed a book about Asia for Bingo, I thought it just […]

“My pain was never more valuable than his potential.”

Know My Name by Chanel Miller

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I saw Know My Name (2019) by Chanel Miller available at the library on audiobook, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to listen to it. I had heard the story of the Stanford swimmer who had sexually assaulted an unconscious woman. I knew that even with two witnesses, he received a light jail sentence. I remembered the collective outrage from the sentencing, and I thought I already knew the story. Add to the fact that rape isn’t exactly a fun topic, and I was leaning against reading […]

Being smart doesn’t make them good

The Icepick Surgeon by Sam Kean

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My husband’s brother gave him a paperback copy of The Icepick Surgeon: Murder, Fraud, Sabotage, Piracy, and other Dastardly Deeds Perpetrated in the Name of Science (2021) by Sam Kean. My husband read the book and enjoyed it, and it looked interesting. It was in my mind as a to-read book, but–as often happens–there was always something else to read and I kept putting it off. However, once Bingo got going, I was sure I could use it for something, which finally pushed me into reading it. […]

I’m no business student, but it was interesting

Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss with Tahl Raz

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I must have been browsing my library’s audiobook section to look for something to listen to while driving when I stumbled upon Never Split the Difference: Negotiating as if Your Life Depended on It (2016) by Chris Voss with Tahl Raz. I honestly can’t remember now when I first saw it or why I decided to read it. I’m guessing the FBI hostage stories were what drew me in. Chris Voss is a former FBI hostage negotiator, so he has a lot of experience in high-stakes negotiations. […]



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