Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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1998, Colombo. The Sri Lankan Civil War is raging and there is Kavi

I Am Kavi by Thushanthi Ponweera

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There are a few spoilers below about the book I Am Kavi by Thushanthi Ponweera.   Overall it is an interesting book. It had a few bumps for my personal tastes, but for the aged 10 and up crowd (and me back then) it is a will love title. The themes are mostly familiar, but the setting is fresh. You should read the afterwards and author notes for the extra background, information and author commentary. The format while prose poetry flows as full prose, the […]

Perhaps the most American of novels.

Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

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In 1905, Thomas Dixon’s The Clansmen: A Historical Romance of the Ku Klux Klan was published to massive sales and widespread scorn. The book was supportive of segregation, and glorified not only the Confederacy, but the Klan it was purporting to tell the story of. One year later, mobs of white Atlantans massacred African Americans following lurid and unfounded accusations made in local newspapers about the alleged rape of four white women at the hands of black men. At least 25 black people were murdered […]

Warfare of soccer at Bull Run Regional Park (and other stuff)

Team Photograph by Lauren Haldeman

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What the flaming monkey toots did I just read? Or more accurately, took me a few days to read. Team Photograph is an artist’s interpretation of Lauren Haldeman’s experiences and feelings. When I first finished the online (though currently available) reader copy, I was thinking, “Is Team Photograph a memoir? An attempt at purging the feelings she has about death? Is it a commentary on war and the resulting death that will haunt people if they are aware of it? Or is it just a […]

“Honor without intelligence is a disaster. Honor could lose the war.”

The Killer Angels: A Novel of the Civil War by Michael Shaara

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Cbr13bingo violence I read The Killer Angels about 20 years ago, and my lasting recollection was that I was surprised at how it drew me in and how much I liked it. Surprised because this novel, a work of historical fiction, is focused on the most momentous battle of the Civil War – Gettysburg. As much as I enjoy history and historical fiction, military history has never been terribly interesting to me. Michael Shaara accomplished something amazing with this novel: he made me interested in […]

War Inflicts Invisible Wounds Too

Hospital Sketches from the Civil War by Louisa May Alcott

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Hospital Sketches from the Civil War by Louisa May Alcott My rating: 4 of 5 stars I’ve always enjoyed Alcott’s writing, but somehow had never heard of this book until my wife came across it at a bookstore. This book is autobiographical although Alcott doesn’t reveal the name of the hospital or the actual names of her patients. The tone starts out in a very dramatic and somewhat humorous fashion. In some ways it feels like Alcott is satirizing the fact that all women could […]

Rated PG-16 and odd

Artichoke Tales by Megan Kelso

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Artichoke Tales by Megan Kelso is a very odd book. At first, I was enjoying this slow-paced story that seemed to have a point. But while I was busy trying to figure out who was who (as the artichoke heads and same tunic clothing made everyone look the same) I was sideswiped. There is a switch in the story and there was no warning. Are we “Then” or “Then-Then” or “Now”? Is this Ramona, Brigitte, or Dorian? (I picked those three as they are mother, daughter […]



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