Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

This one’s for the birds

The Ornithologist’s Field Guide to Love by India Holton

by Leave a Comment

Stupid Dungeon Crawler Carl books! Ever since I finished them, I have been struggling to find a book that really sucks me in. I have read decent novels since then even, but nothing has absorbed me as much or felt as “un-put-downable” since. This novel is another like that – cute, whimsical, not at all serious, and pleasant to read but it’s not the kind of novel that has me staying up past my bedtime to keep reading. As the magical birds might give away, […]

A charming and amusing romp that greatly entertained me, even though I couldn’t care less about birds, and actually sort of fear them

The Ornithologist's Field Guide to Love by India Holton

by Leave a Comment

Smart Bitches Summer Bingo: Only one bed (and horse) CBR16 Bingo: And also… (Repeat of the Bananas square, because this book fits the bill) Beth Pickering is the youngest professor of ornithology at Oxford, and she needs to really impress the faculty if she is to get tenure. She works with wealthy widow Hippolyta Quirm to try to locate and capture rare (and usually dangerous) birds. Just as they are about to capture the coveted deathwhistler, a rival ornithologist, the dashing young Professor Devon Lockley […]

Fake marriage and further hijinks

The Secret Service of Tea and Treason by India Holton

by Leave a Comment

Alice Dearlove works for the secret organisation the Agency of Undercover Note Takers, or A.U.N.T., staffed by spies and agents disguised as ladies’ maids, butlers, footmen, and other household staff who mostly go unnoticed by the higher classes, but are usually in a position to see and hear everything. She’s one of their top agents, known within A.U.N.T only as Agent A. Usually, Miss Dearlove works alone and gets excellent results while doing so. Now she faces one of the biggest challenges of her career. […]

“As Charlotte plummeted to the ground, still locked in Alex’s arms, she recollected Miss Plim’s warning that kissing a man was bad for one’s health.”

The League of Gentlewomen Witches by India Holton

by Leave a Comment

4.5 stars Everyone knows there’s no such thing as witches, but if there were, they probably wouldn’t use magic in flashy and extravagant ways to fly houses around and try to rob and assassinate one another. If there were witches, they would probably use their magic in tidier ways, ensuring polite society was functioning properly. Possibly liberate those who have excessive financial resources of some of it to the betterment of those with less of it (like say, themselves). If there were witches, Charlotte Pettifer […]

“So this is merely romance,” she frowned disapprovingly. “I was hoping for an epic adventure, or a gothic mystery at the very least.” Ned laughed. “Darling, don’t worry, the story has just begun.”

The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels by India Holton

by Leave a Comment

Official book description, because I finished this book two months ago, and the plot is rather convoluted: Cecilia Bassingwaite is the ideal Victorian lady. She’s also a thief. Like the other members of the Wisteria Society crime sorority, she flies around England drinking tea, blackmailing friends, and acquiring treasure by interesting means. Sure, she has a dark and traumatic past and an overbearing aunt, but all things considered, it’s a pleasant existence. Until the men show up. Ned Lightbourne is a sometimes assassin who is […]

Jane Austen but with Lady Pirates. With Flying Houses.

The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels by India Holton

by Leave a Comment

“It is violence that best overcomes hate, vengeance that most certainly heals injury, and a good cup of tea that soothes the most anguished soul.”  – Motto of the Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels Cecilia Bassingthwaite has been raised by her hypochondriac spinster Aunt ever since she was seven and her Father murdered her Mother and tried to kidnap her. Because of her father’s terrible reputation, the other ladies of the Wisteria Society don’t trust her enough to make her a full-fledged member, which vexes […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo