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:

“One’s house is very important. It is the third and outermost of the shells that encase us.”

Old Madam Yin: A Memoir of Peking Life by Ida Pruitt

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Another book from my Stanford University Press sale haul. Old Madam Yin is a memoir of Ida Pruitt’s friendship with Madam Yin between 1926 and 1938. While there is a sociological and ethnographic lens here, with Pruitt working to explain the workings of Chinese society to a Western audience, the book works more today as a historical glimpse into the beginnings of the destruction of Madam Yin’s way of life, as well as the culture clash between Westerners and the Chinese. Pruitt was born and […]

“If there is any lesson to be learned from the intervention in Afghanistan, it is perhaps the difficulty of learning lessons.”

Losing Afghanistan: An Obituary for the Intervention by Noah Coburn

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I got this through a Stanford University Press sale for a very good deal (they do this sale once a year, I believe, so keep an eye out). Then it sat on a shelf for a while until I finally determined last month to work through the books I got from this sale — the unintended consequences of too good a deal is a bunch of academic books that sit around for a few years. I’m glad that I did finally pick this up because […]

“I suppose one has to have lived in the U.S.S.R. to know what a priceless treasure security is.”

Liberation — Russian Style by Ada Halpern

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My mom suggested I read this and I’m glad she did (she knows me well and this is the sort of book that’s right up my alley). Liberation — Russian Style is short at only 106 pages, but it packs a big emotional punch and really drives home the inhumanity of the forced civilian deportations by the Soviet government during WWII. This is one of those overlooked historical events in the American understanding of the US, I think, but millions of people were forcibly deported, […]

Fun Middle Grade Medieval Action Adventure

Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi

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I’ve been eyeing this book since it came out when I was probably 12 years old but it had never really clicked for me although I have enjoyed all the Avi I’ve read. The time somehow was right this month and I churned through this in short order. I think it was partially because all I was able to read for about two and a half months was reading for grad school and my brain was desperate for something adventurous and straight forward. Crispin: The […]

Middle Grade Graphic Novel Grab Bag

Lunar Boy by Jes and Cin Wibowo

How It All Ends by Emma Hunsinger

Tiffany's Griffon by Magnolia Porter-Siddell and Maddi Gonzalez

Plane Jane and the Mermaid by Vera Brosgol

Sink or Swim by Veronica Agarwal and Lee Durfey-Lavoie

Beetle and the Hollowbones by Aliza Layne

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As much as I am very grateful to be in grad school, I really missed getting to read for fun and so when I came home, I promised myself I could have an unfettered bookstore shopping trip. The result was a basket of so many books that the checkout guy said “Wow,” and a good proportion of those were middle grade graphic novels, because I love them. Lunar Boy is a sweet coming of age story that follows Indu. He was found on the moon […]

“This brilliant darkness, with which I am coming to terms.”

This Brilliant Darkness: A Book of Strangers by Jeff Sharlet

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I love photojournalism so I was intrigued by this when I saw it at a photography museum bookshop. This Brilliant Darkness is a mix of photographs, interviews, and memoir. It covers a gamut of “frightened and frightening people,” with Sharlet talking to the homeless, queer people in Russia, violent homophobes, an abortionist in Kenya, and many more people. He has a good eye for a story while remaining respectful and thoughtful. Sometimes projects like this can feel exploitative or extractive, but this one didn’t really […]



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