#history – Page 10 – Cannonball Read 17

A harrowing story of shipwreck, death and survival on a godforsaken island at the edge of the world

Island of the Lost by Joan Druett

August 8, 2024 by katie 2 Comments

Never has a description been more true. This is an absolutely incredible true story, and the author Joan Druett has some a marvellous job bringing it to life. This was a re-read for me, after first reading it several years ago. The story stayed with me, and I was glad I revisited it to refresh my memory. We follow the Grafton as it sets off from Sydney in 1864; it’s five man crew, led by Captain Thomas Musgrave and his business partner Francois Raynal, is […]

A Prison of a Book

The Curse of the Marquis de Sade by Joel Warner

July 30, 2024 by Pooja Leave a Comment

CBR16 Bingo: Scandal – The Marquis de Sade lived about every year of his life scandalously, and there’s plenty of scandal that follows around the scroll and Aristophil as well. The Marquis de Sade is a divisive figure in literature, with as many people arguing for him being a visionary as there are for him being a mere maniac. But less known is the complicated journey of the manuscript of his best-known work The 120 Days of Sodom and how it came to be involved in a […]

Lost Paradise or Far Flung Trailer Park

The Far Land: 200 Years of Murder, Mania, and Mutiny in the South Pacific by Brandon Presser

July 21, 2024 by Pooja Leave a Comment

CBR16 Bingo – Bananas: A lot of people eat a lot of bananas across several centuries and a number of South Pacific islands. Also, this story is utterly bananas. Several centuries after the mutineers from the HMS Bounty settled Pitcairn Island, author Brandon Presser goes to visit this isolated place, where he tries to understand how the bloody and conflicted past has shaped the present day lives of the descendants. Considering how much I enjoy true crime and strange stories, it’s probably odd that I […]

“Women without prospect, who lead dull earnest lives and rejoice in their petty little pseudo-pleasures, I find quite depressing and despicable.”

The Pillow Book by Sei Shōnagon, Meredith McKinney (Translator)

July 21, 2024 by Pooja Leave a Comment

CBR16 Bingo: Vintage – Not only is this a very old book (written about a thousand years ago!), but it is also very much of its time, cataloguing minute happenings in the Empress’s court and listing out the common tastes of the time. Once there was an empress who gave her attendant a bundle of writing paper for making a witty remark. To highlight what a cultured place this court was, the attendant decided to record an amusing hodgepodge of anecdotes, poetry, and things both […]

To Take Pride

The Stonewall Reader by ed. The New York Public Library

July 9, 2024 by Jake Leave a Comment

Read as part of CBR16 Bingo: Pride. The book is a collection of oral histories on the LGBTQIA+ Movement before, during and after the Stonewall Uprising. This is the book I’ve been looking for. The history of equity, freedom, liberation for LGBTQIA+ persons in this country is long but not well-recorded. The reason is obvious: many, most, really all of these human beings was considered morally corrupt at best and illegal at worst. It’s only in the last 15-20 years as straight, cis people start […]

June 2024 Leftovers

The First Quarry by Max Allan Collins

Kings of the Garden: The New York Knicks and Their City by Adam J. Criblez

Out On The Cutting Edge by Lawrence Block

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Notes on Grief by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Nevada by Imogene Binnie

The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity and the Making of the Oxford Dictionary by Simon Winchester

Exalted by Anna Dorn

July 5, 2024 by Jake Leave a Comment

Happy Pride to all who celebrate! The First Quarry**** I was disappointed in the quality of the last couple of Quarry novels so I wasn’t expecting much…but this was good. One of his best plots and I really enjoyed it. Could’ve done without the racism. Big believer that you can show the casual racism of the past (1970s) without wallowing in it and the book does that. Otherwise, it’s good. Kings of the Garden: The New York Knicks and Their City**** Stretching a four star […]

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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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