Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


So did you know Napoleon wrote romance novels early in his career?

Ambition and Desire: The Dangerous Life of Josephine Bonaparte by Kate Williams

by Leave a Comment

#CBR11 Bingo: True Story From Goodreads: Their love was legendary, their ambition flagrant and unashamed. Napoleon Bonaparte and his wife, Josephine, came to power during one of the most turbulent periods in the history of France. The story of the Corsican soldier’s incredible rise has been well documented. Now, in this spellbinding, luminous account, Kate Williams draws back the curtain on the woman who beguiled him: her humble origins, her exorbitant appetites, and the tragic turn of events that led to her undoing. Born Marie-Josèphe-Rose […]

My first DNF in years

Headstrong: 52 Women Who Changed Science - and the World by Rachel Swaby

by Leave a Comment

From Goodreads: Fifty-two inspiring and insightful profiles of history’s brightest female scientists. In 2013, the New York Times published an obituary for Yvonne Brill. It began: “She made a mean beef stroganoff, followed her husband from job to job, and took eight years off from work to raise three children.” It wasn’t until the second paragraph that readers discovered why the Times had devoted several hundred words to her life: Brill was a brilliant rocket scientist who invented a propulsion system to keep communications satellites […]

Learn about your different voices

I Am Kind: A Little Book about Abraham Lincoln by Brad Meltzer

by Leave a Comment

I Am Kind: A Little Book about Abraham Lincoln talks about the personality of Lincoln with the backdrop of being kind (a trait he was known for) as the moral to the story. And while being kind is a subject or moral for all ages to learn, the overall feeling of the book (the fact that it is being told by the point of view of Lincoln and dealing with in simple terms, the personality and events of Lincoln) seems a bit mature for the […]

A mixed bag, but in the end it won me over

Believe Me: a memoir of love, death, and jazz chickens by Eddie Izzard

by Leave a Comment

Another shout-out for the little free libraries of Burbank, CA! This book is a roller coaster, if your idea of a roller coaster starts out as insanely boring with bits of really interesting insight and a few chuckles along the way that leaves you with more questions than answers. I realize that is not a resounding endorsement, but I’m giving this book  3 stars because in spite of many flaws I found it rather inspiring. I’m going to be kind of hard on it though, […]

“I’ma wade through the waters. Tell the tide ‘don’t move'”

When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir by Patrisse Khan-Cullors

by 1 Comment

This book was a very difficult but necessary read. It belongs in college curricula and book clubs. Your racist family members should read it but never will, though you can get a couple of fact bombs from the book to drop in the middle of an awkward Thanksgiving dinner. This memoir by Patrisse Khan-Cullors will give a deeper understanding of the often fraught nature of modern Black life in America and firsthand account of the #blacklivesmatter movement. One of the most significant activist groups of […]

When Princess Leia and 45 White Men inspire you to write an art book.

Limitless: 24 Remarkable American Women of Vision, Grit and Guts by Leah Tinari

by 3 Comments

Limitless: 24 Remarkable American Women of Vision, Grit and Guts by Leah Tinari is one of those books that I want to give a score of 100 to, but at the same time, a score of zero. There is a lot going on in these handful of pages. The high score is because Tinari has picked several women that I have never heard of. And, would almost guarantee the “average” person has not either. Yet, each woman has had a powerful impact on the world […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo