Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

About GentleRain

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Your jack of all trades eccentric. Knows a little about a lot and a lot about a little. Tends to mainly read non-fiction (history, true crime, old gossip, etc), SF/F, horror, graphic novels, "genre" books. (Learn more about this Cannonballer: GentleRain's Quick Questions interview.)

GentleRain's Reviews:

The Relentless Tragedy of Empress Alexandra

Alexandra: The Last Tsarine by Carolly Erickson

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This is a solid and very readable biography of Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna, who was the last Tsarina of Russia. I had never read a biography specifically of her, although I did know a lot about her life through my obsession with Edward VII. Alexandra was his niece, and his sister (Alexandra’s mother) Alice’s tragic death through diphtheria has always stuck with me as particularly sad. I did learn some new facts from this book, which is always a plus for me. It also lives up […]

A Solid David Geffen Biography

The Operator: David Geffen Builds, Buys, and Sells the New Hollywood by Tom King

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I read this after the second volume of James Kaplan’s magisterial biography of Frank Sinatra, so I was in the mood for reading about more horrible men with bad tempers. The Operator is a biography of David Geffen, who has had an extremely broad and influential career in show business. I knew only about Geffen Records going into this book, and it broadened my view of everything he’s been involved in, from helping produce Cats on Broadway to being one of the founders of DreamWorks. […]

Exploring the Newgate State Prison and Copper Mine: Connecticut’s Most Interesting Tourist Attraction

Newgate: From Copper Mine to State Prison by William G. Domonell

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CBR15Bingo: Edibles (what these poor men had to eat was truly horrific, despite the tour guide trying to tell us they ate well — the explanatory board on the grounds of the prison and this book both say the men had to eat pickled pork that the guards would throw on the ground and then the prisoners would have to boil it in the water from the forge). This is a brief volume explaining the history behind the historic Newgate Prison and Copper Mine, which […]

A Strong End to a Strong Series

Paladin's Hope by T. Kingfisher

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CBR15Bingo: Adulthood (characters are adults and one of the themes is about having an adult romantic relationship when you’re scared about it and have to learn to communicate) This is the last of the Saint of Steel trilogy, which legitimately makes me sad. While I’ve also read Kingfisher/Vernon’s horror work, I really enjoy these fantasy-mystery-romance novels. This final one in the series wraps things up nicely and I did have a lovely time reading it, but I wish there was another follow-up trilogy (what can […]

A Solid Addition to the Baby-Sitters Graphic Novel Series

The Baby-Sitters Club: Stacey's Mistake by Ellen T. Crenshaw

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CBR15Bingo: Nostalgia (a nostalgic series updated for the modern day) I was excited to see this pop up in the bookstore as I’d missed there was a new one in the series coming out. I am a big fan of these graphic novel adaptations of the Baby-Sitters Club series, so it’s always a treat when they release another one. Stacey’s Mistake follows the group going to visit Stacey in New York City, as she moved back to the city for her dad’s job in a […]

“This book’s findings should temper our estimation of the freedom we have to change ourselves.”

Degrees of Separation: Identity Formation While Leaving Ultra-Orthodox Judaism by Schneur Zalman Newfield

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CBR15Bingo: North America (the book focuses mainly on the Satmar and Lubavitch communities in New York and New Jersey.) I really enjoyed Degrees of Separation, which examines the experience of leaving Ultra-Orthodox Judaism (specifically the Lubavitch and Satmar communities) and how those who leave form their identities during and afterwards, as well as the long-term ramifications. This is an academic text and so there is a lot of sociology terminology to work through, but Newfield did this study based on interviews so there are a […]



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