Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

When Princess Leia and 45 White Men inspire you to write an art book.

Limitless: 24 Remarkable American Women of Vision, Grit and Guts by Leah Tinari

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Limitless: 24 Remarkable American Women of Vision, Grit and Guts by Leah Tinari is one of those books that I want to give a score of 100 to, but at the same time, a score of zero. There is a lot going on in these handful of pages. The high score is because Tinari has picked several women that I have never heard of. And, would almost guarantee the “average” person has not either. Yet, each woman has had a powerful impact on the world […]

I want Olivia Gatwood as my new best friend

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New American Best Friend is a book that makes me want Olivia Gatwood as my new best friend. Mostly because maybe then they can explain a few things to me. While the poems are straight forward, there are a few images I am trying to figure out what they mean as they can be interpreted a few ways. Then again, maybe that is the point? However, there is no real question about Ode to My Bitch Face (and trust me, if you say you did […]

When you blend in and stand out at the same time

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While Smudge by Mahogany L. Browne is out of print in stores and on-line, you can try for pre-loved copies or on Button Poetry’s website as well. The reason I am reviewing this book is not just because I read it, but this is a book that needs to be talked about. First, I was not the audience the book really was meant for. I am old fashioned when it comes to poetry. I like a nice box for my poetry. Granted, it can be […]

Where did this pie come from? Nowhere, my friend, nowhere.

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The unsung heroes of a story are just as important (or more so sometimes) then the ones that get their names in the history books. And Georgia Gilmore did a very important thing: she put food into the tummies of people. An army cannot go far on an empty stomach and when the people of Montgomery, Alabama were walking to work and places instead of taking the bus, she helped by selling her pies. She helped make lunches. She gave her home for secret meetings […]

No Matter the Wreckage there Can be Hope

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Sarah Kay, along with illustrator Sophia Janowitz, created her debut collection of poetry back in 2014. And in 2018 No Matter the Wreckage came on my radar. Kay’s poems celebrate family, love, travel, as well as the oddness, beauty and darkness of the world. She is powerful and soft. Bold and quiet. She hits you over the head and whispers in your ear. To hear her read her works (so far only on YouTube) would be a grand treat. Her voice is the perfect vessel […]

Speculative extremes of women’s futures clearly demonstrate how everyone loses when inequality wins

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I’m reviewing these two books together because despite their opposite takes on speculative futures, they use similar storytelling techniques to describe how women’s lives might be different in both the near, and far future. Naomi Alderman’s The Power imagines a future where women develop an ability to physically harm others with electric shocks. Due to the release and dispersion of an environmental hazard, women begin to develop a “skein” within their bodies which allows them to physically overpower people (men) with a jolt of energy. The strength of […]



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