Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

The Book We Need For This Moment

Reign of Terror: How The 9/11 Era Destabilized America and Produced Trump by Spencer Ackerman

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The best, simplest review I can give it is to quote from political operative Robert Wheel (@bobbybigwheel on Twitter): You know it’s a good book because every page pisses you off. I was 17 years old when we invaded Iraq. At the time, I was a champion for the war because I believed our government. Why would our government lie? Even as I began to question things in 2003 and 2004, I still voted for George W. Bush in my first presidential election. I was […]

I’m just a girl living in captivity

The Pearl That Broke Its Shell by Nadia Hashimi

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I’m a big fan of fiction set in the Indian subcontinent and have a sizeable reading history with these novels, so cracking this novel open felt almost familiar, even though a) I haven’t read it before; and b) its set in Afghanistan rather than the subcontinent proper.  I had been putting this one off in part because the novels I have read that have been set in Afghanistan tend towards the bleak- totally understandable given the events that have shaped the country in the last […]

It was “Untold”, don’t let it be unheard.

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The recommendation of a friend spurred the timing of my reading of The Outpost but I intended to read it for some time.  It’s written by CNN anchor Jake Tapper and made me a fan of his for life.  This is why it was originally a part of my to-read list: In 2009, I was deployed to Iraq.  I’d been in the Army almost three years and I spent the majority of my deployment on a staff in Baghdad.  I worked the night shift that […]

I shouldn’t know more than our culture’s leading experts…

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While reading this, I found myself questioning beliefs I have held for many years. Not because this book presents novel ideas or is deeply informative about a subject I mistakenly thought I was familiar with (though it did represent what are to me novel ideas, and I am not overly familiar with this subject), but because its author’s views occupy the same space as mine, and he has fallen not only into controversy, but disfavor. Which, of course, makes me question how I see the […]

For you a thousand times over.

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

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I want to write a review that is unwieldy with munificence, so great is my love of this novel. I’m almost 70 books into my year, and am already going to call The Kite Runner the best thing I’ll read in 2016. Set mostly in Afghanistan before the Soviet invasion, this book follows the maturation of a Pashtun kid named Amir and his best friend Hassan, a Hazara boy. Amir’s mother died in childbirth, so he was raised by his father, who he affectionately calls […]

In our hour of darkness, Oh Lord, grant me vision

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In the summer of 2005, in the Korangal Valley of Afghanistan, a US Navy SEAL reconnaissance team was ambushed by local militia. Three of the four men were killed in the fight, and a quick reaction force helicopter sent in to rescue the team was destroyed by an RPG, killing all 8 SEALs on board. Only one man came out of the battle alive. This is his story. It’s a well-written book, both informative and entertaining. Luttrell sprinkles the book with humorous anecdotes about the […]



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