Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“It is finished. The tale is told truthfully, and truth is no heavier, no more beautiful than lies.”

The True Story of Hansel and Gretel: a novel of war and survival by Louise Murphy

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Trigger warnings: child mutilation, graphic murder, dismemberment, torture, grievous and graphic depictions of wounds, profanity, graphic descriptions of nudity (including children), graphic depictions of childbirth, gas chambers, mass cremations, talk of rape in general, rape of a child shown on page. In the last few months of the Nazi’s occupation of Poland, two children are abandoned by their father and stepmother to increase the chances of all of them surviving. Left to find safety in the dense Bialowieza Forest, the two, renamed “Hansel” and “Gretel” […]

“God cannot help when natural stupidity is driving the cart.”

The Alewives: A plague-era tale of murder, friendship, and fine ale (The Alewives of Colmar #1) by Elizabeth R. Andersen

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Colmar, 1353 CE Gritta, Appel, and Efi managed to survive the massive death toll of the Black Death, only to realize that day-to-day problems don’t end just because of a major epidemic (#relatable). Children still need feeding, husbands will still drink away all the money, and people die from more than the plague. With limited options (I mean, a woman can’t even “entertain” the local menfolk without getting shade from the local monastery) and lots of obstacles, they band together to become alewives – brewing […]

Yes, There Will be a Quiz

1066 and All That. A Memorable History of England, Comprising all the Parts You Can Remember, Including 103 Good Things, 5 Bad Kings, and 2 Genuine Dates by W. C. Sellar

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cbr17 bingo School A real oddball of a book!  Basically, it is a photocopy of a previously existing library book, (dated 1930) including a copy of check out card and index card (remember card catalogues?).  The back blurb states: This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations.  Within the United States, you […]

Hubris and the British Empire, a Match Made in Heaven

Erebus: The Story of a Ship by Michael Palin

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Erebus tells the story of the eponymous ship, part of the British Imperial navy at the height of its power. Though it was originally meant for combat, it was used for exploration – polar exploration, to be precise. It was first sailed to the south pole by James Clark Ross, with its sister ship HMS Terror, for a very successful exploration: geographical landmarks still bear their names (Mount Terror and Mount Erebus). However, the ships’ glory came to an abrupt halt several years later in […]

“A poem was pinned under Hoshiar’s picture of young Duleep: “I have been thrown into a far-flung place, had everything, all that I once cherished, my Kingdoms and my very life taken from me. I am now in a foreign place, so far from my people. So far from my homeland.”

The Patient Assassin: A True Tale of Massacre, Revenge, and India's Quest for Independence by Anita Anand

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A Indian freedom fighter waited more than two decades to exact revenge for the Jallianwalla Bagh massacre which was ordered by the British Raj – but the story is more complicated and less cinematic than it has been often depicted since. At the start of this book, the author notes that as the descendent of Indians, she had to set aside her natural aversion to the British Raj and admiration for Udham Singh to tell the story in as unbiased a way as she could. […]

It’s a Long and Winding Road

Homeseeking by Karissa Chen

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cbr17bingo Diaspora The post WWII years in China were tumultuous times.  The Japanese, who had invaded and occupied a good deal of China, were leaving, but left in their stead a split China.  There was the nationalist government, supported by the Allies (think Chiang Kai-shek), many of whom ended up retreating to Taiwan.  Meanwhile Mao Zedong further expanded his alternative Communist regime.  And caught in the middle of all this were people just trying to live their lives, such as Suchi and Haiwen. The two […]



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