Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“I’m such a loser in the game of life.”

Endgame: Bobby Fischer's Remarkable Rise and Fall - from America's Brightest Prodigy to the Edge of Madness by Frank Brady

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I could not put this book down. Frank Brady’s Endgame covers the entirety of Bobby Fischer’s life, from his youth to his unglamorous end. Fischer is presented as a magnetic character, simultaneously pulling and repelling friends, opponents, and the public at large. Had Fischer not had his caustic personality, it is hard to imagine how high he could’ve ascended in his mastery of chess. However, he did have a caustic personality, as well as a hateful belief system, and a fascination with younger women. Outside of […]

“The meaning of something so fleeting, life. Here and gone.”

Intermezzo by Sally Rooney

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Brothers Peter (32) and Ivan (22) could not be more different. Peter is a successful human rights lawyer and university lecturer, attractive, a social butterfly. Ivan, on the other hand, is an underemployed, underachieving chess player. He’s awkward and while he’s not ugly, his second-hand clothing (a deliberate choice made for ethical, not financial reasons) and braces make him a far cry from his more glamorous brother. They are both still grieving from the death of their father from cancer, a few months prior. Instead […]

Bishop might take Knight, but the Queen wins

Elsa's Chessboard by Jenny Andrus

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For the grandmother that wanted to play chess with her granddaughter, author Jenny Andrus wrote Elsa’s Chessboard. She was a child who did not have interest in an “old dusty game,” but now she is giving us a peek at the woman who would change chess in ways unexpected. Based on the life of Elsa Konstandt Weisz, we go from Vienna to San Francisco as a young Jewish woman flees WWII and makes a new home in the United States, all the while keeping her […]

Not Bad, but Not for Me

Intermezzo by Sally Rooney

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This was not a bad book, but it has confirmed that I am not the right audience for Sally Rooney. I didn’t really care for Normal People but thought I’d give this a chance because some people who didn’t like Normal People did like this one. And I did indeed prefer Intermezzo, but not as much as I’d hoped. A large part of the problem is that I disliked Peter, one of the POV characters. His self-pity, while realistic in its duration, grew old, and I didn’t care for […]

Is That Sweet? I Guess So

Intermezzo by Sally Rooney

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The first time I tried Intermezzo, I didn’t last ten pages. This was the fault of Conversations With Friends. I read it earlier this year in anticipation of Intermezzo and found it disappointing. I gave it a reluctant 4-stars but with more distance, I find myself continuing to dislike it. I never cared for the central relationship and while Rooney has talent, it’s evident that this was her first book and she was not yet fully confident in telling stories like this. My first go round with Intermezzo, I’m again introduced […]

“With some people, it’s not about winning or losing, That with some people, it’s just about playing.

Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood

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Eighteen-year-old Mallory “Mal” Greenleaf used to love chess and showed great potential, but hasn’t played for four years because it reminds her of her father, and the less said or thought about him the better. While her friends are headed for college, Mallory is trying to earn as much money as possible working as a mechanic. Her mother suffers from rheumatoid arthritis and can’t really work anymore, and Mallory isn’t about to let her sisters Darcy (twelve) and Sabrina (fourteen) suffer and miss out on […]



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