Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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Never too late to educate

Blues Boy: The B. B. King Story by Alice Faye Duncan and Carl Joe Williams

I Am the River: Sarah E. Ray and the Bob-Lo Boat by Patricia Lee Gauch, Leah Henderson and Kristle Marshall

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It might be the middle of February, but it is never too late to start reading about Black History. My favorite historical stories are about people we do not know a lot about. Or if we do know them, they are not huge. That is why when I saw Blues Boy: The B. B. King Story by Alice Faye Duncan, and illustrator Carl Joe Williams (available but read via an online reader) I almost did not read it. I mean, BB King is cool, don’t […]

Blue Notes

Cahokia Jazz by Franics Spufford

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Reading this book was a unique experience for me. Since it focuses on First Nations in America, some parts are tough and sad. I borrowed it from the library and wasn’t sure I’d finish before it was due, especially because of the heavy moments. But I felt I owed it to the main character to see it through. That’s never happened to me before. I’m glad I finished Cahokia Jazz. The story has really stayed with me, even though I’ve returned the book. The story […]

B is for Ballad

The Ballad of Perilous Graves by Alex Jennings

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Bingo 1: “B” square I was in New Orleans in January for a work conference; the only time I went into the French Quarter was to visit a bookstore. On the local interest shelf there was one title I vaguely recognized: The Ballad of Perilous Graves. This was for the first half a generally interesting musical and magical realism kind of mystery in which local kids notice something is wrong with the spirit of the city of Nola and must then save everyone and everything […]

It just blew me away!

The Story of the Saxophone by Lesa Cline-Ransome

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I found the most interesting picture book about saxophones. Well, not so much about the instrument itself but how it all came to be. You see, The Story of the Saxophone is not as dull as you would think. And it did not start with the people who are famous for playing it. No, it started in the 1840s in Belgium of all places. Somehow, this odd looking contraption would make it across the ocean to Mexico and finally to New Orleans where Sidney Bechet and Charlie […]

“Buddy Rich once told me that he was the loneliest man in the universe.”

The Torment of Buddy Rich: A Biography by John Minahan

Traps, The Drum Wonder: The Life of Buddy Rich by Mel Torme

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CBR14Bingo: Minds (I read both of these as I continued my personal psychological study of Buddy Rich’s mind) Buddy Rich is arguably the best drummer to ever live. I was first introduced to his work about a year ago when he was mentioned in a biography of Frank Sinatra I was reading; the two of them had at least one fistfight when they were in Tommy Dorsey’s band together. As I have a fascination with mid-century men with terrible tempers (Frank Sinatra, Burt Lancaster) I […]

Sth, I know that woman.

Jazz by Toni Morrison

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CBR12 Bingo – UnCannon This is a reread so my review is going to wander at times and focus on singular parts of the story. I also listened this audiobook while the last time I read it, I read it straight. I also was strangely walking around Richmond as I listened and they’ve been taking down Confederate statues this week and they’ve be scrubbing and cleaning up spaces not Confederate (or linked) also tagged by graffiti, so there’s a funny contrast of what the city […]



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