Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

They Have Been Through It

Semi-Well-Adjusted Despite Literally Everything by Alyson Stoner

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Best for: Fans of honest memoirs; those interested in learning more about the lives of child stars. In a nutshell: Dancer, actor, singer, songwriter, podcaster Stoner shares the first 25 years or so of their story. Worth quoting: “All I have to do is be perfect at everything and look perfect while doing it.” Why I chose it: It just sounded interesting, and memoirs are kinda my jam. Review: The book itself has myriad content notes, including rape, eating disorders, religious bigotry, and others. Stoner […]

His Holiness

Hope by Pope Francis

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Read as part of CBR17 bingo: white cover Will preface this by saying I know a lot of people have suffered religious trauma, especially at the hands of the Catholic Church. This review is not meant to convert or convince you that your pain is not real. I also know that faith is not for everyone. This is not meant to be an evangelizing post. Despite my frustrations with the Roman Catholic Church, I had always been a fan of Pope Francis. I believed he […]

I think he liked to dance

Willi Ninja: Vogue Legend by Joy Michael Ellison

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When I need a quick read I head to my piles of reader copies. Sometimes I need to go to my online links and sometimes I have physical copies. This time it was an online reader copy for Willi Ninja: Vogue Legend by Joy Michael Ellison and illustrator Nabi H. Ali.   Due mid-May 2026 you’ll be just in time to learn about Willi Ninja and become inspired to dance like him in the hot summer nights. Yes, Mr. Ninja (not his real name) was […]

Native artists give insight

Dreaming in Indian: Contemporary Native American Voices by Lisa Charleyboy and Mary Beth Leatherdale

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I will start with a slightly controversial statement with my review of  Dreaming in Indian: Contemporary Native American Voices edited by Lisa Charleyboy and Mary Beth Leatherdale: The stories, poetry, essays, photographs and more, are familiar events and journeys that have relatable elements for almost anyone who has ever been an outsider. Regardless of if you are a  minority, I think most people can relate to the prejudices, the destruction of history and faith, and taking the lands of people. And some of the themes […]

Not that Warren Ellis, yes that Nina Simone, maybe that Nick Cave

Nina Simone's Gum by Ellis, Warren

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Bingo Row 2 – Purple (There were three names on the cover of Nina Simone’s Gum that attracted me to the book. I put a disambiguation at the end of this review if that’s helpful.) One day, a five-ish year old Warren Ellis woke up to see his yard was full of clowns making burgers. His father acts like raccoons got in the yard again and grumbles about dealing with them when it’s time to hang the laundry. This is nonfiction. Nina Simone’s Gum, by […]

“What must it be like to grow up that beautiful / with your hair falling into place like dominoes”

Gwyneth: The Biography (2025) by Amy Odell

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This is for bingo square ‘favourite’, partly because celebrity memoir/biography is one of my favourite genres, but also because Gwyneth Paltrow has, in one way or another, been the favourite her whole life–favoured of fate and fortune via her parents, acclaimed actress Blythe Danner and producer Bruce Paltrow, cynosure of critics, muse for Calvin Klein and Anna Wintour, tabloid and arty celebrity scene It Girl, Academy darling for her Oscar win at 26 for Shakespeare in Love (1998)—and more chillingly, for a while, as journalist […]



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