Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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An old man returns to his childhood home — a book review but also my earnest request for more Hollywood movies about Partition

The Persistence of Memory by Urvashi Butalia

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In my search to learn more about the partition of India after it gained independence from the British, Urvashi Butalia was a writer recommended by a Pakistani journalist friend who had done some reporting on this issue. Ten minutes of Google and I was able to find The Persistence of Memory, which ended up being a quick and satisfying read. Butalia follows Bir Bahadur Singh as he travels to Pakistan in his 70s, eager to return to his home village Thoa Khalsa for a visit […]

I read a young adult book on India’s partition and felt like my heart was absolutely shredded

The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani

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The world is burning at the moment, and we may be hyper focused on the US trying to gun for the “Most Likely to Revert to a Dictatorship” award or Israel’s decision to start double-fisting wars or (literally happened today) US’s decision to join the Iran-Israel conflict — but do you know that WWIII came very close to breaking out in May? India and Pakistan — both nuclear-armed, and both sworn enemies since the Brits left — started bombing each other over militant attacks in […]

The hash-tagged elephant

The World’s Loneliest Elephant: Based on the True Story of Kaavan and His Rescue by Ralph Fletcher

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Another book that made me tear up is The World’s Loneliest Elephant: Based on the True Story of Kaavan and His Rescue by Ralph Fletcher. This is a story about Kaavan, the elephant that was taken from a sanctuary, given as a gift to a young girl, but lived in the Pakistani zoo for years. Of course, at the time the conditions were beyond horrific. To the point that when finally animal activist Dr. Amir Khalil organized the elephants rescue, it was almost unable to […]

My first LOVE of the year

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 Y’all, I don’t really know where to start with this book. I loved it. And I don’t fully understand what I read? I devoured every word but also had a tough time picking it back up after I’d put it down. It was amazing and I am going to have a very hard time telling you why. I did not know the backstory on this one until I was almost through, but twenty years ago, the author Arundhati Roy broke onto the scene with her […]

Clever unforgettable post 9/11 tale, from the “other” side

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With all that is going on in our world, and specifically in our country due to the orange baboon in charge, my friend and I decided we wanted to do something to educate ourselves, specifically regarding Muslim people.  Sort of a “fight the piles of ignorance with education” personal growth assignment.  I came across an article via lithub that gave 10 contemporary books to read, so we both took a look.  She narrowed down the list to a few, and then I made the final call. […]

Lying *is* the job description.

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I don’t often read thrillers, but I always enjoy David Ignatius’ writing, so I picked this one up at the suggestion of Mr. Luxury. Here’s the summary: There’s a new super-duper-secret CIA unit that is trying to buy peace with America’s enemies, specifically those in Pakistan. Young, intrepid Sophie Marx joins this super-secret unit because it gives her the chance to do spy things instead of just sit in an office in Virginia. Soon, unfortunately, their super-undercover operatives start showing up dead, and Sophie is […]



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