Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

About thewheelbarrow

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I'm a 41yo father of three. My goal is to write as I read. Like it is every year.

thewheelbarrow's Reviews:

Messin’ with Squatch

Devolution by Max Brooks

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I loved World War Z. While the movie was fine, it was not the book that I read and loved. This is a much darker, more horror version that focuses a grisly Bigfoot massacre in Washington state. The audiobook is read by an outstanding cast led by Judy Greer as the protagonist. It follows the same style as World War Z in that it is a collection of journal entries interspersed with news stories and interviews. The main difference between this book and WWZ is […]

That PC guy is funny!

Vacationland: True Stories from Painful Beaches by John Hodgman

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I like John Hodgman. I dig his quirky, off-beat humor. I LOVE his history of hobos video done in the style of Ken Burns documentary. After reading this book, I like him even more. In Vacationland, Hodgman talks about his life and his family and how and where he finds himself today. He is a little older than I am, so a great deal of the experiences, especially those with family are things that I am starting to face with my own family. One point […]

The road goes on forever…

The Forever War by Joe Haldeman

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This book was on my to read list for years. YEARS! I knew it was something that I would really enjoy and that it wasn’t terribly long so I kept putting it off. I can’t fully explain why I did that and as I think I always knew, I wish I hadn’t. I wished that I’d read it earlier. Which is kind of funny because I read version with an introduction by John Scalzi who writes the Old Man’s War series which is often compared, […]

ZZZzzzz

Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams by Mathew Walker

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Why We Sleep is the most recent book I finished. Since I am fully cramming here at the last minute, I figured I would write what was freshest in my mind. In doing that, I am contradicting everything I just learned about in the outstanding book. I think that we all know that sleep is important but we don’t necessarily know WHY sleep is important. Sure, it makes us less cranky and healthier but Matthew Walker and his team have spent years conducting studies and […]

Some Autobiographical Goodness

Personal Memoirs by Ulysses S. Grant

The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin

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I liked both of these but I really liked Grant’s memoirs. After reading Grant by Ron Chernow, I found myself fascinated by another underrated American Hero. Underrated because his good name has been besmirched by the Lost Cause and the drivel it spews for 150 years. The memoirs of Grant are highly regarded. He originally did not plan to write them but after losing most of his money in a bad investment, one in which he was deceived – his greatest shortcoming was his willingness […]

Just infuriating

Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Pérez

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I picked this up for a few reasons. First, I am a data scientist so I like anything that looks at large data sets and analyzes it. Two, I’m trying to learn about all of my own biases and the privileges that those entail. This book is enraging. I’m not sure how or why women tolerate any of us. This book is about all of the different ways women are excluded from the narrative, usually without their knowledge and certainly without their consent. For example, […]



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