Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Check out that strong Queen

The Discovery of Chess: The Asian Hall of Fame by Phil Amara and Oliver Chin

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I might be physically reaching an age where people start to feel very old; where they have hit a milestone in their life where society says you are not really nifty but your age rhymes. But mentally I am five to 10-years-old depending on the day. And when I was asked by a fellow Cannonballer if I was interested in reviewing a reader copy that was offered to us, I said yes. I was very excited. And the second time this happened (yes, this honor […]

Check and mate!

The Queen of Chess: How Judit Polgar Changed the Game by Laurie Wallmark

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My copy of The Queen of Chess: How Judit Polgar Changed the Game was an online reader copy, which I assume was missing pages (publisher description says 32 pages, my sample only had 17. Plus, there was a “missing information” feeling I had). Anyway, the bones were there and what bones! We follow Judit Polgar, a young girl who loved the game of chess. She and her sisters would complete against the men when they were kids themselves. And Judit would become one of the […]

Playing for keeps

Trigger by N. Griffin

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Trigger is a disturbing look at child abuse and the toxicity of one family, and how the one person who is supposed to help you can be the one person who you fear the most. The life of our narrator is set up so that when an answer is given, three more questions occur. And yes, there are literally trigger warnings due to the language, violence, and implications some scenes present.  And the scary part is some of what N. Griffin writes about is pulled […]

All Hail the Queen

The Queen's Gambit by Walter Tevis

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Netflix’s adaptation of The Queen’s Gambit was one of my favorite things of 2020. After blitzing through all seven episodes I even started playing chess again and enjoying it despite how terrible I am. Between Anya Taylor-Joy’s incredible performance, the unique subject matter, and the incredible vintage clothing there was a lot to love. So I eagerly snapped up a copy of the source material and plunged in. The danger of course with reading a book after seeing the adaptation is that the book will […]

The Secret to Chess is the Secret to Life

All the Wrong Moves: A Memoir About Chess, Love, and Ruining Everything by Sasha Chapin

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Learning to play chess was one of my 2020 new year’s resolutions. It turned out to be a pretty good one since we’re largely home bound. Lately, everyone is talking about Netflix’ The Queen’s Gambit, as well, so chess is enjoying a bit of spotlight it hasn’t been in for some time. However, as Sasha Chapin details in All the Wrong Moves, for a certain type of person chess is always in the spotlight. The game becomes an obsession. It’s a niche world and perfect […]

King Her

The Queen's Gambit by Walter Tevis

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As I’ve gotten older, I’ve shrugged off my manly man view of what real sports are. Cheerleading is a sport. Golf is a sport. Bowling is a sport. And for God’s sake, chess is a sport. I’d rather get sacked by Aaron Donald than try and sit in front of a grandmaster and play them at chess. A few years ago, I read Michael Weinreb’s entertaining The Kings of New York about a chess team at Brooklyn’s Edward R. Murrow High School. Weinreb, a writer who usually entertains me, […]



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