Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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“The ultimate effect of unceasing propaganda has now been to cancel out the effect of all news alike.”

A Chill in the Air: An Italian War Diary, 1939-1940 by Iris Origo

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Another random bookstore find, as so many good books in my life are. It’s why I trawl through my favorite sections! A Chill in the Air: An Italian War Diary, 1939-1940 is what the title conveys. Iris Origo was an American born woman married to an Italian man (although she spent most of her life in Italy from childhood) and this is her diary of 1939-1940 as Italy slowly descends into war. Origo was a woman from a highly privileged background — her godfather was the […]

Highly Entertaining Diaries Full of the Worst Opinions You’ll Ever Read

Henry "Chips" Channon: The Diaries 1918-38 by Henry Channon (edited by Simon Heffer)

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I’ve spent the last month or so working my way through this first volume of the diaries of Henry “Chips” Channon, and what a ride. My current opinion is that he’s the worst guy around but he is a great and entertaining writer who has never met a social ladder he did not want to climb, a royal he was unable to charm, and a cutting remark unsaid. He lived a really fascinating life where he knew every famous political and upper class English person […]

“I know you cannot be swept away from sanity by a popular movement which has so much that is bad about it, no matter how strong it may be.”

Address Unknown by Kathrine Kressman Taylor

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A very slim but powerful read that I really enjoyed. This was a Christmas gift/recommendation from my mom, and I’m glad she did gift it to me, as it’s right up my alley of related interests. This book especially struck me because it was published before the war began in 1938, but it is so prescient and clear minded about the moral and physical dangers of the rising fascism in Germany. It has that timeless air to it of a book that saw the future […]



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