Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“I think Jesus would like better bands, you know?”

Rembrandt Is in the Wind: Learning to Love Art Through the Eyes of Faith by Russ Ramsey

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I recently came across an old CNN interview with Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins. In the interview, Corgan talks about how God is an unexplored area of rock because most people believe in some form of God, but most bands never mention God. CNN asks, “What would you say to Christian rockers, then?” Corgan thinks for a second and says, “Make better music…I think Jesus would like better bands, you know? Stop copying U2.” Corgan, in his very Corganesque observation, is correct. He is […]

I picked the colorful images but there is a variety that you’ll find inside

Hockney: A Graphic Life (BioGraphics) by Simon Elliott

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I could tell you every little piece of the puzzle that makes up Hockney: A Graphic Life (BioGraphics) by Simon Elliott, but then you would not have a reason to read it, and I think you really should. If you are not the usual reader for graphic novels; do not know much about David Hockney; or even if you are not a huge fan of biographies, don’t worry about it. This format might be a great way to start it for adults. This book is […]

“Without affection for ourselves, without softness on the inside, without being kind to ourselves, we will always be tired.”

The Lazy Genius Way: Embrace What Matters, Ditch What Doesn't, and Get Stuff Done by Kendra Adachi

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My coworker and direct supervisor who is also a friend saw that I was spiraling a bit this past year and decided to get me The Lazy Genius Way by Kendra Adachi for Christmas. Between work and personal life things all hitting the fan in what felt like a non-stop no-time-for-breathing pattern I was losing it a little. She had read it and it spoke to her and she had begun implementing pieces of it into her personal and professional ethos and while she and […]

Simple Yet Helpful Introduction

Tell Me Something About Buddhism by Zenju Earthlyn Manuel

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Best for: Anyone curious about Buddhism and looking for some thoughts from someone who came to the practice a bit later in life. In a nutshell: Manuel, a priest in the Zen tradition and a Black woman from the US raised in the Christian church, shares short but thoughtful responses to common questions about Buddhism. Worth quoting: Shared a quote from Eihei Dogen: “If you see death as something over there, then you are viewing your life from outside of it.” Why I chose it: […]

Basketball and Clothes

Lucky Me by Rich Paul

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Lucky Me (2023) by Rich Paul was recommended to me by a friend–and as I do with many biographies–I listened to it on audiobook. Now, I have only recently been learning a little bit about basketball through my husband, but it is not a sport I have followed. That information is relevant because Rich Paul is a basketball agent. He represents LeBron James and a number of other very famous players. He is also in a serious relationship with Adele (maybe married?). Rich Paul grew up […]

Deliberate or Cruel

Deliberate Cruelty: Truman Capote, the Millionaire's Wife, and the Murder of the Century by Roseanne Montillo

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I think Roseanne Montillo is on to something when considering why Truman Capote disdained Anne Woodward so much: their similar backgrounds. Neither was born of upper class New York stock. Neither would have gotten anywhere if not for dint of relationship (Truman’s mom landing a Wall Street guy, Woodward apparently being hot enough to bag a Brahmin). Like the song Creep, they don’t belong here. And both took different, yet stylistically similar paths to get where they were. This is an incredibly readable book that […]



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