Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

A Kids Book About Israel & Palestine

A Kids Book About Israel & Palestine by Reza Aslan

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I bought this for the children’s room I work in. And then I read it, because I am very much an “explain it to me like I’m six years old” person. The book very simply lays out the facts that led to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I have been fairly outspoken about Palestinian rights, and most of my Jewish friends have been too, but I have some who stand up for Israel and I am trying to understand why. I don’t know that the book sold […]

“It may be said of some very old places, as of some very old books, that they are destined to be forever new. The nearer we approach them, the more remote they seem: the more we study them, the more we have yet to learn. “

Women in the Valley of the Kings: The Untold Story of Women Egyptologists in the Gilded Age by Kathleen Sheppard

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In the so-called Golden Age of Egyptology, it was men who were known world-wide as the archeologists and academics who wrestled the secrets of Ancient Egypt from the desert, carrying away much of what they found. In this book, Sheppard turns the spotlight on female Egyptologists, who had less recognition but were equally instrumental in the early days of the discipline. I’m not very familiar with Egyptology in the Gilded Age beyond Howard Carter’s famous “Yes, wonderful things!” and a vague understanding of how the […]

A Lonely Grave in a Far Land

The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook by Hampton Sides

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Captain James Cook was already a world-renowned explorer when he set out on his third great voyage around the world. Over the course of three years, he’d touch down on the shores of Tasmania, be the first European to come in contact with the people of the Hawaiian islands, and nearly destroy his ships and sailors in the search for the fabled Northwest Passage – and meet a grisly end in a strange murder that is still being debated to this very day. I read […]

In Search of the Green Fairy

The Absinthe Forger: A True Story of Deception, Betrayal, and the World’s Most Dangerous Spirit by Evan Rail

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Among all liquors, absinthe, a high-proof anised-flavored spirit known for its green hue, has a special mystique for its alleged mind-altering properities, its association with the art and literature of the 19th century, and a nearly century-long ban in many countries in Europe and America. However, one unscrupulous enthusiast took advantage of its cult following to swindle collectors out of thousands of dollars. Last spring, in a small bar in Seattle, I was regaled by the story of how absinthe came to be banned. A […]

2,650 Miles of Wilderness

Trail of the Lost: The Relentless Search to Bring Home the Missing Hikers of the Pacific Crest Trail by Andrea Lankford

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There have been people attempting to thru-hike the Pacific Crest Trail since it was first established, and where people congregate there is also always some amount of tragedy. But when three young man vanish from the trail in a three-year period, former park ranger Andrea Lankford gets fascinated by the search for them. For a person who one day wants to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail (after a lot of preparation, mind you), I find myself reading a lot about wilderness disaster and crime stories. Maybe […]



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