historical fiction – Page 19 – Cannonball Read 17

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

April 3, 2024 by Jake Leave a Comment

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 […]

One day your country is yours, and the next it isn’t.

Swimming in the Dark by Tomasz Jedrowski

March 31, 2024 by carmelpie Leave a Comment

No matter what happens in the world, however brutal or dystopian a thing, not all is lost if there are people out there risking themselves to document it. Little sparks cause fires, too.” ― Tomasz Jedrowski, Swimming in the Dark The odds had been stacked against us from the start: we had no manual, no one to show us the way. Not one example of a happy couple made up of boys. How were we supposed to know what to do? Did we even believe […]

Smuggling, insects, and family drama surround this gay love story

The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen by KJ Charles

March 22, 2024 by Dome'Loki Leave a Comment

Thank you, Emmalita, for this wonderful book and first exposure to KJ Charles! In the 2023 Cannonball Book Exchange I put that I would like any book by KJ Charles and she graciously gifted me The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen. Kent and London had a good thing going. They met up at the Three Ducks in London for some enthusiastic and anonymous sex. But then Kent needs to do business away from the city and London, familiar with abandonment, decides to shut things down instead […]

The Nazi Handmaid’s Tale

Widowland by C.J. Carey

March 16, 2024 by Pooja Leave a Comment

In a 1953 England under the control of German forces, life is good for Rose Ransom, a member of the privileged Geli class – or at least as good as life can be for a woman in the oppressive regime. But when she is given the task of infiltrating Widowland in search of possible subversives, she comes to learn she might have more power than she always thought. The premise of this book caught my eye immediately. I haven’t really read alternate history books before, […]

“Separately, each cloud can block the wind. Together, we might determine its flow.”

Kill Her Twice by Stacey Lee

March 13, 2024 by Pooja Leave a Comment

Sisters May and Gemma Chow are working hard to keep their family afloat while their father is away being treated for tuberculosis. When they discover the body of Lulu Wong, a former classmate and rising Hollywood star on the outskirts of Chinatown, they set out to solve the mystery of her death. I’m always on the lookout for historical fiction that centers the experience of people who were marginalized during the era of the setting, because to see history through their eyes is usually completely […]

An entertaining read for Women’s History month

The Alewives: A Plague-Era Tale of Murder, Friendship and Fine Ale by Elizabeth R. Andersen

March 10, 2024 by ElCicco 3 Comments

Another shout out to Narfna for putting this on my radar. I am your literary stalker! This was a very entertaining murder mystery set in an era that has always fascinated me and featuring a set of unusual sleuths. I’d never read any of Elizabeth Andersen’s books before, but I gather that historical fiction is her thing and setting a murder in the immediate aftermath of the Black Death had me from the get go. Even better, the sleuths in this novel, which I hope […]

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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