Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


Join the CBR18 Book Bingo Reading Challenge—Now Underway!   

“We only get one goofy little life, friend, and we have to enjoy every minute we can.”

How to be Okay When Nothing is Okay by Jenny Lawson

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Rating: 4.5 Stars In a nutshell: Author Lawson (also known as as The Bloggess) shares quotes, words of encouragement, and ideas for helping folks get through whatever they’re trying to get through. Best for: Fans of Lawson. Fans of whimsy, sincerity, humor, weirdness, joy, and honesty. People who are looking for some ‘self-help’ that feels more like a close friend being kind to you. Quote that made me think: “You’re not failing if it’s just not for you.” “They say the grass is greener on […]

I Choose Darkness

I Choose Darkness by Jenny Lawson

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I didn’t make my half cannonball, but I do want to hit my reading goal. So I squeezed in a short essay by Jenny Lawson this morning. I Choose Darkness is a short essay and Amazon Original. Goodreads synopsis: From cheap costumes to creepy dolls to questionable candy, number one New York Times bestselling author Jenny Lawson weaves a hauntingly hilarious account of her ongoing—sometimes outrageous—Halloween life. The holly-jolly holidays aren’t for everyone, least of all when you look back on that one Christmas when there were […]

I Choose Darkness

I Choose Darkness by Jenny Lawson

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This was  hilarious short story by Jenny Lawson. Her holiday essay even though the cover shows an elf with bat wings, is about Halloween. I think at one point I started laughing so hard I could feel my side giving. I have read some of Lawson’s other memoirs, and she has a great style. Her childhood always sounds bonkers. And this one gives her insight on being raised in the middle of nowhere during Halloween. The passage about she and her sister going Trick or […]

“Only monsters call when they could text.”

Broken (in the best possible way) by Jenny Lawson

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These days it seems the only books I have time for are audiobooks. In a desperate search for another audiobook at the library, I found Broken (in the best possible way) (2021) by Jenny Lawson. This is my first experience with Lawson, although she is a New York Times bestselling author and famous blogger. I found some parts of this book witty, some parts moving, and some parts a little trying. On the whole I definitely liked it, but it’s not one of my favorites. The most […]

“I’m not sure what the difference is between sleeping and time travel”

Broken (in the best possible way) by Jenny Lawson

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4.5 stars CBR13 Bingo: Rep (features honest and sometimes graphic descriptions of life with a variety of mental and chronic illnesses) It’s no secret that Jenny Lawson, known online and to her followers as The Bloggess, suffers from a large number of ailments, both physical and mental. She has dealt with various kinds of chronic illness throughout her life and manages to be mostly very light-hearted and humourous about it. I chose to get this book in audio, because Jenny Lawson narrates her own books, […]

“I’m not joking, but we still laugh because laughter is the best way to cover pain.”

Broken (in the best possible way) by Jenny Lawson

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If you’ve read a Jenny Lawson book before, you’ll know what to expect here. Side-splitting anecdotes, social anxiety, lots of animal stories, bizarre arguments with her husband Victor, talking openly about mental health issues like depression, etc. (She has treatment resistant depression and doesn’t shy away from talking about her lowest moments, including feeling suicidal.) And yet this book feels light and very human. Some notable departures in this one, she spends quite a bit of time reflecting on the differences between her and Victor’s […]



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