cbr11 – Page 92 – Cannonball Read 17

Good, eh, okay, and sweet

A Very Austen Christmas by Robin Helm, Laura Hile, Wendi Sotis, Barbara Cornthwaite

January 4, 2019 by crystalclear 1 Comment

So I was inspired by my lovely book exchange gifts to attempt to read through all of the Pride and Prejudice variations I currently own. I say “attempt” because it’s a lot. I started off with A Very Austen Christmas, an anthology of Christmas stories, because it’s seasonal I guess. And the wifi is broken at my house, so that means more reading at home instead of noodling around on the internet! “Her Christmas Gift” by Robin Helm This is a Pride and Prejudice story, […]

Damned by high expectations – An ARC review

The Ruin of Kings by Jenn Lyons

January 4, 2019 by KatSings Leave a Comment

Full disclosure up front: This was an ARC that I won in a contest on GoodReads. This book is not released until February. I am a HUGE fantasy nerd. The words “epic fantasy series” make me happy. When I won a contest to read what was touted as the fantasy star of 2019, I was thrilled. Then I read the inside cover where it is described as “Uniting the worldbuilding of a Brandon Sanderson with the storytelling verve of a Patrick Rothfuss”and suddenly I was […]

Not just a mystery, but an educational mystery

The Ghost Wore Gray by Bruce Coville

January 3, 2019 by crystalclear 2 Comments

We have a tradition at our annual work party of a book exchange. You get a book that has something to do with history (I work at a historic site) and you gift-wrap it. Everyone who brings a book gets a number, and then the first person unwraps a book. The next person can either unwrap a book or steal the book the first person unwrapped, and so on. Most people try not to spend much, if anything on the book. So I went to […]

A promising start for a new author

The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert

January 3, 2019 by crystalclear 3 Comments

So, we have Alice and her mother Ella living a fairly transient lifestyle. They seem to constantly run in to bad luck. Things catch fire, or strange things happen, and Alice even gets kidnapped once. Ella’s mother, Althea, is an author of a book, Tales from the Hinterland. It’s a book of dark fairy tales that is no longer published, but has a fanatical cult following. It’s also a book that Alice has never read, despite her efforts to find a copy. One day they […]

Not starting the year off right

Ogre Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine

January 3, 2019 by crystalclear 1 Comment

This is a prequel to Ella Enchanted. (The book, not the movie starring Anne Hathaway, which is very different from the source material.) Evie (Evora) is a young girl who is on her way to be a fairly talented physician when her world turns upside down. Her best friend Wormy (Warwick) decides to propose to her, and sensing a proposal, the Fairy Godmother Lucinda shows up. When Evie says “Thanks, but no thanks,” Lucinda turns her into an ogre, with a time limit of 62 days […]

Dare to be different and true to yourself

The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang

January 3, 2019 by Dome'Loki 2 Comments

Sebastian is a prince who, when looking in a mirror, sometimes sees a princess instead of a prince. Sebastian longs to express this other side of himself but is afraid of the resulting reactions, particularly what his parents will think. Frances is a low level seamstress in a shop. She has daring fashion designs in her heart but the shop Frances works for does not share her artistic vision. Seeing one of Frances unique designs at a ball sparks an idea in Sebastian, to hire […]

Zirza on A Gothic Classic for a ReasonIt's one of those wish-you-could-read-it-again-for-the-first-time books. I loved it.
Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

Help Our Mission