Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

It was fine!

You Never Forget Your First by Alexis Coe

by Leave a Comment

The title is fun! The cover is cheeky! The opening quote from Brad Neely’s beloved “Washington” video was greatly appreciated! It seemed like we were off to the races, but then… … … it got awkward. I listened to this as an audio book. The performance was fine, but the layout of the opening was just a mess. It probably worked better on paper, but the book started with ten minutes of list-reading. Then a prologue. Then an introduction. Then more list reading. I found […]

The Start of Another Great Trilogy

The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775-1777 (The Revolution Trilogy #1) by Rick Atkinson

by Leave a Comment

I moved back to Virginia this year and it seems to have kicked off a huge Revolutionary War kick for me. I read Nathaniel Philbrick’s trilogy and I started this one. I would have read this one anyway as I am a big fan of  Atkinson’s WWII based Liberation Trilogy. Then I got to meet Atkinson at the National Book Festival which made me more excited for this book. The British Are Coming covers the first two-ish years of the American Revolution. Much like the […]

The Revolutionary War in Three Volumes

Bunker Hill: A City, A Siege, A Revolution by Nathaniel Philbrick

Valiant Ambition: George Washington, Benedict Arnold, and the Fate of the American Revolution by Nathaniel Philbrick

In the Hurricane's Eye: The Genius of George Washington and the Victory at Yorktown by Nathaniel Philbrick

by Leave a Comment

***This is a truly terrible review of three books.  If you like the Revolutionary War, read them.*** I first learned about Nathaniel Philbrick while doing research for a presentation on one of the commanders of the Battle of Bunker Hill, COL William Prescott.  While I planned to read the book then, I just did what most people do while preparing a presentation, I read only the things that were super relevant to the project.  I told myself for years that I would come back to […]

And That Would Be Enough

Hamilton's Battalion: A Trio of Romances by Rose Lerner, Courtney Milan, Alyssa Cole

by 1 Comment

Bingo Square: The Collection I originally downloaded this about a year ago because I wanted to read the Courtney Milan novella before going to see Hamilton in New York again.  However, I didn’t quite get around to the other two, and Bingo seemed like a good opportunity to go back and read the entire collection. The collection kicks off with Rose Lerner’s story, about a young Jewish woman disguised as a man fighting for the Revolution.  It’s the eve of the battle of Yorktown, and […]

More like Ron Churn-ow

by Leave a Comment

I read Chernow’s biography of Hamilton last year because, well, I can’t see the musical.  Also, I majored in History as an undergrad and my favorite era is the American Revolution.   Hamilton, the biogrpaphy, was excellent.  It was the first major biography that read despite a good friend recommending Chernow a few years ago.  I enjoyed Hamilton enough that I added Grant to my queue as soon as it was added to my library and after eight months of waiting, I got my turn. […]

The ten-dollar Founding Father without a father

by 8 Comments

My first CBR 10 Bingo entry: Not my wheelhouse! I don’t read much history and I don’t read many biographies; an historical biography might be an actual first for me. I confess, I was swept away by the Hamilton Mania triggered by Lin-Manual Miranda’s fabulous musical about the founding father who grew up an orphan, immigrated to America, fought in the American Revolution, started the First Bank of the United States, and died as a result of a gunshot wound administered by Aaron Burr. Let’s […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo