Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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“For a quart of ale is a dish for a king”- William Shakespeare

Sleight of Hand: An Alewives of Colmar Mystery (#2) by Elizabeth R. Andersen

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It is now 1354, and in the Alsatian village of Colmar Efi, Appel, and Grita’s ale business is going extremely prosperously: that is until Efi founds a hand in their ale cauldron; a hand without a body. A hand that apparently belongs to someone from Vogelgrun, a village quite a distance from Colmar. As the three alewives fight to keep suspicion from falling on them (and possibly dooming their business), they have questions to answer: how did the hand wind up here? Where is the […]

“God cannot help when natural stupidity is driving the cart.”

The Alewives: A plague-era tale of murder, friendship, and fine ale (The Alewives of Colmar #1) by Elizabeth R. Andersen

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Colmar, 1353 CE Gritta, Appel, and Efi managed to survive the massive death toll of the Black Death, only to realize that day-to-day problems don’t end just because of a major epidemic (#relatable). Children still need feeding, husbands will still drink away all the money, and people die from more than the plague. With limited options (I mean, a woman can’t even “entertain” the local menfolk without getting shade from the local monastery) and lots of obstacles, they band together to become alewives – brewing […]

No Vive in Le France

A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century by Barbara Tuchman

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Barbara Tuchman is most noted for The Guns of August, her excellent take on World War I. While that book deserves the flowers it gets, this one should probably garner more just based on its ambition and scope. Tuchman is trying to capture what western Europe — specifically France — was like in the 14th century. The entirety of the 14th century. From dirt poor peasants to games of thrones amongst kings, nobles and popes, Tuchman’s view is broad and finished. I can’t think of any […]

Murder, mystery, fine ale, friendship, plague, dark humor. A very enjoyable book.

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

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This was pretty much everything I wanted it to be. Honestly, I didn’t even read the synopsis before I ordered this, just because I love reading about alewives, but was even more delighted to learn it’s about female friendship and life post-Black Death in medieval Europe, and also solving murders. Worth pointing out in its own paragraph: this is an indie author and the book doesn’t have many ratings, so people who love slice of life history, the middle ages, cozy mysteries, and female friendship, come! […]



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