Cannonball Read 12

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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“There’s a particular feeling in your body when something goes right after a long time of things going wrong. It feels warm and sweet and loose.”

Writers & Lovers by Lily King

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Lily King is a magician. She takes an unassuming title like Writers and Lovers and crafts something beautiful, messy, and utterly captivating. Her last novel, 2014’s Euphoria, was my favorite read of the last decade- I have to admit that I was initially disappointed when Writers and Lovers was announced after the evocative fever of Euphoria.  A 30-something woman navigates creative struggle, debt, grief, and relationships? All I have to do is shout out of my front door and a line of people that fit the description […]

Don’t Nix this one from your to read pile. #obviouspun

The Nix by Nathan Hill

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As I saw the saw my Goodreads Reading challenge accusatorily tell me how many books I am behind right now (6!!) I panic searched for something I could do via audio while going on my many social distancing walks. This came up on my local library app as “available now” and a cursory search showed me that folks I like had it in their to read piles, so on I went. Once again, I found myself unknowingly entering a book set in Chicago (where I […]

Because language has suffered enough…

Death Sentence: The Decay of Public Language by Don Watson

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When I first read the example ‘The competition policy reforms further improve the performance of government business enterprises through a program of regulation review, enhanced prices oversight, application of competitive neutrality principles and procedures for structural reform of public monopolies,’ on p65 of Death Sentence, I didn’t quite get the author’s point. I mean, I understood what it meant. But the next example of language spelled out exactly why a person like me needed to read this book. ‘Language is a key issue of access […]

The Most Comprehensive Writing Guide

Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft by Janet Burroway

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  Teaching writing has introduced me to so many resources that would have been beyond helpful when I was bumbling around as a stupid twenty-something trying to figure out how to write. I guess it’s better late than never. My mentor introduced me to Janet Burroway’s Writing Fiction, last semester, and good God, if only I had had this book ten years ago…. Broken down into comprehensive chapters on everything from point-of-view, setting, characterization, and revising, Burroway takes a no-holds barred approach to guiding young writers […]

Perhaps Better as a Text Book

Do I Make Myself Clear? by Harold Evans

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Best for: Writing classrooms. In a nutshell: Longtime writer and editor Harold Evans offers lessons to improve writing. Worth quoting: “We are more likely to understand the argument if we know where we are heading.” “Anything that goes wrong will always be wordier than anything that goes right.” Why I chose it: I’m always looking to improve my writing. Review: In the first few pages of this book the author speaks well of both Churchill (racist) and Kissinger (war criminal), so I did have a […]



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