Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

This mite is mighty

Roberto: The Insect Architect by Nina Laden

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Roberto: The Insect Architect is what you expect from a book about a termite who wants to be an architect. There are puns about eating your wood and not building with it. There are bug-name puns of real-life architects and more. It is simple enough, but Nina Laden has created a long story that mostly is amusing (it is mostly a Love or Not book, with a few people in the Like category). Landen’s illustrations are what you see from the cover, only a few […]

Thought It Was For Me But It Is Not

Bold Ventures: Thirteen Tales of Architectural Tragedy by Charlotte van den Broeck

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Best for: People who are really into creative non-fiction essays. In a nutshell: Author van den Broeck explores architecture where the architect died under circumstances possibly related to their creation. Worth quoting: N/A Why I chose it: Normally this would be completely up my alley. Review: I made it through about 40% of this book and then had to stop because life is too short to read book that just aren’t doing it for you. I find books on architecture fascinating, and I like to […]

When a house is a home

The Lantern House  by Erin Napier

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You ever read a book and think, “Well that was interesting. Did I like it? Yes. Did I love it? Well, no.” And that is how I felt about The Lantern House by Erin Napier (with illustrations by Adam Trest). Maybe I was a little biased by the fact the book is by a celebrity. Or was not completely in the right mood or space to be reading. Yet, I know one thing about this book. I might not have loved it, but I know there […]

take a look! it’s in *this* book!

The Library Book by Susan Orlean

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Why not take a break from the world with a strangely soothing tale of a library fire? That question appears to be pure chaos, but seriously: wouldn’t it be nice to let a meticulous journalist and storyteller narrate a well-researched account of history, memory, and true crime? Good news: you can do it! Just plug your headphones in and let Susan Orlean and The Library Book transport you to a different world. Orleans covers more than just the true-crime glitter that is strewn around the  […]

cbr12bingo – Red!

Lies Sleeping by Ben Aaronovitch

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Every entry into Rivers of London starts with a splash; we are always diving head-first, sometimes literally, into rivers of blood. Every delightful cover, all done by Patrick Knowles, is a map with a big, red, bloody “X” marking the spot. Every cover is a map, every map is filled with teensy tiny detail, and every seemingly unrelated sketch or nursery rhyme lyric builds together into the marvelous mess that is London. I love his minute details; I feel like I’m looking at a Where’s Waldo illustration for […]

Well, that’s just your opinion, man.

The Seven Lamps of Architecture by John Ruskin

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There is no doubt at all that John Ruskin was an odd bird indeed.  But good Lord, the man had Opinions.   In 1848, Ruskin toured northern France with his bride (poor girl), and I assume, earlier Italy.  It was here that he fell in love with (certain examples) of Gothic architecture.  For Ruskin, architecture was the first of the arts, because it was not created by a person, but rather by a culture (his primary examples being cathedrals that took, in some cases, hundreds […]



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