Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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The Last Time We Spoke: A Story of Loss by Jesse Mechanic

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cbr17bingo Rec’d: Grief stories are not new, but each is unique to that person. The main thing I came away with from reading The Last Time We Spoke: A Story of Loss, is that the author (Jesse Mechanic) is human: selfish, loving, scared, fearless, angry and hopeful. They are both a reliable and unreliable narrator as they are telling the story from their eyes and over a 20 year period. The art is tone setting and allows us a peek into the mind of someone […]

“We all carry our special homes with us – in our backpacks and pockets, and in our hearts.”

My Home Is in My Backpack by Eugenia Perella

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cbr17bingo, MigrantMigrant: There are many ways to find a book when you work in a bookstore. One is finished copies sent out before the book is published. This way the bookseller can get the full feeling of the book. And I am very glad I was able to do this with My Home Is in My Backpack by Eugenia Perella (due in October 2025). An online copy would not  do this book justice. Clara and her family are forced to leave an unnamed home/homeland. They […]

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 […]

The Language Warrior’s Manifesto

The Language Warrior's Manifesto: How to Keep Our Languages Alive at All Costs by Anton Treuer (Ojibwe)

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My tribal community has primarily spoken English for a very long time. Growing up, I learned a few words of our language from my grandmother and other folks in social/ceremonial contexts. As an adult, going to college and continuing to live in an urban area far from the tribal homeland, I made a conscious effort to seek out other people from sister tribes (long story, but the federal government moved our ancestors around and effectively split up one nation of people; my tribe is pretty […]

Lee Miller’s War

Lee Miller: A Life by Carolyn Burke

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Model, muse, photographer, war correspondent – Lee Miller wore many hats and lived many lives, and along the way intersected with major figures in the Surrealist movement. Lee Miller had the tumultuous sort of life that makes for fascinating reading, and considering I knew very little about her past the famous picture of her bathing in Hitler’s bathtub, everything I read was a revelation. She worked so closely with more prominent artists of the Surrealist movement as both model and collaborator that it astounds me […]

“I’m such a loser in the game of life.”

Endgame: Bobby Fischer's Remarkable Rise and Fall - from America's Brightest Prodigy to the Edge of Madness by Frank Brady

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I could not put this book down. Frank Brady’s Endgame covers the entirety of Bobby Fischer’s life, from his youth to his unglamorous end. Fischer is presented as a magnetic character, simultaneously pulling and repelling friends, opponents, and the public at large. Had Fischer not had his caustic personality, it is hard to imagine how high he could’ve ascended in his mastery of chess. However, he did have a caustic personality, as well as a hateful belief system, and a fascination with younger women. Outside of […]



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