When Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie was a girl and arguing with a male friend of hers, he called her a feminist in a derisive tone. She had never heard the word before but assumed it must be something bad. However, unlike many people who deny their connection with feminism because of ignorance and social pressure, Adichie went home and looked it up. Feminist: a person who believes in the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes. Really, not a bad thing after all. I became […]
Girl Power!
I first heard of Caroline Paul because she was one of the first women firefighters on the San Francisco Fire Department, and she wrote a book about it (Fighting Fire, 1998). I bought the book, planning on reading it, but haven’t gotten to it yet. Once I went through my own fire department academy, I wasn’t too keen on going through the experience again–even through the eyes of another. But then I heard of another book by Caroline Paul, and I was curious enough to […]
I’m keeping this author – even if she isn’t bringing anything new to the table
Beth Ellen was very generous and let me read her library copy of this book even before she did. THAT is a good sister. This is my first full length book by this author. I really enjoyed her novella that takes place concurrently with this story. Between this book and that novella I’m adding her to my ‘must pick up from library or on sale’ list. There are very few authors these days whose books can command full price in from me. Heath is a […]
It looks like larva no matter how you cook it.
Laurie Notaro’s 8th book of essays, “The Potty Mouth at the Table,” is ostensibly about manners, but really it ranges from her weird obsession of buying fabric online to her friend coping with terminal cancer. As with any book of essays, there are some hits and some misses but overall it is a decent bit of fluff from a pretty great writer. Unfortunately it’s not her best work and I hope she gets her mojo back with her next book. I had to pull […]
Feminist Witch
This surprising gem of a book, which happens to have been the very first “Book of the Month Club” selection (1926), came to my attention through the delightful New York Times “By the Book” series. Every week, an author or other famous person is interviewed about their favorite books and authors, their least favorite, etc. About a month ago, Helen Macdonald (author of H is for Hawk) was the subject and she mentioned Lolly Willowes as a favorite book. Having never heard of it, I […]
A Different YA Novel
I guess it is only fitting that I complete my Cannonball on a book that I first learned of from a Cannonball review. Yea! I can’t remember who now, but someone’s review convinced me that I should add The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks (2008) by E. Lockhart to my queue. Frankie is starting her Sophomore year at Alabaster Preparatory Academy, an elite boarding school. The summer has changed her from a scrawny girl with frizzy hair to someone the boys are suddenly noticing. It doesn’t […]
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