Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Your past is not an excuse…but it is an explanation

What Happened to You? by Bruce D. Perry and Oprah Winfrey

by Leave a Comment

I needed another audiobook to listen to on my way to work, and I didn’t have anything in mind. I started browsing my library app to see what was available, and I found What Happened to You? Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing (2021) by Oprah Winfrey and Bruce D. Perry. The title is pretty self explanatory, and Oprah Winfrey needs no introduction. Dr. Bruce Perry is a brain and trauma expert. In what feels like a discussion or interview (on the Audiobook, at least) the two […]

“Just because desperate people seek out exploitative conditions doesn’t make those conditions any less exploitative.”

Poverty, by America by Matthew Desmond

by Leave a Comment

I’d already read Evicted by Matthew Desmond, and I was very impressed with the depth of Demond’s writing. So, it’s no surprise that I picked up Poverty, by America (2023)–especially after Obama recommended it. In Poverty, by America, Desmond pushes back hard against the stereotype that poor people are lazy, maybe stupid, and could get out of their circumstances if they just tried harder. He delves into how much the poor have stacked against them, and how these circumstances help the ones who already have more than enough. This includes […]

Even rich kids can have a hard time

A Very Private School by Charles Spencer

by Leave a Comment

An article popped up on my phone about a memoir by “Princess Diana’s brother” about his abusive boarding school days, and I was intrigued. Almost immediately, I put a hold on the Audiobook of A Very Private School (2024) by Charles Spencer. Spencer reads his memoir on the Audiobook, and at first I was a little distracted by his super posh accent. I couldn’t help but imagine what a snob he was. And later in the book when he mentions being the Queen’s godson and having his […]

“I cannot say this frequently enough: the goal is not to clear your mind but to focus your mind—for a few nanoseconds at a time—and whenever you become distracted, just start again. Getting lost and starting over is not failing at meditation, it is succeeding.”

Meditations for Fidgety Skeptics: A 10% Happier How-To Book by Dan Harris and Jeff Warren

by Leave a Comment

This book is one part Meditation how to, one part road trip, one part Dan Harris being cantankerous and introspective and just very frank about his own life. I featured it on my podcast “Advice from the Cheerbrarian” in the episode titled “The Power of Yes (Part 3) – Give meditation a whirl: how meditation has helped me and might help you.” Juuust had to get that icky self-promotion outta the way. And now onto the book! Firstly, who is Dan Harris? You may have […]

They’re lovely by podcast as well

The Love Prescription by John Gottman, Julie Schwartz Gottman

by Leave a Comment

The Gottmans are one of the few pop science social psychologists that I find useful for one’s day to day relationships. Partially because their work is informed by (but not heavily reliant on) theoretical frameworks, they strike the right balance of informed and practical. For those who don’t know, most of their work is based on years of longitudinal observations of couples in the lab, recording and then coding all manner of behaviors. From this data they’ve codified a series of interventions and theories to […]

An impressive athlete and interesting person

The Push by Tommy Caldwell

by Leave a Comment

I love climbing, and I already follow Tommy Caldwell on Instagram, so it’s a little odd that I wasn’t more excited when my book club chose The Push (2018) by Caldwell for our next book. My lack of enthusiasm stemmed wholly from the fact that I already knew a lot about him. He lives in nearby Estes Park, and I’ve seen a number of documentaries that detail him climbing the Fitzroy Traverse in Patagonia, the harrowing hostage situation in Kyrgyzstan, and his conquering of the Dawn Wall […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo