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:

Intricate and unimaginable

An Immense World by Ed Yong

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(cbr15bingo – Strange Worlds square) It’s common knowledge that dogs can smell better than humans and eagles can see better than humans–although even that idea is sometimes hard to wrap my head around. But what about the animals that experience the world in ways we can’t even imagine? They don’t just see farther than us, but they see in colors not available to us. Or they feel the electromagnetic pulse of living creatures instead of touch. Ed Yong dives into the stories of different animals […]

What it is like to be a female firefighter

Fighting Fire by Caroline Paul

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Fighting Fire (1998) by Caroline Paul is a memoir of Paul’s experiences as one of the first women on the San Francisco Fire Department. Back in the late 1980’s, after a number of sexist and racist incidents, the Court required the department to diversify. Caroline Paul was seen at a gym and recruited. Paul had graduated from Stanford. She volunteered at a public radio station in Berkeley, and her twin sister was the Baywatch star: Alexandra Paul. Caroline was definitely not your typical firefighter, but despite […]

Her only short story

Recitatif by Toni Morrison

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Recitatif is Toni Morrison’s only short story. Published in 1983, the version I read was republished in 2022 and featured an introduction by Zadie Smith (the introduction was longer than the short story). I often regret reading introductions before I read the main story because I usually prefer to have my own thoughts and impressions when reading something new. On the other hand, I probably notice and take more in when I’ve been primed by an introduction. Anyway, Zadie Smith’s introduction was very smart and thoughtful. […]

Heartwarming advice from Michelle

The Light We Carry by Michelle Obama

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I’m a big fan of Michelle Obama. I read and really enjoyed Becoming back in 2019, and I was pretty sure I’d be getting around to The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times (2022) as well. I’ve enjoyed listening to these as audiobooks, and I like that Michelle Obama is the reader. The only problem this time is that I checked The Light We Carry out from the library, and it was automatically and unexpectedly returned when I only had half an hour left. So, I waited the many months […]

Gamer girl

Loathe at First Sight by Suzanne Park

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I’ve felt a little overwhelmed with life, work, hobbies, and chores. Why is there always so much to do? So, the only way I’ve been even halfway keeping up with my reading goals is by listening to audiobooks on my commute. I can’t listen to any book that is too complicated or literary because I find those too difficult to pay attention to while I’m driving. Thus, I end up listening to a lot of romances, memoirs, comedy memoirs, and simple non-fiction. My latest audiobook […]

More than a story about chimps

The Chimpanzee Whisperer by Stany Nyandwi with David Blissett

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I found The Chimpanzee Whisperer: A Life of Love and Loss, Compassion and Conservation (2022) by Stany Nyandwi with David Blissett when I was browsing available audiobooks at my library to listen to on my commute. I was very lucky to stumble on a book that was perfect for me. I’m a huge admirer of Jane Goodall, and I’ve read at least one long biography of her life. I’m very familiar with her early research on chimpanzees in Tanzania, her efforts to improve the lives of chimps […]



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