Cannonball Read 11

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A story of two Hollywood legends

The Girls in the Picture by Melanie Benjamin

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This is another fictionalized book about real people by Ms Benjamin (who wrote “The Swans of Fifth Avenue”) – and it’s an intriguing read!  I’m sure we all have the basic knowledge of Mary Pickford who was America’s sweetheart, the “girl with the curls” who married Douglas Fairbanks Sr. and lived the glamorous star life.  What I didn’t know is that there was another woman from that era who was also forging a path for herself in a man’s world – Frances Marion, a writer who became a close friend of Mary’s.  This book tells that story. It begins in […]

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2/12/2019 | 's CBR11 Review No:9 |

Beneath the facade of glitz and glamour

The Swans of Fifth Avenue by Melanie Benjamin

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“The scandalous, headline-making, and enthralling friendship between literary legend Truman Capote and peerless socialite Babe Paley.” This is a fictional telling of the socialite “Swans” of the 1950s and early 1960s that focuses mainly on Barbara “Babe” Paley, and her friendship with Truman Capote; however it includes many other famous women such as Slim Keith, C. Z. Guest, Gloria Guinness, Gloria Vanderbilt, and Pamela Churchill.  These are the fabulously wealthy ladies who lunch, dress to impress, marry often and love to gossip.  The era was one of elegance and perfect outward appearance, though beneath the surface lay many insecurities.  Babe […]

Help Support Cannonball Read

Buy the following on Amazon and help our mission to stick it to cancer, one book at a time:

We pay for our website first, and then all proceeds above and beyond those fees are donated to the American Cancer Society in AlabamaPink's name. Find out how else you can help support our mission.

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1/17/2019 | 's CBR11 Review No:4 |

“It was her style, that indefinable asset. It was said that the others had style but Babe was style.”

The Swans of Fifth Avenue by Melanie Benjamin

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I realized about 4 hours into this book (I listened to the audio version — big mistake, since you can’t skim to reach the ending faster) that nothing was actually going to happen. I slogged on, since I’d already invested so much time, but I was right — this one goes nowhere. I also kept telling myself that I like Melanie Benjamin novels, but I turned out to be wrong there. Like The Aviator’s Wife and The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb, The Swans of Fifth Avenue was just dull. I did like the first book I read by her, Alice I Have Been, but I’m […]

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8/4/2016 's CBR8 Review No:154 |

To Marry a Hero

The Aviator's Wife by Melanie Benjamin

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And following the feel-good goodness of Willowdean and Dumplin’, I read The Aviator’s Wife, and spent the whole book wanting to strangle the main character. Read on! “Marriage breeds its own special brand of loneliness, and it’s far more cruel. You miss more, because you’ve known more.” The Aviator’s Wife is Melanie Benjamin’s fictionalization of the life of Anne Morrow Lindbergh, the wife of aviator Charles Lindbergh and the mother of the poor Lindbergh baby, who was kidnapped and murdered at 20 months old. I’m not sure how many liberties Benjamin took with these people’s lives, but she paints Charles as a complete […]

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12/16/2015 's CBR7 Review No:249 |

Mercy Lavinia “Vinnie” Bump

The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb by Melanie Benjamin

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I read Benjamin’s Alice Have I Been a few years ago. In that one, she creates a novel around the young lady who supposedly inspired Alice in Wonderland. I didn’t really like it very much, but I’d heard that The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb was worth a shot, so I grabbed it when I saw it at Half Price Books. I’m glad I did — it was a good story with a fascinating cast. “That’s just it, don’t you see? I don’t want to be taken care of! I don’t want be hidden away, a burden! I want to make my […]

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8/6/2015 's CBR7 Review No:144 |

Keeping up with the Lindberghs

The Aviator's Wife by Melanie Benjamin

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Everyone knows two things about Charles Lindbergh: he piloted the first solo, non- stop transatlantic flight from New York to Paris and in 1932 his son Charles Lindbergh Jr was kidnapped and murdered. This book is a fact-based, although fictional, recollection of Anne Morrow Lindbergh who tried to create her own life within the shadow of her famous husband. I learned a lot about Lucky Lindy, particularly how far reaching his influence was in the world of aviation, but Anne is the true star of the show. She is a much more sympathetic character. “At the age of twenty-five, he […]

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5/17/2015 's CBR7 Review No:24 |


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