Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“For I was indeed a student of human nature, as every orphan and hooker and unwanted kid must be.”

Vera by Carol Edgarian

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CBR 17 Bingo: Family – Central to Vera’s story is a desire for a family in which she can truly belong, and her outside status with both her birth mother and her foster family. Vera has always lived under the shadow of a great secret – though raised as the younger daughter in a Swedish household, she is actually the daughter of San Francisco’s greatest madams. In the aftermath of the great earthquake of 1906, these worlds come tumbling together. I remember it was a […]

When in Doubt, Lie Your Tongue Off

Dangerous Obsession by Natasha Peters

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Rhawnie was born in a Romani encampment in Russia, but a murder and an encounter with a man she is fated to follow to the ends of the earth launch her on a path that will see her go halfway across the globe. It took me way too long to realize that Rhawnie is a corruption of the Indian name Rani, which means ‘queen’. This is a nice and long and adventurous bodice ripper of the kind I like perfectly. What sets it apart from […]

Red Velvet reps NY?

Baking Across America by B. Dylan Hollis

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I’m starting to think I might be getting a little old to appreciate late Gen Z/early Gen Alpha influencer-types. I wasn’t the hugest fan of Dylan Hollis’ first book, although I applaud the premise. I was thusly a bit unsure about the second book, but this one has some things going for it the first one did not. Our author hit the big time as a YouTube/social media foodie influencer with a focus on vintage Americana cookery. Baking Across America is framed as a “vintage” […]

Bishop might take Knight, but the Queen wins

Elsa's Chessboard by Jenny Andrus

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For the grandmother that wanted to play chess with her granddaughter, author Jenny Andrus wrote Elsa’s Chessboard. She was a child who did not have interest in an “old dusty game,” but now she is giving us a peek at the woman who would change chess in ways unexpected. Based on the life of Elsa Konstandt Weisz, we go from Vienna to San Francisco as a young Jewish woman flees WWII and makes a new home in the United States, all the while keeping her […]

Bodies Are Political, and So Is What We Put on Them

Dressed for Freedom: The Fashionable Politics of American Feminism by Einav Rabinovitch-Fox

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Fashion may seem to be concerned entirely with pop culture, but the way people choose to dress can make a statement about their politics, and feminists over the 20th century have made ample use of this fact. You’d think it should be obvious, with how “the personal is political,” but it was definitely eye-opening to see how deeply fashion and feminism have been entwined, used by both those for and against it to make their point. Despite the cliches about the ‘ugly, man-hating feminist,’ many […]

The icon, the myth, the woman

Can You Imagine?: The Art and Life of Yoko Ono by Lisa Tolin

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The spirit of Ono is captured in lovely words and images in the pages of Can You Imagine?: The Art and Life of Yoko Ono by Lisa Tolin and illustrated by Yas Imamura. Though currently available, I had the opportunity to read it via an online reader copy. And though I might not get a finished copy for myself, I do highly recommend getting a copy for yourself, your child and local library or libraries. This is not just a book about Yoko Ono. It […]



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