Cannonball Read 14

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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Cult Revolt

Manhattan Cult Story: My Unbelievable True Story of Sex, Crimes, Chaos, and Survival by Spencer Schneider

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Spencer Schneider tells the story of his decades in School, “an esoteric school for inner development,” which was really just a cult. I love reading about cults – they’re fascinating in a horrifying, often voyeuristic way. Schneider was writing about his own story, about a cult I’d never heard of – two points in this book’s favor. I was excited to learn about how people could go about their daily business in New York City whilst having their lives held in a chokehold by a […]

“A society that does not respect women’s anger is one that does not respect women; not as human beings, thinkers, knowers, active participants, or citizens.”

Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women's Anger by Soraya Chemaly

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“Is it possible to read a book about anger and not get mad? I haven’t found it possible in writing one. What are we doing? Why does anyone think that men who cannot say the word ‘period’ and do not know that the vagina and stomach are not connected are competent and trustworthy leaders?” I want to get my thoughts out before my book club meeting tomorrow (during which I have been told we will be smashing things! with protective eyewear*). I almost feel like […]

Wild Wild Country

Rajneeshpuram: Inside the Cult of Bhagwan and Its Failed American Utopia by Russell King

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In the 1980s, a man who calls himself God and his disciples attempt to set up a utopia in the countryside of Oregon, and they are not afraid to bend laws and hurt people to get what they want. As a Hindu myself, I have a quite skeptical view of all the Western-catering groups that sprung up out of India in the 70s and 80s, the gurus promising to teach people to lead fulfilling lives based on a lot of Orientalist stereotypes and mysticism. And […]

Happy or Wealthy, But Not Both

Heiresses: The Lives of the Million Dollar Babies by Laura Thompson

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Though you’d think money smoothes away all obstacles, it seems in the lives of these heiresses to be the thing that stands between them and happiness. Using the examples of individual heiresses to make her case, Thompson shows how the lives of heiresses evolved with the times, and what they may need to achieve happiness in their different ways. The book is broken down into four sections which deal with different eras of heiresses, from the heiress abductions of the Georgian times to the American […]

Claustrophobia

Choosing Light: When an Earthquake Buried Me and My Family for 5 Days, I Learned to Fully Live by Viral Dalal

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On vacation with his family in the coastal town of Bhuj, Viral Dalal is buried under the rubble of an eight-storey building as an earthquake hits the town. And there he must wait, for five long days, never knowing if his family is safe or he himself will survive. An important thing to know going into this review is that I am severely claustrophobic. I cannot imagine staying calm in the space that Dalal was trapped in for more than five minutes, let alone five […]

Very big thanks to andtheIToldYouSos for the heads up that this existed! Had a fun time nerding out.

The Year of Lear: Shakespeare in 1606 by James Shapiro

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This was extremely interesting. I am not deluded enough to think that it would be interesting for everyone. If you like historical analysis of notable literary texts, this book will be your jam. Especially if you are into Shakespeare. I have decided that this combination of historical context and literary analysis is something I really like. One of my favorite books of the last several years was Jane Austen, the Secret Radical, which did something similar, except across Austen’s entire career instead of focusing on only […]



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