Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

This was a disappointment

The Gods Time Forgot by Kelsie Sheridan Gonzales

by 1 Comment

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for this ARC. My opinions are my own. Rua remembers nothing from before she woke up in a muddy hole in upstate New York. Her maid and everyone around her claims that she’s Emma Harrington, missing for two days, but Rua while Rua may look just like her, she is certain there is nothing of Emma in her. Emma’s wealthy parents are determined to try bury the scandal of Emma’s behaviour, which isn’t made easier when Rua […]

December 2023 Leftovers

Mandarin Plaid by SJ Rozan

Lady Killer, Volume 1 by Joëlle Jones

Zatanna: The Jewel of Gravesend by Alys Arden

Batman, Vol. 6: Graveyard Shift by Scott Snyder

The Confession by Domenic Stansberry

A Friend is a Gift You Give Yourself by William Boyle

Joe Dogs: The Life and Crimes of a Mobster by Joseph Iannuzzi

Robert B. Parker's Cheap Shot by Ace Atkins

Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. by Ron Chernow

by Leave a Comment

Merry Christmas. We may need to dispense with the cold/snow songs. They’re about as realistic as Santa at this point. Mandarin Plaid **** SJ Rozan continues to improve with each book in this series. This one has layers and moves well to its conclusion. I’m not gonna be totally sold on a white person writing from the perspective of an AAPI one but I think Rozan does a better job with it than she did in the first one. May have to go long with […]

High Society, Murder, Romance, Bicycles, and a Haunted House, what could go wrong

Betrayal in the Bowery by Kate Belli

by Leave a Comment

Bingo 24: Gaslight Betrayal in the Bowery is set in 1889 NYC, meaning gas lights are very literally part of the setting. This is mostly a cozy murder mystery with sassy lady journalist Genvieve and her friend (probably romance partner in a volume or two) Daniel having to look into the mysterious death of a man who seems crazy running into the room on a steamship belonging to their just married friends and collapsing. It turns out Marcus (the dead man) has some connection to […]

Frat Boys and Mean Girls, Gilded Age Edition

House of Mirth by Edith Wharton

by Leave a Comment

CBR BINGO 14: Scandal, because heroine Lily Bart is undone by scandals The House of Mirth has been on my list since I first fell in love with The Age of Innocence a quarter of a century ago. Nobody writes the glamour and treachery of Old New York as deliciously as Edith Wharton. I’ve been putting off writing this review because I wasn’t sure how I felt about the novel. I definitely prefer it to Ethan Frome, but it falls short of my favorite Wharton. Yet as time […]

A Romance? Historical Fiction? Who Knows?

by 4 Comments

Through some rabbit hole on the internet, I stumbled across the name Anya Seton and a fancy cover for her book, The Turqouise. Intrigued, I waited patiently for the inter-library loan snail to bring it to me, and boy was I surprised when the book delivered was a battered hardcover bound with actual thread and smelling of an octogenarian’s basement.  While slightly put-off, I accepted it anyway and went home to discover the strange and satisfying pleasure of reading an old book. I ripped my fare share […]

Old Money, Twelfth Night and Murder

by Leave a Comment

Though I’ve read the entirety of the Pink Carnation series, this was my first time trying any of Willig’s other work, and while her voice was recognizable, it had a very different feel.  While the Pink Carnation series certainly deals with dark subject matters (espionage, war, murder, and secret societies), especially the first few novels in the series were very light hearted.  As a result, I was surprised by how much darker and more serious this one felt in comparison. While at her brother Bay’s […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo