Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


Politics: It ain’t for old white dudes anymore

Kamala Harris: Rooted in Justice by Nikki Grimes

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Kamala Harris: Rooted in Justice by Nikki Grimes, came out in summer of 2020. The book highlights the life of Harris from a child to the end of her run for president. I am not sure how updated the final results were, as I was reading a reader copy, but in the end, that is a little less important than how she became the first woman of color to hold her position. The fact that we follow a young girl named after a flower from […]

The Public World and the Private Domain

The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family by Annette Gordon-Reed

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Annette Gordon-Reed uncovers the family history of the Hemingses of Monticello, who are known as the slaves of Thomas Jefferson – though their story encompasses more than that. I knew a bit about Sally Hemings and her relationship with Jefferson, but the author goes beyond this notable person to expand her focus to her entire family. In many ways the Hemingses are remarkable for their blood relationship with Jefferson’s wife Martha and how that affected their treatment, but in others they were just like the thousands […]

An American Wine History

The Wild Vine by Todd Kliman

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Bingo 19: White Whale This book has possibly been on my shelf for 10 years; I can’t remember when I bought it, but it’s a hardback with a Borders sticker. And The Wild Vine was published in 2010, so I’m guessing it hadn’t been out too long when I picked it up. Either way, even if you go with when Borders went out of business, this book has been on my shelf a while. It’s framed as a journalist setting out to chronicle the not […]

What inspires you?

Rosie the Riveter: The Legacy of an American Icon by Sarah Dvojack

Dancing in the Wings by Debbie Allen

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It is “can’t write 250 words for both books, but even if I could they should be together” review time. Both books are for older children up to adults. There is not a lot of traditional adventure or action, but that should not take away from the fact these are strong stories that can be used in the classroom or at home readings. They can be used to women’s history month (though only Rosie has a past, even if she is not officially a “real” […]

laughing to keep from crying

We Had a Little Real Estate Problem: The Unheralded Story of Native Americans and Comedy by Kliph Nesteroff

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A book to make you howl with both laughter and fury, We Had a Little Real Estate Problem gushes with humor, outrage, determination, and life. Kliph Nesteroff has worked with a large and knowledgeable team to document the past, track the current, and look towards the future of Native American comedy. Framed around a beloved punchline from Charlie Hill, the first Native American comedian to be featured on The Tonight Show, We Had a Little Real Estate Problem, is both a knee-slapper and a heart-breaker. I […]

I can see why she won the Pulitzer for this, but it wasn’t completely to my tastes.

The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson

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I’m really glad I did the audio version for this one, because I’m not sure my raccoon brain (shiny things only!) would have had the patience to sit through it otherwise, and it’s worth sitting through. Robin Miles is, as always, a great narrator. This book wasn’t quite what I was expecting, either. I had actually never learned about the Great Migration in all my many (many) years of school, which is not really surprising, but is disheartening, so I was excited to get into […]



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