Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Like a Warm Bath

The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down: How to be Calm in a Busy World by Haemin Sunim

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Best for: Anyone who feels a bit overwhelmed by life. Anyone who doesn’t, but still wants some suggestions for how to slow down and calm down. In a nutshell: Buddhist monk and professor Sunim offers reflections on ways to more deeply experience different aspects of life: rest, mindfulness, passion, relationships, love, life, the future, and spirituality. Worth quoting: “Unless we recognize the still point beneath the surface of our changing emotions, we will feel we are hostage to their whims.” “When you make a mistake, […]

I hide and the book finds me

SmileRise: A very short poem by Bachar Samawi

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A recent Saturday at my house: the nephew is tearing the front porch apart. Sawing, hammering, swearing, unable to get things to plug in. My sister and her boyfriend (swearing and telling everyone what to do) are there. The niece-in-law-to-be is there. My father (with his just worked on knee) is there, fuming because he could do it right.  Where am I? Running and errand and hiding in the library for over an hour. And even with a most enthusiastic child that was vocally enjoying […]

Some Good, Some Not So Good

The Practice of Not Thinking: A Guide to Mindful Living by Ryunosuke Koike

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Best for: Anyone looking for a book on mindful living that isn’t primarily about meditating a few times a week. In a nutshell: Former Buddhist monk Koike shares his thoughts on ways we can stop thinking (or, I’d argue, stop overthinking, as his suggestions do require a fair bit of though) and ultimately live more peacefully. Worth quoting: “[B]egin by being considerate, thinking of our listener, so we don’t cause unnecessary stimulation or stress for the other person.” “If we’re truly sorry about something, we […]

Delightful Look at Ethics

How to be Perfect: The Correct Answer to Every Moral Question by Michael Schur

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Best for: Fans of The Good Place. People who want to be better. In a nutshell: TV writer and Creator of The Good Place shares what he learned about moral philosophy during that show, breaking it down using funny analogies and stories. (Note: My review may have some spoilers for The Good Place. If you’ve never seen the show, I suggest you fix that immediately. Also, the .gifs aren’t showing up here, so if you want to see this review as intended, you can view […]

“You lived; you will always have lived. Death does not erase your life…If only time could be seen whole.”

Time Travel: A History by James Gleick

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Good, where to start? The reader has parts from the beginning, middle, and end of the book that stand out; out of order out of….TIME! Time Travel is a curiosity of a non-fiction book. It’s almost literary in in its non-fiction meanderings. Explore science fiction, pop culture, physics, psychology, religion, cyberpunk, social media. It’s all here as Gleick tries to make sense of what we mean we talk about time and time travel. Over and over (a time loop) he quotes various experts in philosophy, […]

Good advice to start the new year: Workers, unite! Take a break! Relax! Read a book!

In Praise of Idleness by Bertrand Russell, with Bradley Trevor Greive

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Bertrand Russell is considered one of the finest academic minds of the 20th century. He was a true polymath who excelled in philosophy, mathematics, and logic. Born an aristocrat (an actual Earl, for heaven’s sake)  and educated at Cambridge, Russell nevertheless championed social causes such as pacifism and rights for homosexuals. In 1935, he published In Praise of Idleness and Other Essays, in which he argues for, among other things, a four-hour workday. The essay “In Praise of Idleness” is barely 5000 words long. However, […]



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