Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

History of the MCU and lessons in chemistry have been taught on audiobook

MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios by Joanna Robinson, Dave Gonzales, Gavin Edwards - narrated by Andrew Kishino and Joanna Robinson

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus - narrated by Miranda Raison

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What do MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios, a non-fiction history of the creation and rise of Marvel Studios, and Lessons in Chemistry, a fiction narrative of a lady scientist, have in common?  Misogyny and a lot of it. I had the incredibly good fortune to be in Hall H, at the San Diego Comic Con, when the very first footage of Iron Man was shown in 2007 and have been a Marvel Cinematic Universe fan ever since.  MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios came onto my radar from Pajiba, […]

“Hannah, you are the only thing in a room that makes it possible to breathe.”

For Never & Always by Helena Greer

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When she was little, Hannah Rosenstein’s parents traveled all over the world, and the only place she ever felt safe and settled was at the Christmas tree farm owned by her father’s great-aunt Cass. At Carrigan’s Christmas Tree Farm, she would also get to spend time with Levi, whose parents were the cook and groundskeeper at Carrigan’s and who in practicality ran the farm for Cass. When Hannah got older, she persuaded her parents to let her go live at Carrigan’s so she could go […]

Cults, Sex, and Vegetarian Recipes

Holy Food: How Cults, Communes, and Religious Movements Influenced What We Eat ― An American History by Christina Ward

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I loved this book, which is an odd thing to say because it took me weeks to finish it. It is dense. And the crazy stuff that people called “religion” required more than a few re-reads. On Rosicrucianism Paschal Beverly Randolph saw sex as a powerful energy that could be controlled and sublimated into magical works. As he explored sex magic and the power of the Will, he came to odds with Madame Blavatsky who, as others have testified, tried to kill him with her […]

“Children, set the table. Your mother needs a moment to herself.”

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

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#CBR15 Passport Challenge: Books recommended by friends Elizabeth Zott is a chemist struggling to be taken seriously by her male colleagues at a lab in the 1960s. She never completed her degree because her academic advisor raped her, but her lack of degree in no way means she’s not intelligent. Despite her brilliant mind, her male co-workers either treat her as nothing more than a lab assistant or steal her research and present it as their own. The one exception to this is Calvin Evans, […]

Are the Good Eats Really Worth Attempting?

Good Eats 4: The Final Years by Alton Brown

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Alton Brown’s last cookbook really is basically his show Good Eats in written form, down to the use of footnotes. Good Eats 4: The Final Years is basically the recipe (both actual how to make and creation history) catalog from Good Eats: Reloaded and Good Eats: The Return (including the “lost” planned but never made season 3 of The Return). For most all recipes there’s a lot of segmented information to work through including the narrative of the episode and some thoughts thereon, the history […]

Trope Blend of Culture, Mystery, Food, and Romance with Mixed Results

Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala

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Arsenic and Adobo is a decent cozy mystery that is pretty aware that it is that, as well as a romance. It pulls off one of those things better than the other. What I don’t get is how Lila can open the novel with “my life has become a rom-com cliché” but be so dense about a romance that doesn’t involve her. There’s obviously something going on with her Tita Rosie and a certain detective, but she (Lila and Rosie both) never even says anything. […]



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