Cannonball Read 16

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Search This Site

> FAQ Home
> Tag: 1960s

“From sprinkler splashes to fireplace ashes / I waited ages to see you there”

Cassandra at the Wedding (1962) by Dorothy Baker

by 1 Comment

I was going to make a few brief notes about this and then add this to my review roundup of the Monica Heisey and Curtis Sittenfeld books–and they sort of make a good triptych of more or less complicated women by women writers. But I ended up rambling a bit more about this one, and indeed, Cassandra of Cassandra at the Wedding is not so much complicated, or even messy, but a full on crucible of chaos and doubt and solipsism in human form, who […]

“Children, set the table. Your mother needs a moment to herself.”

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

by 3 Comments

#CBR15 Passport Challenge: Books recommended by friends Elizabeth Zott is a chemist struggling to be taken seriously by her male colleagues at a lab in the 1960s. She never completed her degree because her academic advisor raped her, but her lack of degree in no way means she’s not intelligent. Despite her brilliant mind, her male co-workers either treat her as nothing more than a lab assistant or steal her research and present it as their own. The one exception to this is Calvin Evans, […]

“This is the man.”

The Crime of the Century: Richard Speck and the Murders That Shocked a Nation by Dennis L. Breo , William J. Martin

by Leave a Comment

On a hot summer night in 1966, unemployed seaman Richard Speck broke into a Chicago townhouse and murdered eight nurses who lived there – but a ninth, Corazon Amurao, survived to testify against him. I’ve known about the Speck case for several years, and it’s really quite a horrific yet bizarre story that made a great impact on the judicial system in Illinois. I was excited to get into a book that would cover it in depth, but I found myself startled and pleased with […]

“Sometimes I think,” she said slowly, “that if a man were to spend a day being a woman in America, he wouldn’t make it past noon.”

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

by 2 Comments

CBR Bingo – On the Air This book came highly recommended by a few people who have similar reading sensibilities as me, so I went into it presuming I would like it, and I was not wrong. However, bit of a quick disclaimer: I was shaken up at the start of the book because in this instance, judging the book by its cover will leave you on uneven footing as you get your book legs (I’m workshopping it a la “sea legs.” You heard it […]

‘No airport was an island either.’

Airport by Arthur Hailey

by 2 Comments

CBR 15 Bingo – Nostalgia: This book is set in the glamorous heyday of air travel (and as I am currently in hour three of a ten hour layover in Munich, I can assure you I am feeling very nostalgic.) Over the course of seven hours, Lincoln Airport must go through a snowstorm, a protest, and the return of an airplane that’s had a hole blasted in its side. I love stories about airports and airplanes. They’re exciting to me because they are emblematic of adventure – […]

“Imagine if all men took women seriously.”

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

by 2 Comments

Enjoyed every bit of this. I’m at that time of year when I’m SO many reviews behind, and I’m reading a lot of good books that I just don’t feel like articulating about (I’m about to Review Amnesty a crap ton of books), but this book was such a good read for me, I do want to say a little something about it. No idea what that something is about to be; stream of consciousness is always a surprising and fun way to write reviews. […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo