Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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“Lexicography Moves So Slowly That Scientists Classify It As a Solid”

Word by Word by Kory Stamper

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This book is just chock full of interesting nuggets of information (case in point: I considered titling this post “Did you know that the word “pumpernickel” comes from German for “fart goblin”?). In some ways the book is more interesting than it seems like it has any right to be. A book about writing dictionaries? Sounds boring, but Kory Stamper writes with humor (see post title) and an informal style that makes it an interesting and entertaining read. Each chapter focuses on an element of […]

Big Ideas and Big Friends

Big Dreams, Small Fish by Paula Cohen

Gibberish by Young Vo

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Culture is an interesting subject. And when you come from one and go to a different one, things get interesting.  The publisher Levine Querido has stories that are about cultures we may/may not be familiar with. In the process of reading them, there is a lot to learn about how we are not only different, but the same, too. Shirley is a child with big ideas, her family are immigrants, they live over their grocery store, and they cannot sell their gefilte fish. Her parents […]

“At last we meet again for the first time, for the last time.”

Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell

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All I’ve got in my head right now is that line from Spaceballs (see title of this review). I say that because every year I read a handful of books that I am just absolutely at a loss for how to review. This is my first one of 2022! I just want to say la la la la la and maybe read it again, but I’m expected instead to verbalize my thoughts about a book that covered so much and was so good and so […]

“Are you in a cult?”

Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell

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Well, I might be! Really, I’m inundated with cultish language- much like most of you are as well! The above question, posited by our own CBR gurus and shared across social media, was attached to an excellent review by faintingviolet. Her review kindled a blaze with other CBR readers- myself included! Our Goodreads walls are packed with update-after-update barrages of people frantically ripping through this read! I am very much looking forward to the Cultish flood headed our way. Now- back to the question. Am I […]

A lot of characters to follow, three plots, and wondering if or when it will all make sense

A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine

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It took me way longer to really get into A Desolation Called Peace than it did A Memory Called Empire. Part of the problem in A Desolation Called Peace is that there are too many different groups and places that take almost ¾ of the novel to really come together. I get that that is a technique for suspense, but it doesn’t work terribly well here, especially when Mahit’s thread has so little to do with everything else which actually does eventually connect. It feels […]

When you only read a handful of pages, but still like what you read, but it’s okay as it is a book to read like that.

You Can Do Anything, Magic Skeleton!: Monster Motivations to Move Your Butt and Get You to Do the Thing by Chuck Wendig

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I was on the salesfloor this morning, doing a task that I occasionally do, surrounded by the books of the counter. You know those fun little distractions at the checkout. The ones that you pick up for hostess gifts, for that one person you never can buy for, and that “I need a treat and it might be Champlain Chocolate [so yummy], but my waist will thank me for a book instead” books. After finishing my task, instead of taking my normal route back to […]



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