Cannonball Read 14

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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Hands-Down My Favorite TITLE of 2022

Please Miss: A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Penis by Grace E. Lavery

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Please Miss: A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Penis Let that title sink in. It’s so great! Also great: hearing Grace Lavery say it aloud herself. If you have any interest in diving into this piece (and holy moly, you should!) I HIGHLY recommend listening to the audio performance- and I do mean performance! Grace, Danny Lavery, and Marc Vietor do not skimp on the drama and pomp. Grace, in particular, has a lovely elastic and elegant lilt- cliché of clichés, but I do think I […]

Good advice to start the new year: Workers, unite! Take a break! Relax! Read a book!

In Praise of Idleness by Bertrand Russell, with Bradley Trevor Greive

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Bertrand Russell is considered one of the finest academic minds of the 20th century. He was a true polymath who excelled in philosophy, mathematics, and logic. Born an aristocrat (an actual Earl, for heaven’s sake)  and educated at Cambridge, Russell nevertheless championed social causes such as pacifism and rights for homosexuals. In 1935, he published In Praise of Idleness and Other Essays, in which he argues for, among other things, a four-hour workday. The essay “In Praise of Idleness” is barely 5000 words long. However, […]

Neil Gaiman is My Chesterson

The View from the Cheap Seats: Selected Nonfiction by Neil Gaiman

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I’ve had The View from the Cheap Seats on my TBR for a long time. For once, the university library had a book I actually wanted to read, so I checked it out while waiting for my local library request to come in. Gaiman’s collected nonfiction rides the gamut from his introductions to many novels, to speeches given at award ceremonies and conventions and interviews from his career as a journalist, as well as musings on writing and recollections on the people and books that have […]

“I feel, therefore I can be free.”

Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde

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  CBR Bingo: UnCannon Sister Outsider is a collection of essays and speeches by Audre Lorde, as well as including a couple travelogues from trips she took to Russia and Grenada. My formal education never included anything about or by Lorde, and so this is the first thing of hers that I’ve read. It was funny how many times I finished an essay and thought, “I bet this will be my favorite one in the book.” If you are willing to be open to what […]

Not My Favorite

Her Body & Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado

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BINGO: Myths: The first short story is a clever retelling of urban legends. Best for: People who like a bit of sex with their short stories. In a nutshell: A collection of essays exploring womanhood. Worth quoting: ‘ “Do you hate my body, Mom?” she says. Her voice splinters in pain, as if she were about to cry. “You hated yours, clearly, but mine looks just like yours used to, so—“ ‘ Why I chose it: Recommended at my Book Spa appointment. Review: Some of […]

Black Lives Matter in Norway too

Eg snakkar om det heile tida (I talk about it all the time) by Camara Lundestad Joof

Ikkje ver redd sånne som meg (Don't be afraid of people like me) by Sumeya Jirde Ali

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Eg snakkar om det heile tida (I talk about it all the time) – 5 stars Official book description: I call a friend. Did the man in the bar call me a black b*tch when I didn’t want to give him my number? That time we had arranged to drink beer, but we drank tequila instead? She goes quiet. No. He called you the n-word. Thank you, I say. Thank you for remembering. I talk about it all the time is a witness statement, an […]



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