Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

A girl and her island

Yukie’s Island: My Family’s World War II Story. by Yukie Kimura, Kodo Kimura

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Yukie is a young girl who lives on an island with her parents and siblings. She plays and explores with her brother, helps their father keep the lighthouse going, and is excited when they leave the island for school, even on the day she lost her lunch overboard and the fish had a feast because of it. She is a typical young girl, except this is not a story of just any girl, or any island, but one of a young Japanese girl during World […]

Bear arms

Brothers In Arms: A True World War II Story of Wojtek the Bear and the Soldiers Who Loved Him by Susan Hood

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We all know about Winnie the Pooh and what they did for the Canadian army and British literature. But did you know the Polish army had Wojtek the Bear (or Private Wojtek Mis aka: Private Wojtek Teddy Bear)? A young bear cub was purchased by a soldier so a woman named Irena (Inka) Bokiewicz could care for it. However, she quickly learned it would become 500 pounds and even at the small size he was when found, he was already causing too much trouble. He […]

To the Bitter End

All the Frequent Troubles of Our Days: The True Story of the American Woman at the Heart of the German Resistance to Hitler by Rebecca Donner

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Those who have followed my reviews for a while know that I’m no fan of Donald Trump. At the same time, one large online annoyance during his presidency was the constant intonation of “resistance” on social media. Resistance by posting hashtags and memes. Resistance by someone who worked in his office, proud of themselves for not carrying out his more convoluted orders but still doing enough to hurt the body politic. I blame this fascination with Resistance! on our understand of World War II. Yes, […]

To Bomb Atomically

American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin

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One of my all-time favorite movies is The Hunt for Red October. I can never get over one of those opening scenes where the Red October’s political officer is reading from a book owned by ship captain Marko Raimius, played by Sean Connery. The officer reads the line “I have become death, the destroyer of worlds.” I still recall their exchange, with Connery doing his parts in his typical gravelly patrician tone: Connery: It was said by an American. PO: American? Connery: Mmmhmm. He invented the atomic […]

“The talks had completed a circle to nowhere.”

Our Man in Tokyo: An American Ambassador and the Countdown to Pearl Harbor by Steven Kemper

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Steven Kemper’s Our Man in Tokyo tells the story of Joseph Grew, the United States’ Ambassador to Japan in the decade leading up to World War II. Ultimately, of course, the story has to be a tragedy. Despite Grew’s tireless efforts to build meaningful relationships and develop creative solutions, he could not keep the United States and Japan from war. Nor could the many other well-intentioned people in both nations. Grew’s story is an engaging and encouraging one, despite the ultimate result. The ambassador – […]

Holmes in 1942

A Study in Crimson by Robert J. Harris

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Robert J. Harris’ A Study in Crimson was inspired by the Basil Rathbone Sherlock Holmes movies. It moves the famous detective from Victorian England to World War II-era England. The time shift of Holmes, Watson, et al. provides a nice shift in perspective and setting. Holmes and Watson were both involved in The Great War, and that experience shaped their youth and their lives. Watson is more or less the competent and curious doctor he always is, just older. He is more upbeat than a […]



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