ElCicco – Page 28 – Cannonball Read 17

So much for pacing myself

A Kiss for Midwinter by Courtney Milan

February 16, 2023 by ElCicco 6 Comments

After The Duchess War, I decided to take a break from Milan just so I wouldn’t finish the series too quickly. Yesterday, I started a novel that is good but kind of grim. Last night, I thought I would just take a look at the next book in the “Brothers Sinister” series, the novella A Kiss for Midwinter, and here we are. This is a holiday story that I know some Cannonballers like to reread at Christmastime, and, in the way of Milan, it offers […]

Fathers and Children

The Duchess War by Courtney Milan

February 15, 2023 by ElCicco 6 Comments

The Duchess War, while listed as Book 1 in a series, is actually a sequel to the novella The Governess Affair. This novel picks up almost 30 years after the events of the novella and focuses on the next generation of characters. As with The Governess Affair, author Courtney Milan does a wonderful job of putting the reader in a specific historical period and includes fascinating information about the social and economic situation of the time, in this case, 1863 industrial England. I am officially […]

At the very crowded intersection of Black History and Banned Books

Black Was the Ink by Michelle Coles

February 13, 2023 by ElCicco Leave a Comment

CBR15passport new to you authors On February 1, the first day of Black History month, the news hit that fascist Governor DeSantis disapproved of the curriculum for the AP African American History course and would ban it from being taught in Florida. Not long after this story aired, it was revealed that Florida officials and AP officials had been negotiating the content of this course for some time and it looks like the AP/College Board basically caved to reactionary political demands and agreed to censor […]

Pride, Prejudice and Social Justice

North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell

February 5, 2023 by ElCicco Leave a Comment

During my high school years, I was introduced to Jane Austen and the Brontes but for some reason never Elizabeth Gaskell. She was a contemporary of the Brontes, friend to and biographer of Charlotte, and in her novel North and South she channels both the dark undercurrents of the Brontes and the romance of Austen. Over the years, on social media, I’ve seen references to “ThorntonThursdays” with pictures and video clips but I only recently discovered that they came from the 2004 BBC series North […]

Gripping story of resilience

Hostage by Guy Delisle

January 30, 2023 by ElCicco 1 Comment

CBR15Passport books from different countries Hostage is the true story of Christophe Andre, a Frenchman working for Doctors Without Borders in Chechnya who was kidnapped and held for three months. Guy Delisle, a French illustrator and writer, interviewed Andre after his ordeal and turned the taped interviews into a gripping work of graphic biography. In order to place things in context I had to read up a bit on the Chechen/Russian war of 1994-96. The events in this story take place after that conflict had […]

A Cannonballer Fav

The Governess Affair: A Novella by Courtney Milan

January 28, 2023 by ElCicco 4 Comments

CBR15Passport Genre Romance I knew when I saw the “genre” category on the CBR15Passport that I wanted to have romance in there. It’s a genre that I feel like I have overlooked, even though I did start CBR15 with a delightful collection of Georgette Heyer stories. It occurred to me that I have been following Courtney Milan on Twitter even though I’d never read any of her books, so I put out a call on the CBR Facebook page for suggestions on where to begin […]

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.

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