Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


Join the CBR18 Book Bingo Reading Challenge—Now Underway!   

“The search for a scapegoat is the easiest of all hunting expeditions.”

The Scapegoat: The Brilliant Brief Life of the Duke of Buckingham by Lucy Hughes-Hallett

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CBR18 Bingo: Right – As favorite to both James I and Charles II of England, the Duke of Buckingham served as the right hand of the king in helping govern the kingdom. When George Villiers caught the eye of James I of England, it was the start of a brilliant rise in politics and society for him. However, his close association with the increasingly unpopular crown would also lead to his downfall. I mostly think of James I as the king who was obsessed with witch-hunting, […]

“In the modern world, in short, you are your address.”

The Address Book: What Street Addresses Reveal About Identity, Race, Wealth, and Power by Deirdre Mask

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CBR18 Bingo: Refuge – People’s homes are meant to be their refuge, but this book makes the case that their street addresses also have a significant power over their lives. We usually think of our home addresses as the details we fill out to get mail, but the story of street names and house numbers, and what they say about us and the places we live, are much more complicated than you’d think. As a child I lived on Anna Road at the intersection with […]

There needs to be a happy medium…

Advise and Consent by Allen Drury

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I seem to do one of two things when writing a review. In the first instance, I try cobbling together my thoughts weeks or months after reading a book (a failed experiment that I keep trying), and unloading the errant thoughts I have while reading, or I write as I read and end up writing way more than any reasonable person wants to read. You can always tell the difference because one review is 5,000 words while the other is usually a short review dump […]

Billionaires Are Bad, This Book Is Great

Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton

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“Birnam Wood,” by Eleanor Catton, was published in 2023. I picked up my copy in 2024, and it took me approximately two years to get into it. I started the book multiple times, but just couldn’t get past the dense prose that is apparently Catton’s specialty. This time I stuck with it, and I’m so very glad I did. This book is fantastic. It won’t be for everyone, and you really do have to tough it out for a bit, but it’s absolutely worth it. […]

Mists and Mystery

Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson

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Mistborn, by Brandon Sanderson, is Book One of the Mistborn Original Trilogy. Although I read a good amount of fantasy, I have, for some reason, never read any Brandon Sanderson. But, since this year is the 20th anniversary of the original publication of Mistborn, I thought I’d give it a shot. And I’m glad I did. Mistborn is a very good book. The world-building is phenomenal, from the political system to the actual sad, gray, ash-covered lands. The magic system is new and interesting, and […]

I paid for it… kinda

Steal This Book by Abbie Hoffman

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CBR18 Bingo – Steal: When I saw the bingo card, I thought it would be funny if I reviewed Steal This Book. Then I realized I never read it. So I did. To be clear, the book does explicitly endorse stealing. To steal from a brother or sister is evil. To not steal from the institutions that are the pillars of the Pig Empire is equally immoral. Steal This Book was written by Abbie Hoffman, with co-conspirator Izak Haber and Bert Cohen as accessory after […]



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