Boston – Page 4 – Cannonball Read 17

Two Entirely Different Kinds of Pirates

Pirate Queen: A Story of Zheng Yi Sao by Helaine Becker, Ill. Liz Wong

What Isabella Wanted: Isabella Stewart Gardner Builds a Museum by Candace Fleming Ill. Matthew Cordell

October 18, 2021 by NTE Leave a Comment

But Fortune cares nothing for your dreams. She takes up your life in her cup and shakes it so hard your teeth rattle in your head and your heart roars like a dragon in your chest. Then she throws the bones onto her table of lacquer and jade. Your fate is sealed. – Helaine Becker, Pirate Queen: A Story of Zheng Yi Sao Did I know much about Zheng Yi Sao before I read this? Only that she existed, reigned over the South China Sea […]

Now I Can (Also) Die in Peace

Now I Can Die in Peace by Bill Simmons

January 5, 2021 by TQB 3 Comments

I want to begin by acknowledging that I am writing a review of a book whose appeal starts out extremely limited to a specific region and demographic, and only becomes more so due to the incredible untimeliness of when I finally got around to reading it. Yes, in the waning days of that black hole we called 2020, I finally got around to reading Now I Can Die in Peace, a collection of sports (specifically, New England Sports, and more specifically, Red Sox baseball) essays, […]

cbr12bingo – Happy!

Medallion Status: True Stories from Secret Rooms by John Hodgman

September 7, 2020 by andtheIToldYouSos Leave a Comment

“Hey, it’s John Hodgman!” John Hodgman used to spend a considerable amount of time on TV. He’s played, in his words, all sorts of “sexless weirds” in TV and commercials alike. He spent time on The Daily Show as, among other things, a deranged billionaire. He left his Daily Show role behind as Trump rose to power, as there is nothing funny anymore about criminally insane rich people. He isn’t spending too much time on TV at the moment; it’s been years since he was the PC of […]

“There’s a particular feeling in your body when something goes right after a long time of things going wrong. It feels warm and sweet and loose.”

Writers & Lovers by Lily King

May 3, 2020 by andtheIToldYouSos 2 Comments

Lily King is a magician. She takes an unassuming title like Writers and Lovers and crafts something beautiful, messy, and utterly captivating. Her last novel, 2014’s Euphoria, was my favorite read of the last decade- I have to admit that I was initially disappointed when Writers and Lovers was announced after the evocative fever of Euphoria. A 30-something woman navigates creative struggle, debt, grief, and relationships? All I have to do is shout out of my front door and a line of people that fit the description […]

Surprisingly Serious Truths from a Seriously Silly Guy

Vacationland by John Hodgman

February 12, 2020 by andtheIToldYouSos Leave a Comment

John Hodgman is many things: Daily Show correspondent, a “PC”, podcast guest and host, internet judge, former literary agent, and generally droll New England weirdo. He wrote several books prior to Vacationland, and all of those books were collections of “facts”. I say “facts”, as that is what he might say as well: Hodgman (with the help of Jonathan Coulton) created three full books of completely made-up facts that he presented as being VERY true. They are a weird delight, and sometimes they are correct, […]

The Revolutionary War in Three Volumes

Bunker Hill: A City, A Siege, A Revolution by Nathaniel Philbrick

Valiant Ambition: George Washington, Benedict Arnold, and the Fate of the American Revolution by Nathaniel Philbrick

In the Hurricane's Eye: The Genius of George Washington and the Victory at Yorktown by Nathaniel Philbrick

September 20, 2019 by thewheelbarrow Leave a Comment

***This is a truly terrible review of three books. If you like the Revolutionary War, read them.*** I first learned about Nathaniel Philbrick while doing research for a presentation on one of the commanders of the Battle of Bunker Hill, COL William Prescott. While I planned to read the book then, I just did what most people do while preparing a presentation, I read only the things that were super relevant to the project. I told myself for years that I would come back to […]

Zirza on A Gothic Classic for a ReasonIt's one of those wish-you-could-read-it-again-for-the-first-time books. I loved it.
Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

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