Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


Few triggers but overall a delightful read

Layers: A Memoir by Pénélope Bagieu

by Leave a Comment

This weekend was unintentionally a weekend where I learned I have read so much that I’m repeating authors and not even realizing it! One of the books I read was Layers: A Memoir by Pénélope Bagieu (translated by Montana Kane). When I saw what else they had written I was shocked. I’ve read several of their books in English. I started with the title Brazen: Rebel Ladies Who Rocked the World (lovely collection of women who were brazen); California Dreamin’: Cass Elliot Before the Mamas […]

Dead men tell no tales….. unless it is in the form of a trilogy

Exquisite Corpse by Penelope Bagieu

by Leave a Comment

With a title like Exquisite Corpse, I was not sure what to expect. What journey was Penelope Bagieu (with translation by Alexis Siegel) going to take me on? Was I going to be Brazen or would I be California Dreaming again? Neither. I was in the middle of Pairs, locked in an apartment with one crazy-a$$ author, a girl who is as naïve as she is a selfish-20-something and one editor who put the fatale in femme fatale. Zoe is less than sophisticated. She hates […]

“Leah, I think your sister is on illicit drugs” Bess Cohen

California Dreamin’: Cass Elliot Before the Mamas & the Papas by Penelope Bagieu

by Leave a Comment

A few of us probably had a “California Dreamin” moment or two. But a gal named Ellen Cohen had one when a little folk group called The Journeymen decided to move there. Her first dream was New York City and Broadway. But had she stayed there, California Dreamin’: Cass Elliot Before the Mamas & the Papas would not have been created, as there would have not been a little group called The Mamas & the Papas. Had a girl called Ellen not decided to make […]

When you post this less than ideal image on Facebook and get a lot of LIKES and comments

Brazen: Rebel Ladies Who Rocked the World by Penelope Bagieu

by Leave a Comment

I consider myself a feminist, but in many ways, a conservative feminist. I know we need books on women and diversity. However, I am tired of the flood of books that have hit the market which makes them feel watered down; cliché; and repetitive. I know the women presented are/were amazing women who forged ahead so I can have this opinion, but I want new people, something different, something where I have fun reading and even learn from. Therefore, when I first read about Brazen: […]

Fantastic Look at Some Truly Extraordinary Women

Brazen: Rebel Ladies Who Rocked the World by Pénélope Bagieu

by Leave a Comment

I have to say that this was a really one of a kind book to get. I bought this last year at the National Book Festival and was intrigued by it once I took a look inside. The graphic art pops and the stories are wonderful. I actually wanted even more information than I got once I got done with this. I would say that you may want to read this over a couple of days/months. Trying to read it straight through like a book […]

How many rules am I to break before you understand that your double standards don’t mean sh*t to me?

Brazen: Rebel Ladies Who Rocked the World by Pénélope Bagieu

by 5 Comments

  Originally published in French (in two volumes) as Culottées This was such a great read! I was familiar with Bagieu’s work from back when she had her blog (Ma vie est tout à fait fascinante) but had never read one of her books. Needless to say, I am going to remedy that ASAP. Brazen is a collection of graphic bios of women who refused to live according to the rules imposed by society. Some of them are very famous, some of them have been […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo