Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

There was a warmth in his chest when he looked at Laurent. He didn’t look often for that reason.

Kings Rising: Book Three of the Captive Prince Trilogy by C.S. Pacat

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“You can’t trust him.” “I know that.” He finished the wine. Outside, there were hours of daylight left, and work to be done. “You’ve spent a morning with him and you’re warning me off. Just wait,” said Damen, “until you’ve spent a full day with him.” “You mean he improves with time?” “Not exactly,” said Damen. ― C.S. Pacat, Kings Rising He let his lips form a half-smile. “You aren’t going to offer me one of your gaudy Veretian handkerchiefs?” “You could use the clothing […]

When Women Play the Game of Thrones

The Dark Queens: The Bloody Rivalry That Forged the Medieval World by Shelley Puhak

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I found out about Queen Brunhild through an old website entitled History Behind Game of Thrones. The article was detailed but it painted Brunhild in a titillating way as a promiscuous intriguer doing all she can to maintain her grip on power. It was supposed to compare to her to the villainous Queen Cersei. I was fascinated with the story and had recently reached out to find it again, only to discover (sadly) that the site folded. Which was doubly disappointing because there was scant enough info […]

The mills of the gods grind slowly, but they grind small

Zanzara by Gloria Vitanza Basile

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Born in poverty and raised in a squalid orphanage, Phaedra’s life transforms completely when her identity as a prince’s illegitimate daughter is revealed, vaunting her into the lap of luxury. But she has a long, tough path to tread still before she will reach her happy ending. I really, really love the crazy bloody bodice rippers of the 1970s and 80s. They are always wild and adventurous, often with a strong historical grounding, and take you careening through the kind of heroine’s journey that leave […]

More books I read this summer and am only reviewing now to make it to 104

Cassiel's Servant by Jacqueline Carey

Codename Charming by Lucy Parker

With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo

Sleep No More by Seanan McGuire

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Cassiel’s Servant – Jacqueline Carey Rating: 3.5 stars Kushiel’s Dart is one of my favourite fantasy books, and books in general, of all time. It stands up, I re-read it this summer in preparation for the release of this. Has Jacqueline Carey done exactly the same thing as Stephenie Meyer and E.L James did, and retold her already existing novel from the POV of another central character? Yes, she has. Was I pretty sure that this was going to be a lot more worthwhile and […]

“When love buds between great princes”

Queens of the Age of Chivalry by Alison Weir

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England’s Age of Chivalry was a surprisingly turbulent period marked by coups, civil unrest, and outright war on multiple fronts. We meet five queens in this book, including one of the most reviled and one of the most beloved in all of English history. This is the third book in Alison Weir’s England’s Medieval Queens, in which she profiles the queens of medieval England from the Conquest to (I believe) the end of the War of the Roses. In this book, we meet the queens […]

The Faces That Launched a Thousand Political Conflicts

Medieval Royal Mistresses: Mischievous Women who Slept with Kings and Princes by Julia A. Hickey

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In an era where women were constrained by their sex and status, royal mistresses managed to have outsized influence of English history through their connections with kings and the children that they bore them. As I got into this book, it occurred to me that when you learn about history, the various favorites of kings and queens are left out except in very few instances where the story would make no sense without their inclusion (Anne Boleyn of course comes to mind). Instead their illegitimate […]



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