Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

An excellent anthology of disabled authors from a variety of perspectives.

Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the 21st Century by ed. Alice Wong

by Leave a Comment

This was a solid collection of essays from voices rarely heard in publishing, or elsewhere. Ableism is baked into our culture. I read this for Read Harder this year, and this is why I like participating in that challenge every year, because there are always a couple books I probably would never have read otherwise, and this is one of those. Like most essay collections, there are essays that are stronger than others. The standouts for me were the very first essay by Harriet McBryde […]

“The world feels safer somehow if we share our pain. It becomes more manageable. And by sharing our pain, we inspire others to share theirs. We are so much less alone if learn to wear our imperfections proudly, like tarnished jewelry that still shines just as brightly.”

Broken (in the best possible way) by Jenny Lawson

by 2 Comments

Reading about loss, grief, and love in Harrow: The Ninth  while grieving the loss of my dog was perhaps not the best choice.  After reading The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy for Cannonball Book Club, it seemed best to keep the comedy going and The Bloggess’s Broken (in the best possible way) was sitting on the shelf waiting.  I  thought I knew what I would be getting in a Jenny Lawson book.  Raw openness about her mental and physical health, along with side splittingly funny stories.  […]

Turns out, she’s still a genius

Turns out, I'm fine by Judith Lucy

by Leave a Comment

Last year, Judith Lucy was overwhelmed and dying (according to the name of her podcast) but in 2021 it turns out, she’s fine. Which I am supremely happy to hear, because she’s been one of my favourite comedians since the 90s, not long after she first hit Australia’s scene. This is Lucy’s memoir of a pretty shitty series of life events that she wrangles, as always, into great material. With this book however she goes a bit further in trying sort out life’s shit and […]

“Is Tommy Lee Jones 20 or 100 in this movie?”

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

by 9 Comments

Official book description: New York Times opinion writer and bestselling author Lindy West was once the in-house movie critic for Seattle’s alternative newsweekly The Stranger, where she covered film with brutal honesty and giddy irreverence. In Shit, Actually, Lindy West returns to those roots, re-examining beloved and iconic movies from the past 40 years with an eye toward the big questions of our time: Is Twilight the horniest movie in history? Why do the zebras in The Lion King trust Mufasa–who is a lion–to look out for their best interests? Why […]

Murder most historical

Sons of Cain: A History of Serial Killers from the Stone Age to the Present by Peter Vronsky

by 6 Comments

Sons of Cain is the third book on serial killers that I’ve read from Peter Vronsky, having previously read about Serial Killers: The Method and Madness of Monsters and Female Serial Killers: How and Why Women Become Monsters. This time, the angle taken is a historical one, with Vronsky looking at serial killing trends from the Stone Age until now, while also theorising about the potential future of these types of crimes. Serial killing is in no way a modern phenomena, and this book looks […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo