Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

an author unafraid to let the chips fall where they must

Home Field Advantage by Dahlia Adler

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CWs, copied from the author: all the misogyny, all the homophobia, and a car accident death (offscreen, but discussed often) and also abortion/a miscarriage. I respect Dahlia Adler because while many authors have a tendency to write their romantic leads into a difficult situation (looking at you, innumerable romance novelists and also Linda Holmes), Adler has the guts to keep them there and not give them the “easy out.” In this case, the “star” quarterback of a middling-to-bad Texas football team dies in a car […]

Ooh boy. I wanted to love this so much, but it made me very angry.

When Women Were Dragons by Kelley Barnhill

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I think this is my first ever Cannonball book that I DID NOT FINISH.  I saw this book somewhere (I legit have no idea where), and it caught my eye because the main character is named Alex Green, and also duh – dragons.  My cousin who lives in Arizona who just left Pennsylvania after visiting our entire family is named Alex Green.  I was pumped when I read the plot too. Whoo boy.  I borrowed this audiobook from the library, and I was so excited […]

Its Time for Me to Say Goodbye to Dahl

The Witches by Roald Dahl, Quentin Blake (Illustrator)

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Roald Dahl was one of the authors who dominated my childhood reading which makes sense as he is one of the most celebrated children’s authors of the 20th century. I spent a lot of time deep in a few of his books, seeing bits of myself in his protagonists. But this is my goodbye to him. Dahl was an unrepentant bigot. He was profoundly anti-Semitic, perpetuating harmful tropes and falsehoods for years in his public statements and books. Dahl is also easily read as a […]

Brave New World. Meh.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

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I’ve been curious about this book for a long time. 1984 by George Orwell was one of my favorite books as an adolescent, and Brave New World is often mentioned in the same breath. So when I found a Brave New World mini-series, I thought I’d check it out.  The mini-series stars Jessica Brown Findlay (Lady Sybil from Downton Abbey), Harry Lloyd (Viserys Targaryen from GOT), and Alden Ehrenreich (Young Han Solo from Solo), and it tells the story of a “utopic” future London where […]

Slow Burn

Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators by Ronan Farrow

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Best for: Anyone who enjoys quality journalism, excellent writing, and people in power starting to be held accountable. In a nutshell: Journalist Farrow starts investigating Harvey Weinstein and uncovers not just confirmation of his predation, but the people in power who repeatedly covered up his crimes — and the crimes of others. Worth quoting: “Later, employee after employee would tell me the human resources office at the company was a sham, a place where complaints went to die.” Why I chose it: Given all that […]

This book almost killed me. Literally.

Killing Yourself to Live: 85% of a True Story by Chuck Klosterman

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So, the book itself didn’t actually almost kill me- as much as it tried to do- but I just finished this audio book while driving home from work (yay essential workforce) on a highway that was not, in the slightest, plowed. I have been a New Englander my entire life. I like driving in the snow. I am confident, competent, and careful. This was the worst drive I have ever had- no hyperbole. A tractor trailer blew by me (only one lane, mind you) and […]



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