Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

A Perfect Way to Celebrate the Movie’s 40th Birthday

"What Do You Mean, Murder?” Clue and the Making of a Cult Classic by John Hatch

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My apologies to anyone who wishes they didn’t have to know that this year is the 40th anniversary of the movie Clue. 🙂 One of the Read Harder tasks this year is to read a book about a piece of media you love, and I love Clue. It’s one of my absolute comfort watches, so hunting down this book became a priority.   Author John Hatch also views the movie as one of his favorites, and possibly more of a favorite than he realized before Covid-19 changed the way we […]

The Avoidable War. AKA The Review I Have Been Avoiding.

The Avoidable War: The Dangers of a Catastrophic War between the US and China by Kevin Rudd

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Never have I given myself so much anxiety reading a book. I first stated reading The Avoidable War late last year. The book is an examination of Sino-American relations, and what the future might hold. Kevin Rudd is Australia’s former Prime Minister, a previous Minister for Foreign Affairs, and is currently the ambassador of Australia to the United States. Prior to this though, he majored in Chinese language and history and worked for  Department of Foreign Affairs (DFAT). This gives him a pretty solid background […]

Not all men, but certainly a lot of them. Especially rich, white ones.

The Change by Kirsten Miller

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4.5 stars Buzzwords Cover Challenge 25: Pattern CBR17 Bingo: Red (A book with a red cover) Official plot summary: In the Long Island oceanfront community of Mattauk, three different women discover that midlife changes bring a whole new type of empowerment… After Nessa James’s husband dies and her twin daughters leave for college, she’s left all alone in a trim white house not far from the ocean. In the quiet of her late forties, the former nurse begins to hear voices. It doesn’t take long […]

First (second) Bingo! (CBR12Bingo 2: Red)

The Physics of Everyday Things by James Kakalios

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Due to the Octolet’s obsession with Calvin and Hobbes (raised him right!), I’ve been thinking of a ton of things in terms of Bill Watterson strips. There’s one where Calvin asks his dad where wind comes from, and his dad says “from trees sneezing” which Calvin finds questionable, so his dad explains “no, but the truth is much more complicated.” The last panel finds Calvin telling Hobbes “boy, the trees are really sneezing today.” The challenge in a book like this that explains the scientific […]

cbr12bingo – Red!

Lies Sleeping by Ben Aaronovitch

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Every entry into Rivers of London starts with a splash; we are always diving head-first, sometimes literally, into rivers of blood. Every delightful cover, all done by Patrick Knowles, is a map with a big, red, bloody “X” marking the spot. Every cover is a map, every map is filled with teensy tiny detail, and every seemingly unrelated sketch or nursery rhyme lyric builds together into the marvelous mess that is London. I love his minute details; I feel like I’m looking at a Where’s Waldo illustration for […]

“There is no moral. I just felt like telling you a story.”

Born on a Tuesday by Elnathan John

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After having to abandon the gang of homeless boys he was a part of, the street kid Dantala ends up in the mosque of the moderate Sheikh Jamal and is offered food, shelter, and a religious education. Gradually, he becomes one of the sheikh’s most trusted assistants, while at the same time, the sheikh’s previous right-hand man forms a radical movement that threatens the fragile peace between the different sects in this region of northwestern Nigeria. Under the guise of a coming-of-age story, Elnathan John […]



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