Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Effervescent Holiday Mystery

The Mystery of Mistletoe Hall by Benedict Brown

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CBR Bingo: Holiday The Mystery of Mistletoe Hall is an absolutely delightful mystery by Benedict Brown. I’ve never heard of Brown, but he has a series featuring retired police superintendent Lord Edgington as the main detective, including in this book. Lord Mountfalcon has invited the Edgingtons and other individuals to his estate in Britain for Christmas. Accompanied by his teenaged grandson, Christopher, who is also the narrator, Lord Edgington sets off for the house. Edgington is a really engaging character. He’s clever, mischievous and loves […]

“Finding the ocean was as simple a matter as letting a river lead you in the direction it wanted to go most.”

A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers

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This one didn’t make me cry nearly as much as its predecessor, Psalm for the Wild-Built, but that shouldn’t make you think that it didn’t have an emotional impact, it did make me tear up on more than one occasion. Because this novella is a meditation on what we call the human condition. It is also a look at how we can live if society puts happiness and contentment first. If we don’t compete but instead cooperate. But its also the kind of novella that […]

“As far from God, as heaven is wide”

The Language of Bees (2009) by Laurie R. King

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CBR Bingo square: Minds: Sherlock Holmes and his wife Mary Russell are solving the mystery of Sherlock’s missing daughter-in-law and granddaughter; minds are vulnerable to influence by the predatory; Damian Adler is a surrealist artist who rejects reason in his paintings. I was given The Beekeeper’s Apprentice (1994), the first in Laurie R. King’s ‘Russell and Holmes’ (yes, that Holmes) series for my birthday last year, and read it in the weeks following my surgery in May. It was a hot and arid few weeks, […]

Maiden, Friend, Wife, Counselor, and Queen

Esther by Norah Lofts

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CBR 14 Bingo: Snake There are several snakes in the grass who lie in wait for the king, most of all his favorite Haman. Esther is Jewish, but her husband the king of Persia doesn’t know it. Which is rather a problem, as he has allowed his courtier Haman to order the massacre of all the Jews in his empire. Did I really need to give a summary? It’s in the Bible! This was a short, swift read, starting with the casting out of the […]

Naughty Ladies

Lady, Be Wanton by Cerise DeLand

Lady, Behave by Cerise DeLand

Lady, No More by Cerise DeLand

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CBR 14 Bingo: ‘Verse Though this is a series, it definitely has a wide-ranging backstory that tangles together into a realistically messy universe. The first fruits of that anthology I read a few days ago – catching up on the series that one of the authors references. Of course that novella spoiled many elements of these – but I still enjoyed my read! Lady, Be Wanton (3.5 stars) Imogen, the middle sister of the triplets, has a small predilection for thievery, a little scandal in […]

Adventurous Eats for the Hungry Cook

Cook As You Are: Recipes for Real Life, Hungry Cooks and Messy Kitchens by Ruby Tandoh

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CBR 14 Bingo: Adapt (Camel) This book is chockfull of flexible recipes, easy to modify and adapt as you like. Ruby Tandoh introduces recipes from across the world with an eye to accessibility and ease of making. Before we go into this review, a caveat: I am a picky eater. A lot of foods don’t agree with me, whether due to taste or texture, and the only meat I eat is chicken. As such, I could not try out a lot of the recipes in […]



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