Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“Fellas, let’s go” Well, not exactly the St. Crispin’s Day speech, was it?

Henry V: The Astonishing Triumph of England's Greatest Warrior King by Dan Jones

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When Dan Jones was writing his books on The Plantagenets and the Wars of the Roses, he left a Henry V-sized gap, as he knew he wanted to devote an entire book to the man; this is that book. Starting from his birth in 1386 and ending with his death in 1422 at the age of 35, the book is divided in half; first Henry as Prince (actually first as lord’s son), then Henry as King. Covering his entire life, Jones doesn’t just hit the […]

Stormin’ the Normans

Essex Dogs: A Novel by Dan Jones

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Whenever I’m at a bookstore, I seem to be drawn toward historical fiction more than any other genre. A month or so ago, I was browsing a table full of books when this one caught my eye. I’d never seen historical fiction set in The Hundred Years War, and the blurb made this sound like a “band of brothers” type of story — a company of men called the Essex Dogs who fight like hell, not for fame or riches or country, but for each […]

February-March 2024 Leftovers

The Wars of the Roses: The Fall of the Plantagenets and the Rise of the Tudors by Dan Jones

A Lowcountry Bride by Preslaysa Williams

Bone White by Ronald Malfi

Alexander the Great by Phillip Freeman

Nero: Matricide, Murder and Music in Imperial Rome by Anthony Everitt and Roddy Ashworth

Beyond a Boundary by C.L.R. James

A Stab in the Dark by Lawrence Block

The Killing Kind by John Connolly

Shōgun by James Clavell

Nobody's Angel by Jack Clark

A Murder in Hollywood: The Untold Story of Tinseltown's Most Shocking Crime by Casey Sherman

Village in the Dark by Iris Yamashita

Nestlings by Nat Cassidy

Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic by Tom Holland

The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age by Michael Woolraich

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Rain, rain, go away. I thought my reading count looked too low and then I realized I didn’t do leftovers for February, so here’s Feb-March combined. The Wars of the Roses: The Fall of the Plantagenets and Rise of the Tudors ***** Jones is such a talented historian. Gets all the important stuff of the Wars of the Roses in great detail and lets the story entertain. His Templars book will soon be on my radar. A Lowcountry Bride**** Had to read this for a library […]

That’s A Lotta Kings!

The Plantagenets: The Warrior Kings and Queens Who Made England by Dan Jones

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Yes, my find-Game-of-Thrones-in-history fetish is well known. You don’t need me to rehash it. But one thing I’m not clear on: what is the fascination people have with the Tudors? Is it because of Henry VIII? Elizabeth I? The tv shows? Because I find the Plantagenets far more fascinating. This is the story of how the English empire began to extend its greasy tentacles. Packed with enough court intrigue to suffocate a horse. And Dan Jones is an excellent chronicler of it all. Yes, there […]

Stop, I’m Already Dead

Essex Dogs by Dan Jones

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I’m a Dan Jones guy. I enjoy his entertaining and well-researched history books (The Templars) and television programmes. His debut work of fiction (historical, of course) is Essex Dogs, the story of an English mercenary group invading France in the fourteenth century. The Dogs were formerly led by “The Captain,” although he has disappeared for reasons unknown. “Loveday” is the de factor leader of the Dogs these days, and “The Scotsman” is his right-hand man. Where Loveday is a bit taciturn, The Scotsman is, well, […]

Support your local drag queens!

50 Drag Queens Who Changed the World by Dan Jones

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Happy Pride, everyone! Dan Jones attempts to document the 50 most important drag queens who have changed the world. For each queen, he writes a couple of paragraphs about their accomplishments and impact on the world and there’s a cute illustration from Michele Rosenthal of each performer. This is admittedly a herculean undertaking, and Jones gives it a good go. On the whole, he does fine. There seems to be a concerted effort to not just include contestants from RuPaul’s Drag Race on this list which […]



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