Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Pike, This Ain’t Wuthering Heights

The Shocking Experiments of Miss Mary Bennet by Melinda Taub

by Leave a Comment

Mary Bennet is famously the odd one out among her bright, vivacious sisters – an awkward show-off and a bore. But in this book, it’s what Mary’s doing off the page that deserves attention. This book is part-sequel, part-companion to the fabulous The Scandalous Confessions of Lydia Bennet, Witch, which I read and greatly enjoyed last year. You haven’t got to read that book to enjoy this one – Mary and Lydia are after all not exactly close – but there’s definitely some things which […]

The Pharaoh (Female), the Pharaoh (Male), and the Priestess

Neferura by Malayna Evans

by Leave a Comment

As the daughter of two pharaohs and the sister of another, princess and high priestess Neferura is one of the foremost people in the kingdom. But as her co-regent mother and brother fight for power, she’s just another piece on their board – unless she can manage to break free. In first grade we had a unit about ancient Egypt, where we learned all about how they worshipped cats and pulled brains down through mummies’ noses and invented paper. And of course we learned about […]

You Know What They Say About Assumptions…

Lady Suspicious by Kate Archer

Convince Me, Viscount by Kate Archer

by Leave a Comment

CBR17 Bingo: Free (- Thank you for the extension! I’d given up on hitting blackout this year, but LOOK AT ME NOW.) Lady Suspicious – 4.25 stars It’s the turn of Lady Winsome, the sixth of the ironically named Nicolet sisters, to make her debut on the marriage mart. Armed with her knowledge of rogues from rumor sheets and gothic romances, she’s determined to make a good match – but the only man she’s interested in sets off all her warning bells. This is the […]

“If you had better sense you’d have learned by now that nothing thrives so well as wickedness.”

Forever Amber by Kathleen Winsor

by Leave a Comment

CBR17 Bingo: Play – Amber works as an actress in the Theatre Royal for a section of the book. Also, she’s always playing one role or another to ensnare her latest protector as she works her way up society’s rungs. Amber starts life as the adopted daughter of a farmer, but her beauty and her naked ambition has her destined for greater things – if only she can break free of her love of the unfaithful privateer Bruce. I read on this book’s Wikipedia page (because, […]

“Every war is a war against the child.”

The White Lady by Jacqueline Winspear

by Leave a Comment

CBR17 Bingo: White – Behold, the cover. Also, a bonus! The title. Elinor is a veteran of two world wars and a trained killer, but all she wants now is to retreat into a peaceful, solitary existence in the English countryside. But when a violent past comes back to haunt her neighbors, she cannot help but become drawn in. I’m sure I’ll eventually get around to checking out Winspear’s long-running Maisie Dobbs series, but in the meanwhile I figured I’d pick up the standalone The […]

“The Caravan of life is moving by, Quick! to your places in the passing show.”

Caravan by Dorothy Gilman

by Leave a Comment

CBR17 Bingo: Culture – Caressa encounters and immerses herself in multiple cultures during her wanderings through the Sahara, including the Tuareg and the Hausa. By the age of sixteen Caressa has been a carnie, a Boston schoolgirl, and the wife of an anthropologist – but in her years in the Sahara desert, she will go on to become a widow, a sorceress, a slave, and much more. The trouble with this book is that the description is rather misleading. There’s a little magic, and a […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo