Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Six Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker

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CW: abuse, sexual assault, mental illness (violent/hallucinatory schizophrenia) Finally got around to reading this–presumably to no one’s surprise, it’s exactly the type of non-fiction book that would appeal to me. A bit of healthcare, a bit of narrative, tension as to how it’ll all end…catnip. The star lost is very specific to me–towards the end of the novel, when we catch up to the present day (or days closer to present), we transition into a bit of pharma development work which I found pretty lacking. […]

Ongoing Education

How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi

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While on the ongoing journey to utilize my hobby for more than just enjoyment (and the resultant increase in empathy), I picked up this book, which has been everywhere. I read it more or less like a novel, in three long stretches, but with many more highlights than I usually employ. I don’t think doing so hampered my comprehension or intake of this book, unlike other non-fiction works that are really more textbook-y (lessons, takeaways) and don’t do that type of reading as well. At […]

Don’t expect depth, but do expect to bust out your old records

Laurel Canyon: The Inside Story of Rock and Roll's Legendary Neighbourhood by Michael Walker

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As a teenage Doors fan (albeit in the nineties rather than when they were actually happening), Laurel Canyon has long loomed large in my imagination. A few minutes drive from the Sunset Strip and cheap, the canyon was home to a feast of late sixties/early seventies music legends (although really, at the time they were just starting out), and always seemed to me like such a cool and collaborative community. Reaching middle age has changed my idea of how much I’d actually enjoy living in […]

I would push this book on anyone.

So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo

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One of these days I will find a way to successfully and reliably write reviews for books that mean a lot to me, but that is not this day. This day, I’m going to half-ass some things about this awesome book I read last month but have been avoiding reviewing. A thing that I can say with confidence is that the audio version is great. Somehow I’ve never listened to a book narrated by Bahni Turpin before, but she was fantastic, and I hope she […]

“White supremacy … is gravity. It is a ceaseless pressure intended to keep blackness ground-bound and sick.”

What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker by Damon Young

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Damon Young is a Black Pittsburgh writer who has gotten national attention thanks in part to a blog he co-writes called Very Smart Brothas (now part of The Root). I started following it on social media a few years ago and have found it to be funny, entertaining, informative and a source of sharp social criticism. The local story that really put Damon Young and VSB on my radar had to do with a local white female newscaster who stepped in it with some horribly […]

Not your usual celeb autobiography

Becoming Johnny Vegas by Michael Pennington

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Just as Johnny Vegas isn’t your usual comedian, Becoming Johnny Vegas isn’t your usual celebrity autobiography. Most of those I’ve read tend to be a collection of funny anecdotes interspersed with achievements and name-dropping. While Becoming Johnny Vegas includes all of that, it’s also so much more – the introspection and self-reflection here goes deeper than in any other celebrity autobiography I’ve ever read, as Pennington (Vegas’ real name) tries to get to the bottom of just how he became Johnny Vegas. Recounting his happy […]



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