Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Maybe a little too close to home

Let's Never Talk About This Again by Sara Faith Alterman

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Amazon describes Let’s Never Talk About This Again (2020) by Sara Faith Alterman as a “darkly funny and poignant memoir about love, loss, Alzheimer’s, and reviving her father’s pornographic writing career.” I’m not exactly sure what I was expecting after reading that, but I picked up the audiobook for two reasons. First, it sounded genuinely odd and funny, and I was curious how a daughter revives her father’s pornographic writing. Second, my father has been suffering from Alzheimer’s and a traumatic brain injury for some years now. […]

Endangered birds and adventure

Owls of the Eastern Ice by Jonathan C. Slaght

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I’m big on birds at the moment, and I was looking for a good audiobook for a road trip I was taking. Somehow I found Owls of the Eastern Ice (2020) by Jonathan C. Slaght. I’m sure I would have done a better job in remembering names and details if I’d read the book, because I can never pay as close attention with audiobooks. I liked this book. I learned a lot about wildlife biology, conservation efforts, and an owl I’d never heard of before. I […]

Matt Scudder – Nostalgic NYC Noir

When the Sacred Ginmill Closes by Lawrence Block

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My dad was a huge fan of the prolific author Lawrence Block. Block is best known for two series of books, one following ex NYC cop Matthew Scudder and his battles with alcohol and guilt, as well as a light-hearted series about the charming burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr, who always seems to find himself on a job in a fabulous residence that also happens to contain a dead body. Most of the Scudder novels are included with my Audible subscription, so I have been enjoying revisiting […]

I will defend Dana Scully with my last breath.

90s Bitch: Media, Culture, and the Failed Promise of Gender Equality by Allison Yarrow

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This was a secondary optional pick for one of my IRL book clubs (I’m in two now and it is great; the next person I see making fun of book clubs gets a virtual punch in their sensitive bits—book clubs are friendship, books, and food, fuck you) and I’m glad I read it, although it was a far from a perfect read. When it was on, I really enjoyed it. When it was off, steam came out of my ears. The perspective this book takes […]

Re-reading Mistborn, Part Five

Shadows of Self (Mistborn, #5) by Brandon Sanderson

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Still love this. Neat to see the pieces set up beforehand. I will be honest with you. I do not want to write this review. Sometimes you just don’t want to make thoughts about the things you love. But I have to write this review, at least 250 words, because of made up commitments that I could totally ignore if I really wanted to (hello, CBR, I cross-posted this to Goodreads!), but instead hold myself to anyway, because apparently doing that is something my subconscious […]

“We are all lichens”

Life Entangled by Merlin Sheldrake

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This is the sort of book that can give you back a childlike wonder of the world. Good enough sell yet? I remember being a kid and thinking it was such a waste to live in this time because we already knew everything. There was nothing left to discover. Of course, then I learned abut space, and then about the deep sea, and it turns out there’s actually a rather shocking amount of stuff we don’t know. I would argue there is an overwhelming amount […]



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