Cannonball Read 15

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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Two Well-Regarded Children’s Time Travel Novels

Tom's Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce

Charlotte Sometimes by Penelope Farmer

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I was surprised when I visited England at what a popular genre historical children’s time travel novels were, but it’s one I enjoy so I got a couple. Both are apparently much beloved classics that must have missed me when I was a child, and this was a good chance to fill in some gaps of my children’s novel knowledge. Tom’s Midnight Garden has an intimidatingly positive pull quote by Philip Pullman on the cover: “a perfect book.” This made me internally querulous and I […]

Winter People – a unique take on reviving the dead

Winter People by Jennifer McMahon

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For the life of me, I really wish I could remember what site or person recommended the Winter People to me, because I want to thank them, as it was a refreshingly good read. Pet Sematary is one of my favorite Stephen King novels and this story plays with similar themes but places it in more of a historical and feminist context. The story takes place over 100 years and can switch times without warning, which I found a bit disorienting at first. You get […]

It was the worst of times

Fingersmith by Sarah Waters

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Fingersmith is award winning historical fiction set in 1862 London and at a country manor known as Briar. Like a Dickens novel, it features thieves, asylums, poor, rich and table turning, but this work also focuses on women, sex, matters of power/agency and the lack thereof.  The story is told in three parts: two from point of view of Sue Trinder, a 17-year-old orphan and fingersmith (thief), and one from point of view of 17-year-old Maud Lilly, who is an orphan and an heiress. Both […]

Not as fluffy as the tv show but still a fun ride

Cocaine Blue by Kerry Greenwood

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Needing some light entertainment, I decided to rewatch Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries. It’s a delightful show and the rewatch made me curious about the books.  Phryne, carrying the cocktail, decanted it unobtrusively into a potted palm against which she had no personal grudge, and hoped that it would not give her away by dying too rapidly. Content warning: the book, and my review, mention sexual assault.  Cocaine Blues is the first book in the series. Miss Phryne Fisher is a wealthy socialite in 1920s England. […]

A middling Daisy Dalrymple story, but the characters make it worth reading

The Corpse at the Crystal Palace by Carola Dunn

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This review is specifically for The Corpse at the Crystal Palace but I’m including my thoughts on the Daisy Dalrymple series as a whole. The series takes place in England in the 1920s. The main character is Mrs. Daisy Fletcher (née the Honorable Daisy Dalrymple). Daisy is the youngest daughter of an English aristocrat and is married to Chief Inspector Alec Fletcher of the New Scotland Yard. Daisy keeps accidentally finding dead bodies and feels compelled to help Alec with his investigations. She is often […]

It was beyond evident you’d never fit readily into any man’s life…

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The second of “The Lady Sherlock Series” did not disappoint. (I reviewed the first in the series here).  I come to these books with zero knowledge of  Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock. I am only familiar with the ex Mr. Madonna’s Sherlock and Benedict Cumberbatch.   Perhaps I should read  “A Study in Scarlet” for the “This Old Thing” BINGO square?  Personal edification! On the heels of solving her first murder case, Charlotte Holmes (aka Sherlock) is presented with two puzzles to solve that are even closer to home […]



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