Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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“What must it be like to grow up that beautiful / with your hair falling into place like dominoes”

Gwyneth: The Biography (2025) by Amy Odell

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This is for bingo square ‘favourite’, partly because celebrity memoir/biography is one of my favourite genres, but also because Gwyneth Paltrow has, in one way or another, been the favourite her whole life–favoured of fate and fortune via her parents, acclaimed actress Blythe Danner and producer Bruce Paltrow, cynosure of critics, muse for Calvin Klein and Anna Wintour, tabloid and arty celebrity scene It Girl, Academy darling for her Oscar win at 26 for Shakespeare in Love (1998)—and more chillingly, for a while, as journalist […]

Not the right chemistry for me

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

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Bingo 12: School Some of the more significant moments especially towards the beginning of Lessons in Chemistry, as well as some later generally consistent episodes related to school work and learning put this one in the School spot. It’s no secret that being female in academia has been a challenge for a significant part of history, and Lessons in Chemistry starts with the worst parts of the 1950s-1960s horrific treatment of women in higher education (seriously, there should be a CW for the assault scene). […]

“The perfect pass…is the simple part. The living with what it takes…is the mystery.”

American Kings: A Biography of the Quarterback by Seth Wickersham

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I became a fan of Seth Wickersham’s sports writing after reading his definitive book on the New England Patriots dynasty, It’s Better to Be Feared. My attention span wasn’t the best during the COVID times, but I simply could not put that book down when it came out in 2021. I’ll bet I read all 528 pages in two or three sittings. So, of course, I was excited when Wickersham announced American Kings, an in-depth exploration into the world of the quarterback. The book is the […]

“For the one you love? Anything. You unmake the world and build a new one. You do anything to give them what they need.”

Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry

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4.5 stars CBR17 Bingo: G (A book title starting with G)   After months of online research, Alice Scott has tracked down the reclusive former tabloid darling Margaret Ives and hopes to persuade the woman to let Alice write her biography. Imagine the unpleasant surprise for Alice when it turns out that Margaret might not want to tell her life’s story at all, and she basically wants to ‘audition’ Alice and another writer for the next month, before she makes up her mind. That other […]

Finding happy little trees, mountains to climb and burglars to show who is the boss babe

The Swayze Year: You're Not Old, You're Just Getting Started! by Colleen AF Venable and Meghan Daly

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You are never too old to try something new, or to follow your passion. Even if that means you are in your 70s and you want to fly around the world. Even if that means you want to invent ramen noodles as we know them today. Even if you want to paint and are unhoused. Even if you want to write the classic dictionary or thesaurus.  Even if you are over the so-called, “Productive Years.” In The Swayze Year: You’re Not Old, You’re Just Getting […]

Ali Wong is a funny lady

Dear Girls: Intimate Tales, Untold Secrets and Advice for Living Your Best Life by Ali Wong

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Nowhere Books Bingo: About someone you want to learn more about I don’t think I’d heard of Ali Wong before her first Netflix special, Baby Cobra. I’ve now seen all her stand-up specials and also enjoyed Always Be My Maybe, a fun romantic comedy she wrote and starred in with Randall Park, and famously got Keanu Reeves to star as himself. I’ve heard very good things about Beef, but there’s just too much TV out there at the moment, and too little time (especially if […]



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