Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Not the right chemistry for me

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

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Bingo 12: School Some of the more significant moments especially towards the beginning of Lessons in Chemistry, as well as some later generally consistent episodes related to school work and learning put this one in the School spot. It’s no secret that being female in academia has been a challenge for a significant part of history, and Lessons in Chemistry starts with the worst parts of the 1950s-1960s horrific treatment of women in higher education (seriously, there should be a CW for the assault scene). […]

“From sprinkler splashes to fireplace ashes / I waited ages to see you there”

Cassandra at the Wedding (1962) by Dorothy Baker

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I was going to make a few brief notes about this and then add this to my review roundup of the Monica Heisey and Curtis Sittenfeld books–and they sort of make a good triptych of more or less complicated women by women writers. But I ended up rambling a bit more about this one, and indeed, Cassandra of Cassandra at the Wedding is not so much complicated, or even messy, but a full on crucible of chaos and doubt and solipsism in human form, who […]

“Children, set the table. Your mother needs a moment to herself.”

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

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#CBR15 Passport Challenge: Books recommended by friends Elizabeth Zott is a chemist struggling to be taken seriously by her male colleagues at a lab in the 1960s. She never completed her degree because her academic advisor raped her, but her lack of degree in no way means she’s not intelligent. Despite her brilliant mind, her male co-workers either treat her as nothing more than a lab assistant or steal her research and present it as their own. The one exception to this is Calvin Evans, […]

“This is the man.”

The Crime of the Century: Richard Speck and the Murders That Shocked a Nation by Dennis L. Breo , William J. Martin

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On a hot summer night in 1966, unemployed seaman Richard Speck broke into a Chicago townhouse and murdered eight nurses who lived there – but a ninth, Corazon Amurao, survived to testify against him. I’ve known about the Speck case for several years, and it’s really quite a horrific yet bizarre story that made a great impact on the judicial system in Illinois. I was excited to get into a book that would cover it in depth, but I found myself startled and pleased with […]

“Sometimes I think,” she said slowly, “that if a man were to spend a day being a woman in America, he wouldn’t make it past noon.”

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

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CBR Bingo – On the Air This book came highly recommended by a few people who have similar reading sensibilities as me, so I went into it presuming I would like it, and I was not wrong. However, bit of a quick disclaimer: I was shaken up at the start of the book because in this instance, judging the book by its cover will leave you on uneven footing as you get your book legs (I’m workshopping it a la “sea legs.” You heard it […]

‘No airport was an island either.’

Airport by Arthur Hailey

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CBR 15 Bingo – Nostalgia: This book is set in the glamorous heyday of air travel (and as I am currently in hour three of a ten hour layover in Munich, I can assure you I am feeling very nostalgic.) Over the course of seven hours, Lincoln Airport must go through a snowstorm, a protest, and the return of an airplane that’s had a hole blasted in its side. I love stories about airports and airplanes. They’re exciting to me because they are emblematic of adventure – […]



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