Cannonball Read 12

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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I wanted more about the assassins, less about contemporary American politics

Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell

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CBR12 BINGO: Pandemic (read whatever you want) BINGO: Gateway, Orange, Nostalgia, Pandemic, Shelfie When I opened this book, I had in my mind that it would be an easy 4-star review. Sarah Vowell is an entertaining writer, a passionate historian, and an American patriot, so I was excited to read this historical travel journal that has been on my TBR list for years. To sweeten the deal, it also promised glimpses into presidential assassins Charles Guiteau and Leon Czolgosz, who assassinated Presidents Garfield and McKinely, respectively, and […]

Nepotism

American Oligarchs: The Kushners, The Trumps and the Marriage of Money and Power by Andrea Bernstein

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On her popular podcast Gaslit Nation, Sara Kendzior repeatedly talks about how the biggest indicator of America’s descent into authoritarianism would be Jared Kushner walking scot free of any potential prosecutions. I knew Kushner was a nepotistic failson whose outsized power comes from his father-in-law’s office and an indifferent Republican Party but of all the crooks in this organization, he’s probably the one who I know the least about or am the least offended by. That changed with this book. Telling the Kushner story concurrently with […]

With great power comes great responsibility

A Place of Greater Safety by Hilary Mantel

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Colour me surprised to find out that what I thought was Uncle Ben’s quote was actually much older than that, hailing instead from the pen of journalist Camille Desmoulins during the French Revolution. While reading this and following the fates of Camille, lawyer Georges Danton and politician Maximilien Robespierre, I couldn’t help but be reminded over and over of another superhero quote, this time from Batman – “you either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become a villain.” None of the […]

How Is It Almost September? Catching Up with Cannonball

Too Much and Never Enough by Mary Trump

Winners Take All by Anand Giridharadas

Crime In Progress by Glenn Simpson & Peter Fritsch

Burglars Can't Be Choosers by Lawrence Block

The Burglar Who Painted Like Mondrian by Lawrence Block

The Burglar Who Like to Quote Kipling by Lawrence Block

Seinfeldia: How A Show About Nothing Changed Everything by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong

I'll Have What She's Having: My Adventures in Celebrity Dieting by Rebecca Harrington

Heartburn by Nora Ephron

Making Rumours: The Inside Story of the Classic Fleetwood Mac Album by Ken Caillat and Steve Stiefel

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O.K., I admit it, I have not posted any reviews this Cannonball. It’s just been a weird and for too many, sad time, hasn’t it? But I have managed to do a little reading. These may just be capsule reviews, but that’s just about all I can handle at the moment. There have been some good books and not so good books, but it’s 2020, so that’s par for the course. Looking at this list I realize that I have been drawn to books to […]

An Unexpected Reading Week

The Herd by Andrea Bartz

Cross to Bear by John Maginnis

Hiding In Plain Sight: The Invention of Donald Trump by Sarah Kendzior

Quarry's List by Max Allan Collins

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This turned out to be an unexpected reading week for me as I knocked out four books between Monday and tonight. However, I worked a lot this week and was just too damn tired to log everything when I was finished so I’m dropping it all here. The Herd 3 stars I gave Andrea Bartz’s debut a weak 4-stars as I graded it on the new author curve. It was a fun New York tale but I feel like it could have been better. I was […]



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