Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


Join the CBR18 Book Bingo Reading Challenge—Now Underway!   

About Jake

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I love reading! (Learn more about this Cannonballer: Jake's Quick Questions interview.)

Jake's Reviews:

Among the Stars

The Georgian Star by Michael D. Lemonick

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Read as part of CBR17 Bingo: migrant. William Herschel, the main focus of this book, was born and raised in Germany but eventually migrated to England due to military commitments. He settled in England, where his migration was most beneficial as he turned to astronomy and discovered great things in the name of the King. I’m not a big science guy but astronomy has always been a curiosity of mine. What I know about it could fit in a thimble — and this book probably […]

Whose House? Bauhaus!

Bauhaus by Frank Whitford

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Read as part of CBR17 Bingo: art. This is a book based on the art school and architectural/artistic movement called bauhaus. I don’t always like getting pushed out of my reading comfort zone except when I do. For both CBR17 Bingo AND my local library reading game respectively, I had to read a book on art. And like other subjects where I don’t have much of an interest in, I grab something that’s quick and digestible. This one clocked in under 200 pages and had […]

Tough Conversations

Do You Still Talk to Grandma? by Brit Barron

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Read as part of CBR17 Bingo: borrowed. I borrowed this book from the library. When I picked up this book, I admit I assumed it was written by a white person. The vibe I got was one of those “Here’s how to have tough talks around the Thanksgiving dinner table” pieces I see every year mostly from white people on how they are supposed to indulge their racist uncle’s FOX-inspired rant. I had no idea Brit Barron is a queer Black woman. That’s 100% my […]

(Chappell voice) Battle For Manhattan

Battle For Manhattan by Bruce Bliven, Jr.

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Read as part of CBR 17 Bingo: starts with letter B. Look this is going to be a very strained review. I’m sorry but this book doesn’t merit 250 words. As it says on the inside flap, large portions of this book originally appeared in The New Yorker. It’s a glorified wikipedia entry. I picked it up because I needed to read a book about the American Revolution for my library book bingo and it was a slim volume. I knew Manhattan had some importance in the […]

Tis Hot, the Weather, and the Wars…

Henry V by William Shakespeare

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Read as part of CBR17 Bingo: play. Say this much for Shakespeare: he had a sense of humor. And an irreverent one at that. There’s no other way you can possibly appreciate Henry V without it. Considered the last great English king of the Plantagenet line (or maybe not, depending on how you feel about Edward IV) before dying an untimely death and giving rise to the Wars of the Roses that brought his family down and gave us the Tudors, this play starts off not at […]

In a Hopeless Place

Woodworking by Emily St. James

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Read as part of CBR17 Bingo: citizen. One of the major subplots involves the characters in this book using their rights as citizens to rally around a longshot candidate they want to try and elect. There has never been an easy time for trans people. That wasn’t true in the 1990s. That wasn’t true before Trump I or Trump II. That’s not true today. Depending on where people live, there have been times that are less bad. But never a time that has been “good.” […]



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