Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


There really are a surprising number of murders for these young people to solve

The Fatal Unpleasantness at Netherfield by Claudia Gray

by Leave a Comment

Thank you to NetGalley and Vintage for this ARC. This book is on sale now. Jonathan Darcy is getting tired of his parents nervously hovering around him and keeping him from doing anything more strenuous than sitting in front of a fire, reading. So when a letter arrives from his aunt Jane at Netherfield, who is feeling rather inundated with Bingley’s sisters and their spouses, and his mother is unable to go, he eagerly volunteers to go in her stead. He has not stopped thinking […]

The gang’s all here!

The Late Mrs. Willoughby: A Mr. Darcy & Miss Tilney Mystery by Claudia Gray

by Leave a Comment

My local bookstore recently had a table full of Claudia Gray’s Jane Austen-based detective series on sale, so I picked up a couple, not realizing that I was starting with books 2 and 3. That’s a little bit of a shame, and I might circle back around to the first book eventually, but I still find this introduction to Gray’s series most entertaining. Gray has taken Austen’s best known and beloved characters from across several of her novels and created extended families for them, including […]

There is such a thing as too slow a slow-burn

The Perils of Lady Catherine De Bourgh by Claudia Gray

The Rushworth Family Plot by Claudia Gray

by Leave a Comment

The Perils of Lady Catherine de Bourgh 3.5 stars Since Mr Jonathan Darcy, son of the esteemed Fitzwilliam Darcy, and Miss Juliet Tilney, daughter of Henry Tilney, have now solved not one, but two murders among their extended acquaintance, word has gotten around, and as a result, Lady Catherine DeBourgh has summoned the young Mr Darcy to come to Rosings Park to help her identify the person who is trying to kill her. He insists that Miss Tinley be invited as well. Both young persons […]

“Despite her past experiences with murders, she had not yet learned that the most inescapable force in the world is irony.”

The Rushworth Family Plot: A Mr. Darcy & Miss Tilney Mystery (#4) by Claudia Gray

by 2 Comments

To condemn the female of the species for frivolity while simultaneously limiting her to frivolity is patently unjust, and yet grievously common. Jonathan Darcy and Juliet Tilney understand each other (and their own hearts) perfectly; it’s a pity their families do not. A series of misunderstandings, misplaced pride, and—indeed—prejudice, never mind that Fitzwilliam Darcy is a judgemental prig, has led their fathers to deem the pair unsuited to wed (but more like the other father unsuited as their child’s in-law. And Darcy is a judgemental […]

Lesser but Diverting Austen

Persuasion by Jane Austen

by Leave a Comment

Jane Austen’s Persuasion is a lightweight story of thwarted love and slow burn longing. The heroine, Anne, is a sensible, gentle and overlooked woman with a somewhat difficult family. Her father is a spendthrift and has the family move out of their home in order to let it to well paying renters. One of her sisters is unmarried, cold and indifferent to Anne, while the other is married and a self centered hypochondriac. The book delves into the broken love relationship almost right away. It […]

“If a book is well-written, I always find it too short”

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

by Leave a Comment

4.5 stars CBR17 Bingo: Black (a book with a black cover) I had completely forgotten that I read and reviewed this book back in 2016. My original review can be found here. My plot summary of the more than 200-year-old novel can be found in my previous review. Nevertheless, my reading experience this time around was different enough from earlier times that I wanted to write about some of my thoughts and observations, not to mention some of the points of discussion that came up during my […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo