Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

I Think It’s Me

Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson

by 1 Comment

This review has been difficult to write because this book was good but I didn’t like it. I’m much better when I definitely love or definitely hate something! And this was just…frustrating for me. The story is set over about a week’s time in 1926 London, following a pair of girls who have runaway from York to become stars and inevitably get swallowed in the nightclub scene. And also the ex-field nurse turned librarian who goes to find them. And also the notorious nightclub owner. […]

Good, Old-Fashioned Excitement

Radio Girls by Sarah-Jane Stratford

by Leave a Comment

Before getting into the review proper, I’d like to mention that my buddy L gave me Radio Girls at book swap we had at my former office. It was pretty fun – everyone at our place of business brought in some books to swap or give away during a random lunch break. It’s special to have your friends’ copies of books, and in some cases even their marginalia or notes inside of books. So, I’d recommend having a lunch break book swap. [Very minor spoilers […]

A Little Women “Re-miss”

So Many Beginnings: A Little Women Remix by Bethany C. Morrow

by Leave a Comment

  My YA book group selection for February is So Many Beginnings: A Little Women Remix by Bethany C. Morrow.  It is a take off of Little Women where the family is recently freed slaves and the time period is the civil war.  I assume it was selected for Black History Month. The March family in this book are Mammie and her 4 girls: Meg a teacher, Jo a writer, Beth a seamstress, and Amy a dancer (although these nicknames are based on different names […]

January 2023 Leftovers

Two Kinds of Truth by Michael Connelly

Queen of Thieves by Beezy Marsh

Anxious People by Frederick Backman

The Dead Season by Tessa Wegert

A Diet of Treacle by Lawrence Block

The Club: How the English Premier League Became the Wildest, Richest, Most Disruptive Force in Sports by Joshua Robinson & Jonathan Clegg

by Leave a Comment

Here are brief reviews for the books I read in 2023 that I either didn’t have time to review or that didn’t merit 250 words… Two Kinds of Truth*** First new read of 2023! I continue to plow through the Bosch series. I enjoyed most of what I read recently but this was just blah. Boring, predictable dueling plots, though one is resolved with an interesting twist. Read better, read worse in this series. Looking forward to getting to some of the Renee Ballard books. […]

The women of The Odyssey, except eighteen years afterwards, as narrated by Hera.

Ithaca (The Songs of Penelope, #1) by Claire North

by 2 Comments

I really, really liked this! Claire North’s writing style translated extremely well to retelling Greek mythology. The undercurrent of female rage and sorrow was pleasing and upsetting at the same time. It’s also darkly funny. I almost feel like I want to re-read this before I write a review so I can get my thoughts more in order, but nobody has time for that. Or, maybe some people do, but I don’t know who they are. I just feel like it was so well done! […]

No Code Breaking Necessary to Enjoy this One

The Rose Code by Kate Quinn

by 2 Comments

This historical fiction is about women code breakers at Bletchley Park (Officially the Government Code and Cypher School) during WWII. The three main characters, Mab, Osla and Beth are thrown together through Mab and Isla’s arrival at Bletchley Park. Mab is from Shoreditch. She is unabashedly clawing her way out of poverty and aiming toward stability and a better life by marrying up (so to speak). Osla is a socialite, of Canadian birth but English at heart. She has stayed in London to help with […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo