Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


Not just a Native American Rock Band

Redbone: The True Story of a Native American Rock Band by Christian Staebler, Sonia Paoloni, and Thibault Balahy

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Several weeks ago I was looking for books in the young adult graphic novel section of my local library. I was in a mood that told me to just grab a few. I know when I’m in that kind of mood, I can find something amazing or something less than ideal (afterall there is a reason it was on the shelf and not checked out). One of those was Redbone: The True Story of a Native American Rock Band by Christian Staebler, Sonia Paoloni, and […]

“You can fret yourself right out of doing anything! …The worst thing you can fall into is thinking you have to be deep or profound in your work, and being afraid to appear dumb, unhip, uncool.”

Drawn Together by Aline Crumb and Robert Crumb

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Dan Nadal’s biography of Robert Crumb had a big impact on me last year and so I’m continuing my exploration with Drawn Together, a collection of the collaborative comics he did with his wife, Aline. Aline was a comics pioneer in her own right, and seeing their back and forth here is fascinating, especially with their contrasting styles and outlooks on life. The comics span from 1974 through 2010, so we get to see the development of their relationship and of how they built their […]

Shine On, You Crafty Diamond

Diamond Doris: The True Story of the World's Most Notorious Jewel Thief by Doris Payne, with Zelda Lockhart

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When I say I love true crime, I don’t mean “they found her in pieces in the basement” true crime.  Heists, cons, grifts, and capers are more my speed, which is what drew me to the story of Doris Payne, an international jewel thief who got away with robbing some of the world’s best jewelers for over sixty years. “Diamonds” by qthomasbower is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 . Payne was born in West Virginia, lived in Cleveland, and made her first big score in […]

A childhood idol turned into a real person

Say Everything by Ione Skye

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I was probably about twelve years old when I first watched Say Anything with John Cusack and Ione Skye, and it made a deep impression on me. In fact, it shaped my goals for most of my teenage years. I still have a very clear memory of Ione Skye’s character, Diane, marking every word that she looked up in her giant dictionary. I thought she was beautiful and smart, and I wanted to be just like her. In fact, because of Diane, I was intent on becoming […]

“The ultimate effect of unceasing propaganda has now been to cancel out the effect of all news alike.”

A Chill in the Air: An Italian War Diary, 1939-1940 by Iris Origo

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Another random bookstore find, as so many good books in my life are. It’s why I trawl through my favorite sections! A Chill in the Air: An Italian War Diary, 1939-1940 is what the title conveys. Iris Origo was an American born woman married to an Italian man (although she spent most of her life in Italy from childhood) and this is her diary of 1939-1940 as Italy slowly descends into war. Origo was a woman from a highly privileged background — her godfather was the […]

Highly Entertaining Diaries Full of the Worst Opinions You’ll Ever Read

Henry "Chips" Channon: The Diaries 1918-38 by Henry Channon (edited by Simon Heffer)

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I’ve spent the last month or so working my way through this first volume of the diaries of Henry “Chips” Channon, and what a ride. My current opinion is that he’s the worst guy around but he is a great and entertaining writer who has never met a social ladder he did not want to climb, a royal he was unable to charm, and a cutting remark unsaid. He lived a really fascinating life where he knew every famous political and upper class English person […]



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