Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

About blauracke

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Loves books. (Learn more about this Cannonballer: blauracke's Quick Questions interview.)

blauracke's Reviews:

No One Sings Like You Anymore

Everybody Loves Our Town: An Oral History of Grunge by Mark Yarm

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Two things relating to the music I liked back then happenend in 1994 that left a deep impression on teenage me. In April, Kurt Cobain died, and I was absolutely shocked and remained glued to MTV for days. Like so many others, I had become a grunge fan when I discovered Nevermind, and I could not quite grasp that he had shot himself. A few weeks later I bought Soundgarden’s Superunknown which just blew my mind with the insane guitar tunings they used, the incredible […]

Wets, Drys, and Hypocrites

Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition by Daniel Okrent

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In January 1920, the 18th Amendment went into effect, prohibiting “the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all the territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes.” Daniel Okrent describes how it came to this point, and what happened during the 13 years it was in place. This is a very well-researched book with tons of facts about the era and the people that were most involved in the […]

Forgive Us Our Happiness

The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky

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If someone were to ask me which book by Dostoevsky would be the best to start with, the most obvious answer would definitely be Crime and Punishment, and indeed it is the first book by him that I myself read as a teenager. It is also the one that hooked me, and that would end up making me read almost all of his works in the following years. Still, Dostoevsky really wrote five great novels, and each one can be recommended as a perfect starting […]

“There is much goodness in him, and he is as noble as a man without real love can be.”

The Mussel Feast by Birgit Vanderbeke

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One evening in Germany in the late 1980s, a mother and her two children sit around the dinner table, expecting the father home from a business trip any minute. As time passes, the teenage daughter ponders her family and her childhood, and slowly reveals the ugly truth behind the facade of a normal family life. This is a short book that functions on two levels. On the surface, it is the portrait of a family that looks rather ordinary at first glance, but the more […]

“We don’t “all” have to pay our debts. Only some of us do.”

Debt - Updated and Expanded: The First 5,000 Years by David Graeber

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This is a look at our economy and how it came to be from an unusual perspective: that of an anthropologist. In contrast to historians and economists, David Graeber is much more interested in the human aspect and the societal peculiarities that are at the root of our economic system. Before money came into existence, there was already debt because people used complicated credit systems to buy and sell goods, and this division into creditors and debtors never went away again. First, Graeber tackles the […]

Things Are Better Now

The Seep by Chana Porter

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Aliens have invaded Earth through some kind of additive to the water which induces a blissful haze in people, and can be used to cure illnesses, modify bodies, or even alter a person’s age. Over time, the whole world is changed by this process or entity called the Seep which ultimately leads to a utopia where everyone can do or have whatever they want. The premise is so unconventional that the potential to develop an engaging and thought-provoking story is a given, but somehow it […]



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