Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Bringing L.A. to the Water (and movies, and church)

The Mirage Factory: Illusion, Imagination, and the Invention of Los Angeles by Gary Krist

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My Los Angeles kick continues with a good one. Being a big fan of Chinatown, I’ve always been curious about the truth behind the actual story to hydrate Los Angeles. Throw in the stories of the founding of the movie industry and the story of Aimee Semple McPherson’s controversial life and I’m in. Gary Krist delivers. He doesn’t get too bogged down in the technical aspects of the respective fields he’s describing. I felt like I got a healthy picture of each particular person involved: McPherson, city engineer […]

Too sweet

Kitty Sweet Tooth by Abby Denson

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I will start my review with, this is not my image of the graphic novel Kitty Sweet Tooth (book one) by Abby Denson. All of mine had big ol’ light/flash spots on it.  And very distracting. Besides, I liked the idea that some place out there someone has a Kitty Sweet Tooth doll. Granted, I do not want one, but I know that there will be several ages six to eight/nine who will after reading this book. Now I will add that there are several […]

So, I read this book and these are my thoughts on it

Lifetime Passes by Terry Blas

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I read about Lifetime Passes by Terry Blas. I then said I had to get a copy. Therefore, since I work at a bookstore and was sitting at my desk with extremely convenient access to the tools needed to make said order, I ordered a copy. A few days later, said book came in. My coworker thought the concept of getting lifetime passes to the Disney-like amusement park central to the plot of this graphic novel (by getting a “old person” to die while they […]

“He’s got an arm off!”

You've Got Red On You: How Shaun of the Dead Was Brought to Life by Clark Collis

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I’m not a horror movie fan in general (I don’t like being scared, nothing fun about it for me) but I love Shaun of the Dead. Maybe it’s because it has a “happy” ending, or maybe just because it’s funny, or maybe because the main focus aren’t the zombies, but Shaun’s emotional arc, and the jokes of course. Whatever the reason, it’s great. When I was listening to Screen Drafts last year they were doing an episode about zombies, and author Clark Collis was on […]

More Than A Body

Mean...Moody...Magnificent!: Jane Russell and the Marketing of a Hollywood Legend by Christina Rice

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When reading Karina Longworth’s Howard Hughes book, I came away wanting to learn more about Jane Russell. She seemed like a fish-out-of-water person from the era: a sexpot who rejected the label, a right-wing Christian who stuck to her views, a living contradiction who leaned into her personality. Researching when I was done, I was surprised to find that the only book on Russell was her autobiography, published in the 1980s. Months later, I was at the library and remembered, at last, to pick it […]

“Are there really public servants out there sucking terrorist tongues for my freedom?”

Shit, Actually: The Definitive, 100% Objective Guide to Modern Cinema by Lindy West

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I love movies. I love watching them, talking about them, listening to other people talk about them, and eating too much popcorn while watching them. Is there really such thing as too much popcorn? YES! In our home, we call it “pop corn belly” and it is a scourge against humanity. I am an equal-opportunity movie watcher: good, bad, ugly- I don’t care. Give ’em to me and I’ll find something to enjoy. I can be a snob when I have to, but really? I […]



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