Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

I’m starting to wonder if I have an anger problem…

Mad Bad and Dangerous to Know: The Extraordinary Exploits of the British and European Aristocracy by Karl Shaw

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Mad Bad and Dangerous to Know is a tongue in cheek tour through the terrible deeds of our so-called superiors that will still make you want to kick the door in of every last aristocrat in the land to give them a proper shoeing. Shaw takes us through some of the eccentrics, the gamblers, the rakes, the soldiers, the imbeciles and the many, many rapists and murderers that have made up our ‘betters’ – Byron, whom the title refers to, is by far and way […]

Mediocre White Men

The Shadow of Blooming Grove: Warren Harding in His Times by Francis Russell

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For the last few years, I’ve had a curiosity about Warren Harding. While he was an unexceptional president, he apparently lived a very…shall we say…interesting social life. He also presided over the Teapot Dome Scandal, probably the biggest political scandal until Watergate, and his death was shrouded in mystery. When I read that James Ellroy once considered writing a fictional DC quartet with this book as a guide…well I had to get my hands on it. Holy crap was this bad. It’s tough to tell […]

Mary Roach’s Stiff: Macabre, fascinating, and funny

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach

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Reading Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers was a real experience. I’ve been wanting to read this book ever since I heard someone on NPR talking about it years ago, and I finally got around to it. This is one of those books that fascinated me while it repulsed me, and it made me feel like I was learning a lot while also challenging my preconceived notions about death and body donation. I especially appreciate when Roach tells anecdotes about her sense of humor not quite […]

Somewhat Relevant

Lafayette in the Somewhat United States by Sarah Vowell

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Sarah Vowell brings history to life. She presents stories of history as though you’re her neighbor and the craziest thing just happened to her and she just has to tell you about it. It’s fun even when it’s tragic. What I really enjoyed about Lafayette in the Somewhat United States  was the connection between Lafayette’s actions and our current situation. Drawing these lines from our founding fathers to policies that are still in place and the ways they affect us is a powerful tool that reminds […]

Churchill, the Blitz, and British Grit

The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson

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I’ve read most of Erik Larson’s books, and you really can’t go wrong if you want an interesting (some say cinematic) take on history. That said, I had more trouble becoming engaged with The Splendid and the Vile than I have some of his other works, my interest in London during the Blitz notwithstanding (and really, will Larson ever be able to top Devil in the White City?). Slow to get going, the book picks up in the second half, and it’s definitely worth sticking out to […]

Bondage

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Color Blindness by Michelle Alexander

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I feel like I’m the last person in my circle to have not read Michelle Alexander’s landmark work The New Jim Crow. It’s one of those books I’d always meant to get to but never had the chance. I borrowed it from someone in my family over a year ago and since I’m going to see them this weekend, I figured there’s no better excuse than that to finally read it. I’ve heard a lot of arguments adjacent to it in favor of ending the drug war […]



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