Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Infused with humanity

The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury

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CBR 14 BINGO: Star, because it takes place mostly in space BINGO: Gaslight, Scandal, Star, Monster, Bodies My experience with Ray Bradbury up to this point has been limited to Fahrenheit 451, which is a top-notch novel–at least, I remember it being so when I read it, oh, thirty years ago. Having picked up The Martian Chronicles, I’m ashamed that I’ve neglected Bradbury for so long. A science fiction writer with broad appeal, Bradbury infuses every story, even those about Martians, with humanity. The Martian […]

Nightmares, just in time for Halloween

The Fifth Risk by Michael Lewis

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CBR14 BINGO: Gaslight, because Trump BINGO: Snake, Minds, Series, Cozy, Gaslight I make it a habit not to read books about politics, especially books about Donald Trump, because my sanity can only withstand so much. However, the “gaslight” category got me thinking about maybe breaking that rule. I had a copy of The Fifth Risk on my shelf, and I figured if anybody could get me through this, it would be financial journalist and nonfiction author of The Big Short and Moneyball, Michael Lewis. The Fifth […]

The greatest true-life adventure story ever told, now with more photos

The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition by Caroline Alexander, with photos by Frank Hurley

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CBR 14 BINGO: Bodies, because the men on this ship were pushed physically beyond all reasonable limits, and also because one member of the expedition team lost all the toes on one foot. Also, it involves crossing bodies of water. BINGO: Snake, Shadow, Cold, Rec’d, Bodies In 2019, I read Alfred Lansing’s Endurance about Ernest Shackleton’s ill-fated 1914 Antarctic expedition, and it became one of my favorite books of the year. Shortly after, this book by Caroline Alexander, a companion piece to a 1999 exhibition […]

Penguins make me happy. Cute drawings make me happy. This book is a winner.

Penguins and Other Seabirds by Matt Sewell

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CBR14 BINGO: Cold, because penguins are usually found in cold places (but not always, like those crazy Galapagos penguins, hopping back and forth over the equator like they do). As I may have mentioned, I’m a big fan of penguins and books about penguins. Many people know this about me, so one day a coworker sent me a message saying she was mailing a little book she found that I might like. She didn’t say what it was but mentioned that she “has to mail […]

An old-fashioned book, and I mean that in the best possible way

Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House by Eric Hodgins

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CBR14 BINGO: Heart, because I received this book from my hubby for our anniversary, and also because it was the inspiration for a movie I absolutely love. Long before I ever owned a home, much less thought about remodeling one, I loved the movie Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House starring Cary Grant and Myrna Loy, my two favorite actors of Hollywood’s Golden Age. When my husband and I began pursuing the idea of doing major renovations on our house about five years ago, the movie […]

The first step to letting go is not feeling obligated to finish a crap book

Think Like a Monk by Jay Shetty

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CBR14 BINGO: Mind, because this book is about training your mind to “think like a monk.” Also, my mind was greatly relieved when I decided I didn’t need to finish it. I went into this book with complete sincerity. I’d been feeling extremely stressed and caught up in too many pointless non-problems, so when I remembered we had a copy of Think Like a Monk, I thought my problems were over! I even vowed to read carefully, not rushing through in an effort to finish […]



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