Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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This One Missed the Mark for Me

Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid

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This is a book about privilege, race, and the choices we all make in our lives that have an impact on each other. Set in Philadelphia, Such a Fun Age chronicles the Chamberlain family and their nanny Emira. The Chamberlains appear to be an upper-middle-class white family who recently moved to Philly after living the big life in New York City. Relatively new mom Alix missed her life and friends in New York City, and on her Instagram, she pretends she never left. Emira is […]

One of my faves this year

Messing with the Enemy: Surviving in a Social Media World of Hackers, Terrorists, Russians, and Fake News by Clint Watts

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I read Like War earlier this year by P.W. Singer which has the subtitle, the Weaponization of Social Media. I was at a conference for work and I was discussing the book with a colleague and she recommended Clint Watts to me.  She said that if I liked Singer, I’d love Watts.  Then one of her co-workers came up and raved about Watts and added that their organization works with him and that he was both brilliant and great. I added Messing with the Enemy […]

Little pep talks that made me feel better

Gmorning, Gnight!: Little pep talks for me & you by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jonny Sun

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4.5 stars Official book description: “Good morning. Do NOT get stuck in the comments section of life today. Make, do, create the things. Let others tussle it out. Vamos!” Before he inspired the world with Hamilton and was catapulted to international fame, Lin-Manuel Miranda was inspiring his Twitter followers with words of encouragement at the beginning and end of each day. He wrote these original sayings, aphorisms, and poetry for himself as much as for others. But as Miranda’s audience grew, these messages took on a life […]

Social Media: “They’re Using Our Pain For Their Gain!”

Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now by Jaron Lanier

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This book changed my life for the better, so I want to spread the love and do recommend that people at least consider listening to the short audiobook version of (around 5 hours). Consider whether your life is better or worse with the presence of social media as-is. The decision is up to you, of course, as the author makes clear from the get-go. The author (or me) telling you what do is no better than social media giants manipulating you for their own gain […]

Do it for the photo, for the art, for the creativity–but never for the likes.

Hashtag Authentic: Finding creativity and building community on Instagram and beyond by Sara Tasker

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I tend to hang out in relatively niche corners of Instagram. As such, I came to Hashtag Authentic completely unaware of Sara Tasker and her Instagram feed. Never heard of her, and her images don’t show up in my Explore feed. But the description of Tasker as an “Instagram coach” twigged my curiosity enough to make me want to read this. What this book is: A gorgeous primer on the hows and whys of Instagram. Tasker teaches basic lessons in photography for social media. (If […]

A little too timely

LikeWar: The Weaponization of Social Media by P.W. Singer & Emerson T. Brooking

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I picked up this book to be a small break from my all the Steinbeck I’ve been reading lately.  I like to alternate a little between fiction and non-fiction.  Within the non-fiction, I like to mix it up between professional reading and just interesting.  Usually, there is some overlap and I think that applies here.  Also, one of the authors, P.W. Singer is coming to speak at my school next week and I wanted to read it before he arrived.  I read an earlier book […]



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