Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

About Jake

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I love reading! (Learn more about this Cannonballer: Jake's Quick Questions interview.)

Jake's Reviews:

The Union Forever

Battle Cry of Freedom by James McPherson

The Golden Gizmo by Jim Thompson

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Reviewing two books here, one of which I have a lot to say about and do, the other I have little and do not… Battle Cry of Freedom 5/5 Unquestionably the ur-text on why the Civil War happened, McPherson examines all angles, the social, political and military. Not a stone is left unturned. Yet this book is remarkably readable. Very few parts of it dragged and the ones that did were the ones that I wasn’t particularly interested in in the first place. McPherson doesn’t set […]

A Landmark Read

Women, Race, & Class by Angela Davis

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Last month, when I was looking to try reading Angela Davis’ work, Women, Race, & Class was the primary recommendation. At the time, my local libraries were closed and this one was heavily borrowed via e-reader, so I picked up the available Are Prisons Obsolete? It was very good, giving me a concise history of penitentiaries and made me reconsider prison abolition. But I was still eager to get to this one and got excited when I saw it available. It was worth the wait. Davis does such […]

Nevertheless

The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith

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cn. transphobia Let’s get a few things out of the way real quick: JK Rowling is a TERF. And trans women are women. I checked this one out of the library before Rowling went on her recent bigotry spree on Twitter. She’s always held problematic views regarding transfolk but in recent weeks, she’s decided to just let her phobic flag fly. She also, perhaps not coincidentally, signed the infamous Harpers letter with other popular writers and academics that tut tutted “cancel culture”, the perpetual fear of […]

The Socratic Method

Walkin' The Dog by Walter Mosley

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Read as part of CBR12 Bingo: UnCannon. Walter Mosley is black. This book continues what I believe to be Walter Mosley’s best work: these series of small, wrenching looks into the life of Socrates Fortlow, an ex-con trying to make a new life for himself in Watts, Los Angeles. He lives with the mentality of one who is permanently imprisoned. Every step is a hazard, every chance encounter a threat. His actions are extremely measured and guarded. This was written when Mosley’s talent and ambition […]

The Troubles

Say Nothing: A True Story of Memory and Murder in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe

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Read as part of cbr12 bingo: Pandemic! I’ve wanted to read this one for a bit and it doesn’t really fit in any other category. Few books have had the kind of hype that Say Nothing has been getting the last 12-18 months. It wound up on dozens of “Best Of” lists in 2019. It was recommended by Barack Obama. Friends who read it gushed about it. Given that’s a history tale (yes) about a subject I know little about but am curious of (uh-huh), I knew […]

Don’t Mess With Her

Land of Shadows by Rachel Howzell Hall

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I read a lot of mystery fiction and one of my recurring criticisms is how much I loathe the tough talking’, hard drinkin’, angry-at-the-world male detective. It’s beyond cliche at this point; these folks always act like the world owes them something. What do you have to be so mad about? Anyway, Rachel Howzell Hall’s Elouise Norton could easily fall into this trap but she’s a black woman and that in and of itself is refreshing. She’s witty and not scared and knows how to […]



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