Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


A Jété into Love

Second Night Stand by Karelia Stetz-Waters, Fay Stetz-Waters

by Leave a Comment

When professional ballerina Lillian has a one night stand with a beautiful stranger in Portland, she does so only because she’s certain she’ll never see her again. But when it turns out that Izzy will be competing in the same dance competition show, their growing connection may get in the way of the win they both desperately need. I really loved Karelia Stetz-Waters’ previous book Behind the Scenes, so even though I haven’t been interested in reality show romances in the past I was excited […]

The Power of Audacity

The Improbable Victoria Woodhull by Eden Collinsworth

by Leave a Comment

Victoria Woodhull started life being paraded around as a child psychic by her conman father and marrying an alcoholic twice her age, but through a lot of work, luck, and audacity, she lived many lives as a stockbroker, a newspaper editor, a suffragette, the first female presidential candidate, and much more. Victoria Woodhull is one of those interesting American characters that’s been popping up in books I’ve read set in the Gilded Age for several years. She was eccentric and scrappy, but in many ways […]

“No sympathy for the devil; keep that in mind. Buy the ticket, take the ride…and if it occasionally gets a little heavier than what you had in mind, well…maybe chalk it up to forced consciousness expansion: Tune in, freak out, get beaten.”

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S Thompson

by Leave a Comment

Raoul Duke and his attorney go on a mad, drug-fueled tear through late 1960s Las Vegas, where they haphazardly cover a desert motorcycle race and attend a police convention. The whole time I was reading this book I could not help but keep thinking about how very annoyed I would be if I were on this trip with Duke & the Doc. Not that anyone I know’s ever gone on so wild a tear, but I could certainly see the echoes of herding around friends […]

Andrew Wyeth

The Apprenticeship of Andrew Wyeth: Painting a Family Legacy by Gene Barretta

by Leave a Comment

Read via an online reader copy, though it is currently available, The Apprenticeship of Andrew Wyeth: Painting a Family Legacy by Gene Barretta is a lovely story about a painter who may not necessarily be “mainstream” (I judge “mainstream” as “pop culture” and by does my dad know who Person X is) but he was well known in the artworld. We also see how his childhood and youth would influence Wyeth to become the painter and adult Wyeth. There are lovely illustrations that capture the […]

Adult literacy

My Kentucky Moonlight School by Kim Michele Richardson

by Leave a Comment

My Kentucky Moonlight School is another book (read via an online reader) due in August 2026 but is a must to talk about now. Kim Michele Richardson’s story is about a family, their community and how they learn to read during “Moonlight sessions” of schooling. It is sweet, educational and even a little humorous at times.  This is enhanced by Chloe M. Giroux who illustrates the adventures of this family with earthy tones, bright shading and light use, and just the right amount of details. […]

Skirts Just Look So Good on Us!

Skirts: Fashioning Modern Femininity in the Twentieth Century by Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell

by Leave a Comment

Fashion can say a lot about the people that wear it and the places they occupy in time and space. As such, women starting to wear pants is a shorthand for progress in feminism – but, Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell argues, the evolution of skirts over the twentieth century too has plenty to say. Like the author, I wear a lot of dresses and skirts, mostly because they are an easy way to look like you’ve made an effort, and also let you slouch and lounge around […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo