Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

The Dark Corners of the Past

Great Scandals of the Victorians by Debbie Blake

Public Faces, Secret Lives by Wendy L. Rouse

by Leave a Comment

Great Scandals of the Victorians: Disreputable Stories from the Royal Court to the Stage – 3.5 stars For all that Victorians had a reputation for being straitlaced, they had their fair share of scandals – and some of them ended up having major effects on contemporary society, sometimes even driving forth social changes which still affect us today. I love a good gossip session about people I’ve never met, which is why history is one of my favorite subjects. In this book, we learn about […]

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 […]

The Lady Hardcastle series is a cozy balm for troubled times

The Burning Issue of the Day by T.E. Kinsey

Death Beside the Seaside by T.E. Kinsey

by Leave a Comment

It’s ridiculous how far behind I am on book reviews. I’d like to say I have an amazing reason, like I’ve been busy discovering a cure for cancer. But honestly, the pandemic has had me down and made me too stir crazy to sit still long enough to write these. And now I need to write 10 book reviews. Le sigh. I found the Lady Hardcastle series a couple of years ago. It’s an adorable cozy mystery series set in England the early 1900s. Lady […]

Women are still treated terribly, but these women knew how to survive

by 1 Comment

First, I want to thank ElCicco for reviewing this book earlier in the CBR. Both my roommate and I read it and found it hard to believe that the women in The Scarlet Sisters are real, and so were their adventures. But that’s what makes a biography worth reading, right? So, who are these sisters and what did they do? They are Victoria Woodhull and Tennie Claflin. They were the first women to be stockbrokers on Wall Street. In 1871. Yes, you read that correctly. […]

Women Behaving Badly (i.e., like men): The Scarlet Sisters

by 2 Comments

Victoria Woodhull and Tennessee (Tennie) Claflin were two sisters famous/infamous in American social and political circles starting in the 1870s. While most would think of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony when it comes to women’s rights, suffrage and reform, these sisters were renowned orators whose lifestyle fascinated and irritated the general public, especially men in power. They were from the wrong social class and espoused scandalous (for the time) views on sex, women, the poor and wealth. And they were linked to one […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo