Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

The sequel is never as good as the original

The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex by Charles Darwin

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Back in 2020, I finished out the year by reviewing On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection. Since then, I’ve been trying to motivate myself to work my way through Darwin’s follow up: The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex. Knowing that the ideas in Descent of Man were controversial, Darwin held off publishing until 12 years after Origin of Species. His thoughts on natural selection being well received, however, he felt comfortable proceeding to the next step, namely, “. […]

I feel like a Jerk, but I didn’t like it

The Pleasure of My Company by Steve Martin

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Steve Martin is a talented guy. He’s had a successful stand-up comedy and acting career since the 1970s; he’s written/co-written funny screenplays like The Jerk, Three Amigos, and L.A. Story; he’s published novels and written a Broadway musical; he’s an avid art collector and he plays a mean banjo; he’s won five Grammys, an Emmy, and a host of other awards. Throw in that stint performing magic on Main Street in Disneyland and you can say he’s lived a highly successful life. So, I feel kind […]

This book is completely serious and I will not hear otherwise

Cats Galore Encore! by Susan Herbert

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CBR14 BINGO: Question. The question is, “Have cat lovers gone too far?” BINGO: Bodies, New, Dough, Question, Elephant Have cat lovers gone too far? Did the guy who painted all those dogs playing poker go too far? Did Ted Turner go to far by colorizing all those old movies? Did Trey Parker and Matt Stone go too far with the HumancentiPad episode? Some of those questions are harder to answer than others. But as for the cats, I say “No! No! A thousand times no!” […]

One person with a yard can do quite a lot for conservation

Nature's Best Hope by Douglas W. Tallamy

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CBR14 BINGO: New, because this is by an author I hadn’t read before BINGO: Minds, Adapt, Heart, Monster, New The extinction of species and the rapidly declining state of nature are problems that haunt me. I fear that I will live to see the day when the planet is no longer habitable, and I know I’m not alone. Yet most of us approach the problem with a feeling of learned helplessness: The problem is much too big and political for us to be able to […]

Reading about computers in the ’80s is such a hoot!

Twice Shy by Dick Francis

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CBR14 BINGO: Dough, because it centers on horse racing and gambling BINGO: Series, Funky, Star, Verse, Dough My husband has a collection of Dick Francis novels, most of which he inherited from his grandfather, so they have sentimental value. When I was pondering what to read for the “Dough” category, he suggested giving one of them a try since they focus on horse racing and gambling. Dick Francis was a British steeplechase jockey who, post-career, wrote a weekly racing column and then branched out into […]

Even Dame Agatha phoned one in now and then

Elephants Can Remember by Agatha Christie

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CBR14 BINGO: Elephant, because it’s right there in the name Double BINGO! Diagonal: Snake, Adapt, Star, Bird, Elephant 4 corners and center: Snake, Bodies, Gaslight, Elephant, Star Agatha Christie, why can’t I quit you? Even though I realized in recent years that Christie’s writing was not the great literature I thought it was when I was 12 years old, I still find comfort in the familiar characters and, dang it, even if she doesn’t give you much in the way of character development and dialogue, […]



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