Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“The tricky thing about giving opinions is that sometimes they cost you more than you wanted to spend.”

The Downstairs Girl by Stacey Lee

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Jo Kuan and her father figure Old Jin have gotten by pretty well, considering they are Chinese Americans in the deep South of 1890.  Old Jin works as a horse caretaker for a local wealthy family, and Jo has a talent for millinery, so she is hopeful for an apprenticeship at the shop she works.  However, she is abruptly fired one day due to her supposed overly-frank attitude with customers (“You make the customers uncomfortable”).  Old Jin is able to get her a position as […]

It was fine!

You Never Forget Your First by Alexis Coe

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The title is fun! The cover is cheeky! The opening quote from Brad Neely’s beloved “Washington” video was greatly appreciated! It seemed like we were off to the races, but then… … … it got awkward. I listened to this as an audio book. The performance was fine, but the layout of the opening was just a mess. It probably worked better on paper, but the book started with ten minutes of list-reading. Then a prologue. Then an introduction. Then more list reading. I found […]

Stolen History

Unfamiliar Fishes by Sarah Vowell

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Going into Unfamiliar Fishes, my knowledge of Hawaii was sparse, to say the least. I can’t say that we covered any Hawaiian history in school- not even that it is our “newest” state. Information came in fits and starts; a friend of mine teaches Hula through VSA, I was familiar with Captain Cooks adventures (and one serious misadventure) in the archipelago, and I caught an old episode of No Reservations. Embarrassing, I know. I had nothing to write home about. Enter Sarah Vowell and her “almost oral […]

“Rooting around in the presidential innards”

Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell

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Listening to Assassination Vacation is like taking a road trip with your strangest friend. Well, Sarah Vowell is on a road trip- and is unabashedly strange- but having her narrate the journey to you is a little cozy, a little crazy, a little creepy- and a LOT of fun. Her morbid fascination with presidential assassins (both would-be and verified) and the zeal for putting friends and relatives into uncomfortable situations is a hoot, and the audio experience feels like gossiping with your own partner-in-crime. She […]

ugh. show not tell the “NOT ALL CONFEDERATES” edition

Varina by Charles Frazier

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Well y’all, I’ve done it again. I found another piece of sniveling, self-serving garbage. I finished this one out of spite. I wanted very badly, much like Signature of All Things, to cast this garbage into the sea. Unlike that previous disaster, I could not bring myself to punish the environment with this piece of “not all confederates” garbage.  Charles Frazier spent a mind-numbing 353 pages elaborating on what could have been a pamphlet – “Varina Davis was a lady that had ideas outside of […]

CBR11Bingo: True Story

The Only Plane in the Sky by Garrett M. Graff

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CBR11Bingo: True Story This is an oral history of September 11, 2001. It is fairly comprehensive, as historian Garrett M. Graff spoke to all the major players you would expect as well as to hundreds of people who got caught up in the tragic events of that day. His sources include New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Vice President Cheney, Condi Rice, Chief of Staff Andy Card, Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, and Donald Rumsfeld. He also talks to dozens of firefighters and police […]



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