Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

This is a book review

This Is a Book by Demetri Martin

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Damn you, pandemic. I legitimately can’t tell anymore whether comedians are mildly amusing, or whether they are sidesplittingly hilarious and I’m just not into laughing these days. I became familiar with Demetri Martin through his Comedy Central series Important Things with Demetri Martin. I definitely recall laughing out loud at some of his drawings, so no surprise that the cartoons and graphs included in This Is a Book are the strongest bits. The essays and short stories in this collection are kind of a mixed bag. […]

Did Amy Schumer and I just become best friends?

The Girl With the Lower Back Tattoo by Amy Schumer

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This was my second reading of The Girl With the Lower Back Tattoo, and I enjoyed every minute of it. I LOVE biographies, especially auto-biographies. I love feeling as if I am seeing behind-the-scenes. In her first of what I hope will be a long line of books, Schumer really delivers. Vulnerability is probably my favorite trait in a human being, and throughout her book, Schumer is unceasingly, endearingly vulnerable. Schumer also holds my second favorite trait – a wicked sense of humor – which pretty […]

“A fiery, foul-mouthed preacher who offered up profane salvation.”

Dear Girls: Intimate Tales, Untold Secrets & Advice for Living Your Best Life by Ali Wong

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Like most Ali Wong fans, I first discovered the comic via her Netflix stand-up specials. They’re very funny, obviously, but also really relatable and comforting. If you have kids, she makes you feel like it’s ok to have the messy mix of emotions, dirty clothes, an unexpected swearing at strangers that comes with the joyful burden of parenting. It’s quite the mix – being so dirty (her word) and warm at once. The book is more of the same. Dear Girls is framed as Wong […]

Superficially, it’s a comedy fantasy with pirates and otters but underneath is so much more

The Princess Beard by Delilah S. Dawson, Kevin Hearne

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The Princess Beard is the third book in Delilah S. Dawson and Kevin Hearne’s “Tales of Pell” series.  Once again they have me nearly doubled over with laughter while also appreciating their pro LGBTQ+, feminist, socially conscious agenda and sly pokes at the establishment.  Each of the three books this duo have written together can stand alone and be read individually.  However, the world is much richer if you have read the other books.  And as they are hysterically funny, I highly suggest reading all […]

“Cinema helps us to remember that although we all have the right to shine, some of us must shine in the background, out of focus, and not too brightly.”

Ayoade on Top by Richard Ayoade

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Finally, a book about the greatest film of our generation! What film, you may ask? What film does Richard Ayoade venerate, dissect, cling to, and live for? Richard Ayoade; the author of several books on film, director and writer of several films, host of a delightful travel show, and beloved cast member/co-creator of Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace (and many other things) has written an entire book about the forgettable 2003 Gwenyth Paltrow rom-com View From the Top. Yes, View From the Top; the movie where Mike Myers […]

She didn’t end the book talking about butt stuff, and that’s important.

You Can't Touch My Hair by Phoebe Robinson

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I decided randomly a couple of months ago that I was only going to read books by or about badass ladies in January 2020 (the only time I could possibly hold to a theme month is the beginning of the year; it gets too messy later on). It feels auspicious to start out the year this way, and this book was a great start to that. Comedian and podcaster Phoebe Robinson is smart and funny and she has great things to say. This book is […]



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