Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


Join the CBR18 Book Bingo Reading Challenge—Now Underway!   

When the map matters more than the people there will be murder

The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd

by Leave a Comment

I really like the premise and general scenario of The Cartographers; you’ve got a good dose of real historical and practical map-making details along with a dose of “magical realism”. I also didn’t realize that this author was relevant to AAIPI month which May is. The general premise is that former whiz kid map scholar Nell Young who was dismissed from the famed NYPL (New York Public Library) in disgrace by her own father must now solve the mystery of her father’s murder which turns […]

High Society, Murder, Romance, Bicycles, and a Haunted House, what could go wrong

Betrayal in the Bowery by Kate Belli

by Leave a Comment

Bingo 24: Gaslight Betrayal in the Bowery is set in 1889 NYC, meaning gas lights are very literally part of the setting. This is mostly a cozy murder mystery with sassy lady journalist Genvieve and her friend (probably romance partner in a volume or two) Daniel having to look into the mysterious death of a man who seems crazy running into the room on a steamship belonging to their just married friends and collapsing. It turns out Marcus (the dead man) has some connection to […]

Grammar Fixing Magic

by Leave a Comment

Imagine fantasy and historical fiction are fused into a mystery, like what you’d get with a mash-up of Umberto Eco’s Name of the Rose, anything by Terry Brooks, and Harry Potter. The result, if it’s decently done, would be Ironfoot (Book 1 of the Enchanter General). There’s a touch of historical reality in the social divisions between the native Saxons and the ruling Normans, which is probably accurate given the setting in 1164 England. The brief cameos by Eleanor of Aquitaine, Henry II, and a […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo