Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


I don’t think Bill W. saw this gal coming!

Other Broken Things by C. Desir

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Oh boy! Did I hate this book by C. Desir for the first few chapters: Natalie is a spoiled rich girl and is a “drunk” and of course thinks she does not have a problem; that everyone parities. Her character was a cliché from the first word. She, of course, blames everyone else for her problems, but does not admit they are problems. Even during a cliched moment (that I had really hoped was not going to happen) near the end of the book, she […]

A history of Australia that’s far from dry

Intoxicating: Ten drinks that shaped Australia by Max Allen

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There is a widespread myth that Australia’s Indigenous peoples were introduced to alcohol by European settlers, and were susceptible to drinking a lot of it because they’d never had it before. The first chapter of this fascinating book blows that myth away with descriptions of fermented gum tree sap and how it had been used long before the arrival of rum and wine. This is both a really good book about alcoholic drinks and about history. The author, a journalist and wine writer, goes to […]

Not your usual celeb autobiography

Becoming Johnny Vegas by Michael Pennington

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Just as Johnny Vegas isn’t your usual comedian, Becoming Johnny Vegas isn’t your usual celebrity autobiography. Most of those I’ve read tend to be a collection of funny anecdotes interspersed with achievements and name-dropping. While Becoming Johnny Vegas includes all of that, it’s also so much more – the introspection and self-reflection here goes deeper than in any other celebrity autobiography I’ve ever read, as Pennington (Vegas’ real name) tries to get to the bottom of just how he became Johnny Vegas. Recounting his happy […]

The Tao of Daisy Duke

Open Book by Jessica Simpson

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I’m roughly the same age as Jessica Simpson, although prior to reading Open Book I didn’t know much about her other than that she had a reality show with Nick Lachey in the 2000s. She also played Daisy Duke in the Johnny Knoxville/Sean William Scott movie Dukes of Hazzard. (I saw that in theaters.) Since I love a good celebrity autobiography, I gave this one a shot. Glad I did, because it only took a few days for me to listen to the whole audiobook. Open Book […]

Everything she has is secondhand.

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I succumbed and read The Girl on the Train! Why the hell didn’t any of you warn me that it would be impossible not to take it way too personally? J’accuse! (Just kidding; I like to stay unspoiled and wouldn’t have listened to you anyway.) What’s funny is that I listen to the “My Favorite Murder” podcast, and I’ve listened to their promo for the movie a whole bunch of times, in which the script goes “devasted by her recent divorce…” blah blah blah blah. […]

There is some strange alchemy associated with gratitude.

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This one hit me hard, and I have to admit I’m still processing a lot of it. Drink is part memoir, part investigative journalism, written by Ann Dowsett Johnston, a former editor at “Maclean’s” magazine (Canada’s “Newsweek,” if I may), the story of one woman’s family history and journey of alcoholism, and also an examination of the dangers of (mostly Western) society’s portrayal of the ideal woman and her relationship with alcohol, with is generally supposed to be empowering, equality-driven and rewarding, but has been […]



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