Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

A gateway in more ways than one (CBR12Bingo: Gateway)

Be Different by John Elder Robison

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I’m a big believer in an introduction not being anyone’s best work necessarily, you want to hook a reader but not give all of the wonder of future works away. My favorite Robison book is either Look Me In The Eye, his debut; or possibly Switched On, but this is a solid start for anyone interested in either book. Interestingly, Look Me In The Eye was more of a memoir with a mystery – Robison details his experience with what was then called Asperger’s (a […]

Sometimes Your Shallowness is So Thorough, It’s Almost Like Depth (CBR12Bingo: Book Club)

Choose Wonder Over Worry by Amber Rae

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If something applies to everyone, then it’s functionally useless. Any time I see a facebook post reading “you’re beautiful and things will get better” I think “OK. And?” I guess that’s my way of saying that I’m not really a good self-help book candidate, as if the Daria quote of the title wasn’t enough of a tip-off. But, it’s what got chosen for my work book club, so I might as well unload my strongest vitriol here so as not to offend the chooser of […]

Roll for initiative (CBR12Bingo: Happy)

It's all a game by Tristan Donovan

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Back when I was trying to be a Renaissance Nerd, covering all facets of nerddom, I was invited to play Twilight Imperium, described to me as Babylon 5 meets Risk in a sort of intro to tabletop games. I admittedly didn’t feel the greatest that day, so I likely would have left regardless, but after an hour and a half or so of not much, I apologized and said I’d like to play again sometime. I was then informed “oh, we haven’t started, this was […]

Condescending, which in this case means talking down to your readers (CBR12Bingo: Fresh Starts)

The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket

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There’s a lot that I liked about this book, but the author’s affectation of using challenging words relative to the age of his audience (Yay! Do more of that!) and then defining them in a subclause (Boo! Do less of that) ends up undermining what he’s trying to do. I was a precocious reader (is there a CBR participant who wasn’t?) and the only thing I disliked more than a book too simple for my reading level was one that pretended it wasn’t. Calvin and […]

Look no further: Perfect Christmas gift for all the foodies on your list

The New Homemade Kitchen by Joseph Shuldiner

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CBR12 BINGO: Happy Full disclosure: My husband tested recipes for this cookbook and we are both listed under the acknowledgments as recipe testers. Some years ago, my husband attended a beer crafting class that was offered by The Institute of Domestic Technology and held at the historic Zane Grey Estate in Altadena, California. When he came home and told me that not only did he have a great time, but that there were goats on the estate, I said, “Sign me up for the next […]

If you dive deep enough, physics borders on the supernatural

Interference by Brad Parks

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I picked up Interference as part of Kindle Unlimited Book Club. Matt Bronik, tenured physicist professor and researcher at Dartmouth, is sick and no one knows why. He is taken to the hospital twice for his fits and the doctors have no possible explanation for what might be causing his illness. On his third set of fits, Bronik is kidnapped. At the center of the manhunt for Professor Bronik are his wife Brigid, Detective Emmett Webster, and billionaire investor Sean Plottner. Author Brad Parks jumps around […]



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