Cannonball Read 14

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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CBR12 participant

Word nerd who loves lists.rn

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Proud Cliché, Baby!

The Power of Vulnerability by Brené Brown

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Welp, it feels vulnerable to write a review of a book about vulnerability, a book I really love.  A book that admitting I love means also admitting that I suffer from so many of the mental patterns she describes and that yes, I do need the help she’s offering.  My judgey-mcjudgersons voice says, “You’re such a cliché — a 40-something white woman raving about Brené Brown.”  Yes.  Yes I am.  And also there’s a reason this woman is as famous as she is.  I’ve listened […]

Big Picture Comes Into Focus

The Two Income Trap by Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Warren Tyagi

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Large, systemic, interlocking forces have caused immense change in the US economy over the last several decades.  That’s obvious, as such changes are happening constantly — national economies are never still — but this book simplifies a 3000 piece puzzle into a 6 piece one, and in this case, that’s a good thing.  The 3000 pieces are still vaguely visible here, like the blurry background of portrait mode, but they’ve been grouped intelligently so the average person can see the one clear shape in the […]

Brené Brown, Checklist Style

The Gifts of Imperfection by Brené Brown

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Yeah, I’m on a self-help kick. I’m 40; it’s the developmental work of my age. (So says the author anyway.)  I crave the inner peace and relief from perfectionism promised by this genre, but the snappy lists, catchy aphorisms, and presumed energetic/auric spirituality that typifies much of it makes my teeth hurt. Thankfully, Brené Brown offers my logical, rational mind a way to process all the woo that is self-help. Hard data and quantifiable patterns are interwoven with the snappy lists and catchy aphorisms, and […]

The Joy of Growth Makes You Thankful for the Growing Pains

White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo

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Having led countless white people through workshops to get us to grapple with our own identity and to recognize whiteness as non-neutral, DiAngelo has a wealth of data to draw from for this book.  She deftly leads the reader through many of the self-protecting and privilege-protecting responses we have when asked to acknowledge the systems which benefit us and harm our fellow humans who have black and brown skin.  DiAngelo’s academic rigor is stellar, her data set is substantial, and she’s talking to white people […]

Beautiful, Funny, Hopeful Pain

How To Be Alone: If You Want To and Even if You Don't by Lane Moore

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You might expect this book to be dark and sad, but it is absolutely not. Lane Moore has been through some shit, and she has also clearly done (and is doing) the emotional work to process that shit into compost for her garden, which is full of both frivolous flowers and nutritious food. She has an economy with words that keeps everything sharp — including and especially the frequent barbs of humor she spots and highlights throughout her journey. And it is an intense journey […]

A Leader of the Social Commentariat

Born A Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah

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Trevor Noah: Comedian? Cultural Critic? Damn fine storyteller? A leader of the social commentariat? Yes. What really shines in this book is Noah’s skill at structuring a story so that the suspense is consistently taut. Even with the few stories I didn’t like, I could. not. wait. to hear what would happen next. That made this listen very enjoyable, and one I heartily recommend. I also recommend it for Noah’s uncanny ability to treat heavy, complex subjects with a light simplicity and to infuse them […]



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