Cannonball Read 12

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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Why not distract yourself from the workings of the world with the workings of your own insides?

Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal by Mary Roach

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…or more frequently, the misfiring insides of others. Fistulated fellows? Check. Elvis and his mega-colon? Check. Taste-testing pet food, pus, rancid oil, and/or the saliva of others? All yours and more to spare! I like to, for the most-part, enjoy nonfiction via audio books. Frequently, I wander around the house doing whatever needs doing while playing books through a speaker. While I whole-heartedly recommend Gulp, I do NOT recommend subjecting innocent bystanders (sorry, husband!) to the dirty work within. Not everything here is gross. And really, […]

Buzz buzz and swarm away

Beehive by Jorey Hurley

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At first, I did not like Beehive. It is a larger picture book with just one word (swarm; keep, etc) per page. It is not until the end and the authors note that you actually get “something” that is solid. This tells you why the words that were used are important to bees. This is a page of facts and information that finally make this book more than what should be in a board book. Jorey Hurley’s book most likely will help with sight words […]

Amen for the Good Book

The Vagina Bible by Dr. Jen Gunter

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Dr. Jen Gunter is a Canadian gynecologist who is on a mission to save the world, and its vaginas, from misinformation and mistreatment.  She has gained a platform through Twitter, NYT posts and a CBC show, Jensplaining, but I knew about her from her vehement refutations of disastrous ‘GOOP-approved’ recommendations (see: jade eggs and vagina steaming). I read The Vagina Bible cover to cover and wasn’t disappointed, although like any reference book some chapters are sure to be more interesting when you have an immediate […]

Visceral Glory

Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal by Mary Roach

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Gulp is Mary Roach’s pop-science journey into the human (and occasionally non-human) digestive track, beginning with all things mouth related (saliva, chewing) and ending up exactly where you’d suspect, although with angles you I didn’t anticipate (Elvis’ megacolon; drug smuggling). I’ve previously read Stiff, Roach’s look at the afterlife of cadavers, and although I enjoyed Gulp, I liked Stiff more.  Because it has been some time since I read Stiff, I can’t remember exactly what is less enticing about Gulp, but I suspect it may […]

I have spent a good deal of 2020 in a cadaver-shaped hole.

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach

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And no, I do not mean an open grave. The more we hurtle towards impending doom- pandemics! global warming! world war!- the more solace I seek in, well, death. I didn’t set out on the morbid marathon on purpose, but here I am! It was not my intention to get down and dirty (ha!) with death this year, but I am enjoying the ride. I have been a long-time fan of Mary Roach since Spook, but for some reason I forgot to start at the […]



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