Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

One book’s worth of story stretched into a trilogy of books

The Unidentified Redhead by Alice Clayton

The Redhead Revealed by Alice Clayton

The Redhead Plays Her Hand by Alice Clayton

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Grade for whole series: 3.5 stars Grace Sheridan is 33. She’s an aspiring actress who completely failed to make any kind of impression her first go-around in Hollywood. After a few years away from the limelight, when she went a bit reclusive and gained far too much weight, she’s now healthy and happy and back in Los Angeles, temporarily living with her BFF Holly, who also happens to be a very successful talent agent, while waiting for her new house to be redone. Grace isn’t really […]

Monsters and Heroes

The Lady from the Black Lagoon: Hollywood Monsters and the Lost Legacy of Milicent Patrick by Mallory O'Meara

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While I’ve been excited to read this book since it came out a year ago, it was only recently that I was finally able to snag a copy from my library. This is probably because of the book’s myriad awards, and because it’s good. The timing works out pretty nicely, though, as this is a great read for Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day (which is tomorrow, at the time I write this). I have to admit that I didn’t fully understand the title […]

Where In The World is… Julie Andrews?

Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years by Julie Andrews

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The hills are alive with the sound of Julie Andrews’ memoir! Andrews starts with a prologue summarizing her previous memoir, Home, in which she wrote about her early years. Home Work then takes off around the time of Mary Poppins. Soon after, came The Sound of Music. I love learning behind the scenes info, and Andrews paints a detailed picture of her experiences. With this level of detail, I was nervous that once I read through The Sound of Music, I would be bored to tears. While I love Julie Andrews, I […]

Eve Babitz

Hollywood's Eve: Eve Babitz and the Secret History of L.A. by Lili Anolik

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I had never heard of Eve Babitz until Joan Didion and/or Jia Tolentino wrote about her. If you stand out to those two, you automatically have me on board as an eager learner. They speak of her  as an artist and writer with respect and some distance, like a mythological folk hero. She’s somewhere in between Eddie & The Cruisers and Jeff Mangum from Neutral Milk Hotel, I guess? Anyway, I wanted to learn more about this Hollywood aristocrat. Unfortunately, Eve Babitz’ many books are […]

Demi Moore, Inside Out

Inside Out: A Memoir by Demi Moore

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Reading Demi Moore’s memoir Inside Out is like having a seat in the room while she is undergoing therapy. And yoga. And flirting with Bruce Willis. And being abused by her parents. And, strangest of all, not spending much time in Hollywood. But you do get a pretty good picture of her home and life in Hailey, Idaho, which she clearly loves, an oasis she has created for her family and herself. Inside Out flows, but it is not exactly an easy book to read. Real […]

Just Because It’s Brief Doesn’t Mean It Isn’t Painful

Ablutions by Patrick DeWitt

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Do you love the show Intervention, but find it too glossy and upbeat? Do you feel the problem with Charles Bukowski is that he was just a bit too cheerful? Then this might just be the book for you. Ablutions is narrated by an unnamed Barman (I’d say he’s our protagonist but I’m not entirely sure that is the case) working in a deeply depressing, lowest-of-lowbrow Hollywood bar. Imagine all the magnificent wealth, glamour, and luxury of Hollywood. Cool, now imagine the polar opposite of […]



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