Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


About Ellesfena

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I mostly read nonfiction (especially public health-related), mysteries, and fantasy. (Learn more about this Cannonballer: Ellesfena's Quick Questions interview.)

Ellesfena's Reviews:

I’m Just Here for the Music

Songs for Other People's Weddings by David Levithan

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The book: Songs for Other People’s Weddings is the story of J, a minor pop star from Sweden, who often performs at weddings. For each wedding he’s hired for, he writes a personal song for the happy couple that he performs at the ceremony. He’s dating a woman named V, whose job takes her from Sweden to New York for several months, and he’s having trouble coping with the distance. Why I read it: This is not normally a book I would have any interest in, if […]

“You cannot live at all if you do not learn to adapt yourself to your life as it happens to be”

Eleanor by David Michaelis

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The book: Eleanor by David Michaelis is a single-volume biography of Eleanor Roosevelt. Why I read it: I’ve always thought Eleanor Roosevelt was one of the more interesting First Ladies. While I still think that as an adult, as a child a big part of that was from seeing “Annie” so many times. Having grandparents that lived through the Great Depression was part of it, too. When this book was released it seemed to get a certain amount of fanfare–enough, anyway, for me to notice and add […]

Much Better than St. Louis Sushi

Actress of a Certain Age by Jeff Hiller

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The book: Actress of a Certain Age is a collection of autobiographical essays by Jeff Hiller, an actor who spent 20 years playing mostly bit parts and commercials before being cast in Somebody Somewhere on HBO. He talks about his childhood in Texas, his process of coming out, trying to find work he enjoyed, what it’s like to be a struggling actor, and a whole lot of other stuff besides. Why I read it: Somebody Somewhere was an absolute gift during the pandemic, and Hiller was a huge […]

Literary fiction that I actually liked

Flashlight by Susan Choi

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The Book: It’s kind of hard to say what Flashlight is about. The summary makes it sound almost like a mystery: Louisa and her father take a walk on the beach, and hours later, she is found soaking wet and half-drowned, and he is nowhere to be found and presumed drowned. But most of the book is less concerned with this mystery than with the complicated family dynamics at play between the four main characters. Louisa’s father, Serk, is Korean, although he was born in […]

What is a Pest?

Pests: How Humans Create Animal Villains by Bethany Brookshire

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The book: Pests explores the way that humans decide which animals are worthy and which are, well, pests. Bethany Brookshire explores the way several animals have earned or been assigned the label of “pest,” including ones you may think of like rats or pigeons, but also those that may be surprising (to Americans, at least), like elephants. Some of the animals are pests because they enter our homes or yards against our will. Some are pests because we’ve encroached on their territory and they have nowhere else […]

“Oh Lord, give us the strength to survive the weariness of our lives.”

Voices from Chernobyl by Svetlana Alexievich

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I love oral histories. I’ll read them on any subject, even one I have no interest in. There’s just something about them that fascinates me. I love to hear all the different perspectives on the same topic. I’ve read sad oral histories before, but I’ve never read anything like Voices from Chernobyl. Voice from Chernobyl is hands down the saddest book I’ve ever read. “Sad” isn’t even the word. The grief flies right off the page and envelops you. It’s also incredibly moving and downright poetic. […]



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