Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Allie’s not dead! She’s back and she gave us this wonderful book and she’s ok (sort of)

Solutions and Other Problems by Allie Brosh

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Back in 2013, Allie Brosh published Hyperbole and a Half named after the blog she kept (and has finally updated with a new post!). I pre-ordered the last book and bought it as a Christmas present for pretty much every single person my husband and I knew that year (now our own copy seems to have mysteriously gone missing – which distresses me). Allie’s blog (we are clearly on first-name basis, and would be great friends if we ever met) and her book meant a lot to me, […]

I took the title of this Bingo square literally

The 1918 Flu Pandemic by Katherine Krohn, illustrated by Bob Hall, Keith Williams, and Charles Barnett III

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Well, this is timely.  This juvenile graphic novel came out in 2008, and I’m sure the author and illustrators never thought they would have to live through a pandemic themselves.    This is meant for kids around 4th grade, and tries to explain what happened during the pandemic.  It focuses on the speed and deadliness of the virus, but also on the uncertainty.  Some of the things that they did will definitely be familiar with kids today, especially the closing of schools and the use […]

“Seriously, my friend’s daughter is constantly misgendered because she favours clothes with dinosaurs on. EVERYONE KNOWS ALL DINOSAURS WERE BOYS AND THAT’S WHY THEY’RE EXTINCT.”

The Gender Games by Juno Dawson

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Been sitting on this review for two months now, trying to land on a star rating, and how to articulate what I wanted to say. Ultimately, this is a good book that is part memoir and part feminist/social text about being transgender (with a focus on the UK), with some intersectional feminist ideas thrown in. It’s also written in a very colloquial, humorous style that is very much not the norm for these kinds of books. This is what threw me, because I couldn’t decide […]

I read an entire book about Irish tweed and I think I liked it

Irish Tweed: History, Tradition, Fashion by Vawn Corrigan

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As a kid I despised history. To me, it was just which war happened what year, and which person invaded that country another year. Honestly the western focus on war and conquering is deeply problematic and ruins so many people’s interest in the past. But the past is so important – it shapes who we are today.  The best way to learn about history, I find, is through culture. Go to any exhibition on fashion through time and most of it deals with fashion as […]

“We gotta get out while we’re young, ’cause tramps like us, baby, we were born to run” (double Bingo)

Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen

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#CBR12 Bingo: Music   Official book description: In 2009, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band performed at the Super Bowl’s halftime show. The experience was so exhilarating that Bruce decided to write about it. That’s how this extraordinary autobiography began.   Over the past seven years, Bruce Springsteen has privately devoted himself to writing the story of his life, bringing to these pages the same honesty, humor, and originality found in his songs.   He describes growing up Catholic in Freehold, New Jersey, amid […]

Get your priorities straight!

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson

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Cbr12bingo Happy This short book could count as a “how-to” as well as a “happy” category book. The title might lead the reader to think it’s a funny send-up of self-help books, and while it is frequently funny, it is actually a very helpful discussion about finding the right values to guide you in life. It’s about prioritizing and recognizing that a good life is not an easy one and that you shouldn’t strive for easy. This is really a great book to be reading […]



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