Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Caste – A book that may change how you view society

Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson

by 2 Comments

There are books one reads for pleasure or diversion. There are books one will read for school or for work. Then, there are some books one reads because they are important and can provide new insights into the world. Caste falls into the latter category. I read this because a close friend asked me to do so, she was putting together a group to discuss the book and asked me to join (and I honestly felt flattered by the request, considering the intellects of the […]

“Lip . . . Dip . . . Paint.”

The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women by Kate Moore

by Leave a Comment

What I have to say about this book can be whittled down to one classic Samuel L. Jackson moment in cinema: And I truly mean that. Anyone with an ounce of empathy will find this one a tough go. Moore extensively researched the women this story is about, and she pulled not only from scholarly books and articles about them, but from their own personal correspondence, journals, and memories from friends and family. The result is that you get a clear picture of just exactly […]

“At the end of our conversation she (Martha Stout) turned to address you, the reader. She said if you’re beginning to feel worried that you may be a psychopath, if you recognize some of those traits in yourself, if you’re feeling a creeping anxiety about it, that means you are not one.”

The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry by Jon Ronson

by 6 Comments

To be honest with you, this review will most likely not be worth a hill of beans. This is a saying my mother uses and I’m just thinking right now that I have no idea what it actually means, or why she says it. Beans have a lot of nutritional value and can be quite tasty. Or does it mean that the beans are worth a lot and whatever you’re comparing this fictional hill to is worth less? This also makes no sense because why […]

A great man, a great book (??), but not a book for me.

Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela by Nelson Mandela

by Leave a Comment

Oh, this rating makes me feel bad. Three stars means ‘I liked it!’ I just don’t think autobiographies are for me. Nelson Mandela was a great man, and I’m glad I know more about him, but this was not super engaging for me, even in audiobook. The audiobook, by the way, is a good one. The narrator, Michael Boatman, is from South Africa, so he can do all the clicks and glottal stops that Mandela’s native tongue of Xhosa requires. His voice is soothing and […]

Getting One In Under the Wire

Pregnancy Day by Day by DK

by 1 Comment

When you’re newly pregnant, it’s easy to be overwhelmed by the quantity of pregnancy and baby books that are out there. There were two that I ended up using the most, one of them being Pregnancy Day by Day, published by DK and edited by Maggie Blott. I love the format of this book. They really do go day by day for the pregnancy, starting with day 1 of your menstrual cycle and going up to 40 weeks (although I stopped reading around 38 weeks […]

The House of the Mouse

Disneywar by James B. Stewart

by Leave a Comment

Several folks recommended this non-fiction tome for people like me who love the hit HBO series Succession. Since the third season just ended (and who knows when we’ll get a fourth?), I finally decided to try it. And yeah, fans of Succession will love it. Fans of corporate thrillers/backstabbing will love it too, whether fiction or non-fiction is your poison. James B. Stewart documents in great detail the rise and fall arc of Michael Eisner. These kinds of books aren’t my thing but I can’t imagine there’s a better […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo