Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Come for Mary Shelley and Ada Lovelace, stay for PAN (Practical Automaton Number One).

My Imaginary Mary (Mary, #2) by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton & Jodi Meadows

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Still not as good as the first Lady Janie book. A lot of this made no sense, and anachronisms were flying around willy-nilly, but I had a good time. My Imaginary Mary is what you get when you mix light fantasy (there are fairies! and Mary Godwin (Shelley) is one! (different kind of fairy than you’d expect)), alternate history (what if Mary met Ada Lovelace?), and a truly ridiculous sensibility (they invent the name Peter Pan for some reason?) with egregious unconcern for historical accuracy. […]

More of a Dissertation Than I Wanted

Queen of Codes: The Secret Life of Emily Anderson, Britain's Greatest Female Code Breaker by Dr Jackie Ui Chionna

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Best for: People who are really interested in the translation of Mozart’s and Beethoven’s papers. In a nutshell: A detailed biography of Emily Anderson, one of the female code breakers in the UK during WWI and WWII. Worth quoting: N/A Why I chose it: It sounded interesting – who doesn’t enjoy a good story about the people who helped fight fascism? What it left me feeling: Bored Review: I am just not having a lot of luck with books this year. I’ve had more 2 […]

I’m a seriffs guy, personally.

Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn

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Love Lettering is a portable romantic comedy – it would make a great movie, limited series, comic book, etc. Good job, Kate Clayborn! Love Lettering is about Meg – an up-and-coming hand-letterer and designer in Brooklyn. A few years ago she moved from the Midwest to New York with her best friend, Sibyl. Sibyl, aka Sibi, is an actress looking to make her way in the City. Meg is more of a wanderer than a planner (even though she custom designs planners), but seems to […]

Not Abridged But It Felt Like It Was

Love, Pamela by Pamela Anderson

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Best for: I’m not entirely sure. I hope her fans would enjoy it. In a nutshell: Pamela Anderson provides the Cliff’s Notes version of her biography. Worth quoting: N/A Why I chose it: When the limited series about the sex tape of Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee was released this year, Anderson was vocal in that she had not given her consent for her story to be told that way, so I chose not to watch the show. I thought I’d pick up her memoir […]

That Got Dark

Paris The Memoir by Paris Hilton

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Best for: Anyone who paid any attention to Paris Hilton in the early 2000s. My guess is you probably don’t know the whole story. In a nutshell: Paris Hilton – known as a party girl who lived it up with Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan – shares her story. Worth quoting: “Terrible things can go fuck themselves.” Why I chose it: It’s a celebrity memoir written by a woman. Like, obviously I’m going to read it. What it left me feeling: Conflicted. Review: Well that […]

“Laundry is morally neutral.”

How to Keep House While Drowning by KC Davis

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My biggest problem with chores, cleaning, and housework is procrastination fueled by misguided perfectionism. And now that I’m married and live in a real house of adequate size, with a cute but messy dog, my workload has increased substantially. I do realize that I still have it significantly easier than many others. I do not have kids to further muck things up or disabilities that hinder me, but I still feel that I am far from accomplishing what I want. So, when I saw How to […]



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