Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


Things That Go Bump at the Dinner Table

Fears: Tales of Psychological Horror by Ellen Datlow (editor)

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In this anthology of psychological horror, we encounter killers, madmen, and twisted families in this presentation of the many shades of human depravity. My preferred subgenre of horror is psychological horror. Here there’s no ghosts or curses or demons – just the strange and terrifying excesses of human nature. The horror is enhanced by the fact that, bar the occasional tinge of the supernatural, everything that happened in this book could happen in real life. All of the stories included in this book were originally […]

Skirts Just Look So Good on Us!

Skirts: Fashioning Modern Femininity in the Twentieth Century by Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell

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Fashion can say a lot about the people that wear it and the places they occupy in time and space. As such, women starting to wear pants is a shorthand for progress in feminism – but, Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell argues, the evolution of skirts over the twentieth century too has plenty to say. Like the author, I wear a lot of dresses and skirts, mostly because they are an easy way to look like you’ve made an effort, and also let you slouch and lounge around […]

The Pharaoh (Female), the Pharaoh (Male), and the Priestess

Neferura by Malayna Evans

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As the daughter of two pharaohs and the sister of another, princess and high priestess Neferura is one of the foremost people in the kingdom. But as her co-regent mother and brother fight for power, she’s just another piece on their board – unless she can manage to break free. In first grade we had a unit about ancient Egypt, where we learned all about how they worshipped cats and pulled brains down through mummies’ noses and invented paper. And of course we learned about […]

You Know What They Say About Assumptions…

Lady Suspicious by Kate Archer

Convince Me, Viscount by Kate Archer

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CBR17 Bingo: Free (- Thank you for the extension! I’d given up on hitting blackout this year, but LOOK AT ME NOW.) Lady Suspicious – 4.25 stars It’s the turn of Lady Winsome, the sixth of the ironically named Nicolet sisters, to make her debut on the marriage mart. Armed with her knowledge of rogues from rumor sheets and gothic romances, she’s determined to make a good match – but the only man she’s interested in sets off all her warning bells. This is the […]

There’s Nothing More Ill-Mannered than Loving Your Own Wife

Sex and Scandals in Georgian England by John Rankin

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In the Georgian era, where infidelity was widespread –  even expected – among the aristocracy, scandals still resulted, but not necessarily for the reasons one would expect. With the new resurgence of interest in Regency romances, I’ve been struck pretty often how wide of the historical mark some stories can be. The costumes of season three of Bridgerton also makes me wince (I still love Queen Charlotte’s ridiculous wigs though!). But reading Sex & Scandals in Georgian England reminded me that, while it’s one thing to know […]

Gals being literary rivals, then pals, then more?

Ladies in Hating by Alexandra Vasti

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Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for this ARC. My opinions are my own. Lady Georgiana Cleeve was disowned by her father when she announced that she was the author of several popular novels, and has lived alone with her mother ever since, cut off from all contact with her brothers, convinced that the scandal she brought on herself and her family would irrevocably tarnish the reputations of anyone connected to her. She is selling well and her books are popular, but for […]



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