Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Holiday Reads: Alsatian Edition

Mortal Causes (Inspector Rebus #6) by Ian Rankin

Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators by Ronan Farrow

Perfect Silence (DI Callanach #4) by Helen Fields

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Vacationing with young children is hard work, people, even if you’re on a campsite that has not one, but two trampolines (“mum, see what I can do!”). Nevertheless I managed to sneak in a couple of books as I hung about in the (beautiful and very hot) Alsatian countryside, so here goes.  Mortal Causes (Ian Rankin) *** Mortal Causes is Inspector Rebus book no. 6 and though I’ve read the previous five, I had to look that up. I also forgot what it was about […]

Them Too

Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators by Ronan Farrow

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(TW: mention of rape, sexual assault) As popular as this book was when it dropped last year, I didn’t have a burning desire to read it. I’ve volunteered before with a group that does arts and advocacy against rape culture so I know firsthand how difficult it is for survivors, especially those of marginalized identities. I had read the major pieces of Ronan Farrow’s (stellar) reporting and figured that was enough. A few weeks ago, I saw this in the library and figured What the heck? Finally […]

“Ultimately, the reason Harvey Weinstein followed the route he did is because he was allowed to, and that’s our fault. As a culture that’s our fault.”

Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators by Ronan Farrow

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Like a lot of people, I read this in close proximity to She Said, the other book published in 2019 about breaking the Harvey Weinstein story. (I liked She Said better. I liked that both authors were ladies, and I liked the close focus on true journalism and building relationships with their sources; it really centered the women’s stories and how they had been affected.) But this one is different enough in tone and style that it brings a lot to the table, as well, […]

Catch and Kill

Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators by Ronan Farrow

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This is a great book.  Farrow takes what could be–what is, in fact–a very tricky story with lies, leads, traps, double-crosses, big reputations and big egos, and makes it enjoyable to read, for 400 pages…well, enjoyable except that you’re reading about truly despicable and gross people, and their whole gross conspiracy of predators and enablers. If you live in society, you’ve heard about Harvey Weinstein.  This book documents Ronan Farrow’s pursuit of the Weinstein story, and his refusal to give up.  He was disheartened but […]

“Ultimately, the reason Harvey Weinstein followed the route he did is because he was allowed to, and that’s our fault. As a culture that’s our fault.”

Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators by Ronan Farrow

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There is something particularly powerful about reading someone’s accounting of their dogged pursual of truth, of what is right, of what matters and we are treated to just that in Catch and Kill. In his second book Ronan Farrow reckons with the institutional powers and societal inequities that create the sort of stories he’s worked on reporting for the past few years at The New Yorker. Part memoir, part investigative report, Catch and Kill is an imminently fast read, jumping from one unbelievable if it […]

Ronan Farrow’s Catch and Kill

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Ronan Farrow’s Catch and Kill reads like a spy novel. The full title is Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators. And Farrow lays out quite a conspiracy. He takes the reader inside the world of investigative reporting – in his case for NBC News. Not only does NBC prove to ultimately be hostile towards allowing Farrow to tell the full story of his investigation into allegation of sexual abuse by Harvey Weinstein, but it is also a hotbed of abuse […]



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