Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


Join the CBR18 Book Bingo Reading Challenge—Now Underway!   

About Halbs

CBR 7
CBR 8
CBR 9
CBR10 participant
CBR11 participant
CBR12 participant
CBR13 participant
CBR14 Participant
CBR15 Participant
CBR16 Participant
CBR17 Participant
CBR18 Participant
CBR18 Levels

I'm left-handed! (Learn more about this Cannonballer: Halbs's Quick Questions interview.)

Halbs's Reviews:

Get out of that haus, man!

Bath Haus by P.J. Vernon

by Leave a Comment

BookPage recommended this book a few months ago, either in the Pride issue or shortly before. Either way, I read this thriller based on their recommendation. This book is wild. Oliver has what seems to be an idyllic life in the Washington, D.C. area. He’s married to a doctor, he lives in amazing landmark of a home – things are going pretty well. However, this is a thriller, so of course things aren’t really going that well. Oliver is bored in his perfect life, so […]

“All is Brahman”

The Upanishads by Eknath Easwaran

by Leave a Comment

It seems unhelpful to review the substance of a spiritual text, so here I want to focus on the impact the book had on me to help other readers determine if they want to have a similar experience. When I was in high school we used as textbooks special versions of Shakespeare’s texts. On one side was the text itself. On the other side was a kind of contemporary Pop Up Video commentary explaining the cultural and literary references made by Shakespeare. That marginalia was […]

John Slattery as an AI

The Municipalists: A Novel by Seth Fried

by Leave a Comment

This book sort of defies classification. It feels a bit like an odd couple buddy cop movie, a social satire, a sci-fi adventure, and more. It’s an enjoyable ride without a clear identity, but maybe that’s part of the fun of it. Suitland, Maryland, is the home to the United States Municipal Survey. This straight-laced federal agency is charged with helping American cities reach their full potential by making their processes more effective and efficient. The protagonist is a suit named Henry. Even at the […]

Messin with Sasquatch

Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre by Max Brooks

by Leave a Comment

50% World War Z, 35% Limetown, 15% Blair With Project = Devolution. Max Brooks is at it again with his trademark blending of non-fiction narrative prose with fictitious sci-fi events. In this case, he uses the “found footage” style of Blair Witch to tell the story of a yuppie commune in the Pacific Northwest ravaged by what appears to be Bigfoot-type creatures. Instead of film, though, researchers find a series of journals in the empty and devastated rubble of the commune. The journals seem to […]

If at first you don’t succeed…then that is probably normal and nothing to worry about!

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck

by Leave a Comment

We’ve probably heard of “fixed” mindset and “growth” mindset, or at least some podcasticized version of the terms. But what do they really mean, and where do they come from? In Dr. Dweck’s  Mindset, the author explains the difference in attitudes and framing of those in a “fixed” mindset (BAD) and a “growth” mindset (GOOD). People in a fixed mindset see traits and abilities as static and unchangeable. For example, you’re either good at art or not. This is a dangerous mindset because every success […]

“This is not a heroic age.”

The Player of Games by Iain M. Banks

by Leave a Comment

The Player of Games is the second in seven “Culture series” novels by Iain M. Banks. However, the novels don’t need to be read in order (or so I’m told). I started here and got along just fine. In The Player of Games, Gurgeh is a well-known game player in The Culture – what appears to be a federated community of like-minded humanoid and synthezoid beings dedicated to the finer things in life. Work isn’t necessary, space is free to roam, decadent space islands are […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo