Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“Are you in a cult?”

Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell

by 12 Comments

Well, I might be! Really, I’m inundated with cultish language- much like most of you are as well! The above question, posited by our own CBR gurus and shared across social media, was attached to an excellent review by faintingviolet. Her review kindled a blaze with other CBR readers- myself included! Our Goodreads walls are packed with update-after-update barrages of people frantically ripping through this read! I am very much looking forward to the Cultish flood headed our way. Now- back to the question. Am I […]

When something feels ethically wrong language is a good place to look for clues to why.

Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell

by 6 Comments

Amanda Montell is a language scholar who takes her readers on a trip through social history using linguistics. I read and enjoyed Montell’s Wordslut two years ago, and in her second book, Cultish, Montell is interested in examining the edges of our culture that can exhibit some unhealthy habits by examining the way language is used in them, and that is the kind of thing I am going to sign up for every time.   Utilizing both storytelling and independent research Montell exposes the linguistic elements that make a wide spectrum of […]

A fuckin’ great book about swearing.

What the F: What Swearing Reveals About Our Language, Our Brains, and Ourselves by Benjamin K. Bergen

by Leave a Comment

This was a fun, nerdy, sciencey book that takes something taboo and unserious and treats it seriously, which very much appeals to me. This is going to be a short review, because I read the book back in the beginning of April, and my memories of the specifics have mostly faded. I remember that for the most part, I found it HIGHLY enjoyable. Bergen is a linguist and cognitive scientist, so he’s got all the good details. This book is basically everything I wanted from […]

“A Table of Alphabetical Hard Words”: Our First English Dictionary

The Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson

by Leave a Comment

Quite a bit has changed since this book was written; language has changed, attitudes towards language have changed, and culture overall has changed. Some pieces from this book have not aged well; it’s rather dismissive of some languages and cultures (weirdly judgmental over Japanese writing, for example) while being aggressively defensive of others. There is also little-to-no attention paid  to the many additions given to English by marginalized communities; I was surprised to come across very little about the contributions of people of color have […]

“During the Middle Ages, there was a special English word for women who dared to speak in public: they were labeled scolds.” (BINGO!)

Wordslut: A Feminist Guide to Taking Back the English Language by Amanda Montell

by Leave a Comment

Fellow Cannonballer kdm posted on Facebook about reading Wordslut and based on her recommendation and its eye-catching cover I immediately requested it from my library. I’ve read my share of feminist books over the past several years, trying to build my own repertoire of experience and knowledge whether it be in the form of a treatise on Single Ladies, the recollections of a self-described Bad Feminist, or feminist geeks, or the story of a heroine of mine the Notorious RBG. Amanda Montell’s Wordslut is a […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo