Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

What, No Bubblegum?

The Wax Pack: On the Open Road in Search of Baseball's Afterlife by Brad Balukjian

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The premise is irresistibly simple. Eager to reconnect to his childhood passion for baseball, author and college professor Brad Balukjian opens a pack of 1986 Topps cards at random, pops the disgusting rock-hard bubblegum in his mouth, and sets out to track down each player to see what they’re up to, long after their playing days are over and their fame has receded. He sets off on a cross-country road trip on which he’ll learn a lot more about life than he does about baseball. […]

Perspiration Inspiration

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami

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For the last five years, I’ve been grappling with the question: ‘Am I a Runner?’. Sure, I run, but does that make me a Runner? What’s the threshold for that? How is this identity obtained and defined? And I think maybe the litmus test, for me at least, is: Do you run? Did you enjoy reading and identify with ‘What I Talk About When I Talk About Running’? My answer to both questions is a resounding Yes, so I think I can finally settle into […]

The Answer

Not A Game: The Incredible Rise and Unthinkable Fall of Allen Iverson by Kent Babb

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Statistically and anecdotally, there are dozens of better players in NBA history than Allen Iverson. Iverson was famous for low percentage shots, inefficient passing and turnovers. His usage rate was outrageously high for someone whose effectiveness was questionable. When his hellbent driving skills worked, his layups and dunks looked like masterpieces. But his game was always more appreciated from an aesthetic perspective. So no, Allen Iverson was not the best player to play basketball. Not by a long shot. But in terms of cultural influence […]

Trust the Process

Tanking to the Top: The Philadelphia 76ers and the Most Audacious Process in the History of Professional Sports by Yaron Weitzman

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As I said a few weeks ago in my review of Ethan Sherwood Strauss’ superb The Victory Machine: thank the living Lord for sports books written by people my age. What a balm. No Michael Jordan narratives. No “back in my day, them fellas didn’t have the interwebs.” It’s simply inconceivable to boomers that people my age remember a world before its wide web, a time before social media, and can in fact conceive of a history that predated our existence. Anyway, enough of that. There’s […]

Field Hockey+ Varsity Blues + Dazed and Confused + Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

We Are the Wildcats by Siobhan Vivian

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Found this one mentioned in an article in my BookPages at my library, back when we could go to libraries regularly and grab magazines others had touched without much worry. Remember those days? Wow. The article pitched this one as an all-nighter adventure of a women’s high school field hockey team. I didn’t play field hockey,but I did play lacrosse. It seemed like a fun romp through memory lane. Teams love hijinks! I think on a psychological level team hijinks help us understand the strength […]

“The monster was the best friend I ever had.” Boris Karloff

House of Fear: Attack of the Killer Snowmen and Other Stories by James Powell

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Book: House of Fear: Attack of the Killer Snowmen and Other Stories Cover: One Scooby Doo rip off to go please. The story: Well now. That was creepy. Enter the world of The House of Fear. These are good, old fashioned spooky stories with a modern take. There are various themes that seem innocent (leaves, teeth, fishing, snowmen, trees) but show the sinister side of the mundane. And our host is a man (maybe; maybe not) named Boyle. They are the caretaker of all the […]



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