Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“This brilliant darkness, with which I am coming to terms.”

This Brilliant Darkness: A Book of Strangers by Jeff Sharlet

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I love photojournalism so I was intrigued by this when I saw it at a photography museum bookshop. This Brilliant Darkness is a mix of photographs, interviews, and memoir. It covers a gamut of “frightened and frightening people,” with Sharlet talking to the homeless, queer people in Russia, violent homophobes, an abortionist in Kenya, and many more people. He has a good eye for a story while remaining respectful and thoughtful. Sometimes projects like this can feel exploitative or extractive, but this one didn’t really […]

Mothers and Daughters

My Mama, Cass: A Memoir by Owen Elliot-Kugell

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Cbr16bingo Celestial (bingo)    Cass Elliot was a rock star and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Owen Elliot-Kugell is Cass Elliot’s daughter, orphaned at the age of 7 after Cass’s tragic and unexpected death in London in July of 1974. Now in her 50s, Owen has spent many years missing her mother and trying to learn as much about her as possible from those who knew her — family, friends and people who worked with her in the music business of […]

Get to know Bob Mortimer

And Away… by Bob Mortimer

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Cbr16bingo bananas If you know who Bob Mortimer is, “bananas” as a bingo square choice needs no explanation. Mortimer is a British comedian who has had a decades-long successful career performing live and on TV with his partner Vic Reeves (Jim Moir). My husband bought me Mortimer’s autobiography last year because we are both big fans of his from seeing him on British panel shows such as Would I Lie To You (WILTY) and on Taskmaster. Mortimer is a master storyteller— some of them true, […]

“Good for her, not for me.”

Yes Please by Amy Poehler

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In five words: Memoir, Frank, Wisdom, Femalehood, Funny This is my fifth time reading this book and I know it won’t be the last. Amy Poehler and Tina Fey are two women I admire for their humor. I had the opportunity to see their live show and it was everything I had ever hoped for, seeing these funny women in person, in their element as friends having spent their adult lives sharing a comedy stage, first at Second City and later on Saturday Night Live. […]

“Women without prospect, who lead dull earnest lives and rejoice in their petty little pseudo-pleasures, I find quite depressing and despicable.”

The Pillow Book by Sei Shōnagon, Meredith McKinney (Translator)

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CBR16 Bingo: Vintage – Not only is this a very old book (written about a thousand years ago!), but it is also very much of its time, cataloguing minute happenings in the Empress’s court and listing out the common tastes of the time. Once there was an empress who gave her attendant a bundle of writing paper for making a witty remark. To highlight what a cultured place this court was, the attendant decided to record an amusing hodgepodge of anecdotes, poetry, and things both […]

Hot Topic

Rebel Girl by Kathleen Hanna

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As a fan of Kathleen Hanna, I was looking forward to reading her memoir Rebel Girl: My Life as a Feminist Punk especially after attending an event where she spoke about the book. For those unfamiliar with Kathleen Hanna, she was part of the “Riot Grrl” movement in the 1990s as well as the lead singer /writer of the bands Bikini Kill and Le Tigre. Maybe because I was already familiar with her story, the book didn’t resonate as I hoped. The book is of […]



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