Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“Why do you always quote poetry at me when all I want is a straight answer?”

Not a Drop to Drink by Mindy McGinnis

by Leave a Comment

The first time Lynn killed a man, she was 9 years old. Her mother taught her the ways of shooting and with good reason: she and Lynn had something highly coveted.  A small pond of water, in a world that was desperate for it.  Now into her teenage years, Lynn is used to the lonely life she and her mother tend to, a life that cycles only around surviving.  Collecting and purifying water is their number one priority. Hunting and growing another. Keeping the men […]

Eleven Centuries of History – One Easy Listen

Ghost Empire by Richard Fidler

by Leave a Comment

I have to admit, Audible’s recommendations have made a turn for the better in the last few months. I’m still getting the odd self-help book and re-hashed Kindle purchase, but on the whole, I think they’ve finally figured out what I like to listen to. My audiobook preferences differ from my ‘read-book’ preferences in that I tend to favour non-fiction with a strong, clear narrative. Complex fiction, I’ve found, don’t suit me well, as I have to expend too much energy trying to follow along […]

I so wanted to love this. Alas, it was not to be.

99 Percent Mine by Sally Thorne

by 7 Comments

From the blurb, because it’s now a month and a half since I finished the audio book: Crush: a strong and often short-lived infatuation, particularly for someone beyond your reach… Darcy Barrett has undertaken a global survey of men. She’s travelled the world, and can categorically say that no one measures up to Tom Valeska, whose only flaw is that Darcy’s twin brother Jamie saw him first and claimed him forever as his best friend. Despite Darcy’s best efforts, Tom’s off limits and loyal to […]

Revisiting a favourite from my early teens

Why Didn't They Ask Evans? by Agatha Christie

by Leave a Comment

When out golfing one afternoon, young Mr Bobby Derwent finds a handsome stranger at the bottom of a cliff, near death. While his golfing companion goes to get help, Bobby sits with the stranger, who soon expires, but not before uttering: “Why didn’t they ask Evans?” While looking for signs of identification, Bobby finds the photograph of a very beautiful woman in the dead man’s pockets, but nothing else to give him a sign of the man’s identity. The local inquest rules the man’s death […]

There is No Chef Without a Homeland

The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South by Michael W. Twitty

by 4 Comments

I’ve struggled to find the right way to talk about Michael Twitty’s The Cooking Gene. It was a game changer for me in the way I think about food, but it was also a mostly enjoyable and intriguing read. I recommend it highly, especially if you have any interest in food or American history. Twitty does historic cooking demonstrations in the kitchens of Southern plantations. He cooks the food that would have been eaten with the tools that would have been used. I want to reclaim my […]

Folies á Deux

Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou

by 6 Comments

Happy Women’s History Month! John Carryrou’s Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup taught me a new phrase – folies á deux – a shared psychosis by two people in close proximity. Elizabeth Holmes and her (secret) boyfriend,  Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, ran the company she founded like their own fiefdom. They enforced Elizabeth’s version of reality, kept information siloed, and silenced anyone who questioned or criticized them. I do not know if Elizabeth Holmes started out with good intentions and then was derailed by […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo