Cannonball Read 14

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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An interesting read about a white man coming to terms with his slave-owning family history.

Slaves in the Family by Edward Ball

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I’d never heard of this until vel veeter’s review last year, but then immediately put it on my TBR as it sounded really interesting. And it was interesting! For the most part. Large parts were a slog. It also didn’t really do what I wanted it to do, except in the preface, which was written in 2014 and not included in the original publication. Edward Ball descends from the Ball family, wealthy plantation owners and people responsible for enslaving thousands of Black people over two […]

February Leftovers 2022

Trouble Is What I Do by Walter Mosley

Sleeping With Strangers by Eric Jerome Dickey

The Trees by Percival Everett

One Person, No Vote: How Voter Suppression is Destroying Democracy by Carol Anderson

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These are my February leftovers, i.e. books that I read but didn’t give a full review either cuz I didn’t have time or didn’t have much to say. There are fewer than normal this month because Black Reconstruction by W.E.B. DuBois took up most of my time. Trouble Is What I Do **** Another good entry in the Leonid McGill series. It’s short and that streamlines the story more than its predecessors. I still read these as if Leonid is dead and NYC is his purgatory where […]

The Re-Birth of a Nation (and what came after…)

Black Reconstruction in America: 1860-1880 by W.E.B. Du Bois

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I had been meaning to tackle this legendary W.E.B. Du Bois’ tome for years, finally deciding to do it this month. It wasn’t what I expected, in many ways. Those expectations came with my own ignorance in not knowing a lot of Du Bois’ work. I’d read little of him before getting to this. I knew that despite his status amongst the Black intellectuals and historians of his time, he was outcast near the end of his life for leaving the NAACP because of his […]

A Wonderful Exploration of an Unlikely City

Boom Town by Sam Anderson

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This was another suggestion by Emmalita and I really loved it! I didn’t know much of anything about Oklahoma City beyond the basic facts and this was such a fascinating read. I like history that shows how important every little thing is, and how many interesting stories are everywhere. I also like the attempt to break through the East/West coast’s cultural hegemony and show what’s happening elsewhere and the ripple effects things have. Boom Town follows the histories of Oklahoma City from its founding, the […]

An Unfunny Memoir Full of Sexism and Racism

Memoirs of a Professional Cad by George Sanders

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I understand from the back of the book that people appear to find George Sanders “personable” and the alleged humor in the book is described as “wit.” I personally found neither of this to be true and was reminded of Errol Flynn’s memoir (My Wicked, Wicked Ways). However, while Flynn is an evil person and a child rapist, Sanders is more of a 1950s garden variety irritating racist and sexist. This book, purporting to be his memoirs, very loosely follows his life and is more […]

Caste – A book that may change how you view society

Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson

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There are books one reads for pleasure or diversion. There are books one will read for school or for work. Then, there are some books one reads because they are important and can provide new insights into the world. Caste falls into the latter category. I read this because a close friend asked me to do so, she was putting together a group to discuss the book and asked me to join (and I honestly felt flattered by the request, considering the intellects of the […]



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