Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Remember, people, that no matter who you are and what you do to live, thrive and survive, there’re still some things that makes us all the same.

Sin and the Second City by Karen Abbott

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Before my assessment of Karen Abbott’s non fiction account of the Everleigh House, Chicago’s fanciest turn of the century den of iniquity, I have to express my aw-shucks midwestern appreciation for a setting I recognized. It’s not like Chicago isn’t represented in the media or anything, but as the title itself states, not only is Chicago “The Second City” it has to fight for the title with LA. Anyway, there’s something to be said for realizing you’ve walked through an intersection being described, 100 years […]

Man’s Greatest Mistake is Underestimating Women

Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy by Karen Abbott

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While the title and the cover art would have one presuming this was some terrible historical romance novel, Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy is actually an amazingly researched, heavily detailed historical non-fiction about four women’s contributions to the outcome of the American Civil War.  The book follows two unionists, Emma Edmonds (aka Frank Thompson) and Elizabeth Van Lew, and two secessionists, Belle Boyd and Rose Greenhow, through the five years of the war, along with a summation of their lives after the war ends as well. The […]

All That Jazz

Ghosts of Eden Park by Karen Abbott

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Karen Abbott is one of those writers I’ve always meant to get around to reading. She writes about fun pop-history stuff like the Chicago underworld at the turn of the 20th century and female spies who operated during the Civil War. It makes sense she would turn her scholarly attentions to notorious bootlegger George Remus and his wife Imogene.   I would argue that while Al Capone is likely the most famous figure to emerge from prohibition, George Remus has the more interesting story. A […]

Remind me never to go back in time

Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy by Karen Abbott

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This was a pretty well written, interesting look into a part of Civil War history that we don’t always get. Abbott warns at the beginning that some of the stories were told by the characters themselves and may have been exaggerated for the public and I definitely think that’s true at several points in the narrative. That caveat aside, it was really fascinating reading about these women’s lives. It was uncomfortable reading about the confederate characters, O’Neale and Boyd, but I think it’s important to […]



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