Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

When you’re the first person in 150 years to be charged with horse theft, but you did it, so then what?

Grand Theft Horse by G. Neri

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Grand Theft Horse started out slow, but once we get into the legal aspects and the world of horse racing things pick up. Told in first person narrative, G. Neri tells the story of his cousin Gail, who on Christmas Eve decided to steal a horse. Of course, it is not as simple as that. Part owner of a racing horse, she (as his trainer) realizes he is unable to run the next race due to an injury. But the majority-owners do not see an […]

“Do the stepwork and don’t give me any of your excuses. We both know they’re bullshit.”

Impossible People by Julia Wertz

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I like to read at least one graphic novel a year, just for something a little different. This year I found Impossible People: A Completely Average Recovery Story (2023) by Julia Wertz on NPR’s Favorite Books List. I have not read anything by Julia Wertz before, so I came into this story knowing almost nothing about her. She is a cartoonist and writer who has written a number of comic books, graphic novels and created comics for The New Yorker. She was based in New York City for many years […]

Thoughts of Home

The Flavors of Iraq: Impressions of My Vanished Homeland by Feurat Alani and Léonard Cohen

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The old “I was looking at my saved online reader links” comes into play with how I found The Flavors of Iraq: Impressions of My Vanished Homeland by Feurat Alani and Léonard Cohen.  I saw that it was the only one in that email (how I save the links) and figured it was a sign to read it. From May 2024, the history I grew up with comes back into play. However, instead of seeing it from an American or Western point of view, we […]

“To accept evil without challenging it, would be to condone it.”

King: A Life by Jonathan Eig

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I am a huge fan of Barack Obama’s reading lists, and I usually pick up many of his suggestions. But Obama also often includes a hefty biography on his annual list, and these books are generally too much of a commitment for me. I was ready to skip King: A Life (2023) by Jonathan Eig, just because I didn’t have the time, but then I figured I could listen to it on Audiobook. I already knew the basics of King’s life from school, but I’d never done […]

Finding happy little trees, mountains to climb and burglars to show who is the boss babe

The Swayze Year: You're Not Old, You're Just Getting Started! by Colleen AF Venable and Meghan Daly

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You are never too old to try something new, or to follow your passion. Even if that means you are in your 70s and you want to fly around the world. Even if that means you want to invent ramen noodles as we know them today. Even if you want to paint and are unhoused. Even if you want to write the classic dictionary or thesaurus.  Even if you are over the so-called, “Productive Years.” In The Swayze Year: You’re Not Old, You’re Just Getting […]

All of them

Beyond They/Them: 20 Influential Nonbinary and Gender-Diverse People You Should Know by Em Dickson and Cameron Mukwa

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Either the celebrities are getting younger, or I’m getting older (I’m assuming the former, as I’m certainly not getting older….).  Joking aside, the first few sections of Beyond They/Them: 20 Influential Nonbinary and Gender-Diverse People You Should Know focuses on young people born in the 1990s mostly, so I was a bit surprised how young the people were. Then again, we are just starting to have nonbinary and/or trans people in literature and/or mainstream, making the pioneers younger. And Em Dickson and Cameron Mukwa proudly […]



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