Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


One of the few times I will say to watch the movie first.

Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy

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I probably chose the wrong time to read this one, as so many of my friends like it quite a bit, even ones who don’t like Thomas Hardy as a writer. But it nicely filled a challenge for Read Harder, and because it’s been on my TBR for over a decade, and it was available on SCRIBD, I did it. And I didn’t not like it, I just found it hard to finish, and it never really caught my attention. I missed soooo much while […]

“It is difficult, after the passage of more than a century, to understand the extent to which the train robbery of 1855 shocked the sensibilities of Victorian England.” #CBRBingo – Money!

The Great Train Robbery by Michael Crichton

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I would love to see the movie version of this, which Crichton also wrote and directed. Sean Connery as Edward Pierce, the mastermind behind the robbery that threw Victorian England for a loop. He really was a smart guy. It’s obvious Crichton did his research about the period (apparently he became obsessed with the Victorian criminal underworld). The book is chock full of criminal slang. You catch the meaning eventually, and it certainly lends an atmosphere. This was a bit hard to get into at […]

Another shitty duke not grovelling enough to fully redeem himself

Daring and the Duke by Sarah Maclean

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Official book description: Grace Condry has spent a lifetime running from her past. Betrayed as a child by her only love and raised on the streets, she now hides in plain sight as queen of London’s darkest corners. Grace has a sharp mind and a powerful right hook and has never met an enemy she could not best, until the man she once loved returns.   Single-minded and ruthless, Ewan, Duke of Marwick, has spent a decade searching for the woman he never stopped loving. […]

Kicking off this year’s Bingo Card with an excellent historical romance

Any Old Diamonds by K.J. Charles

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#CBR12Bingo: Money! Official book description (because I’m still reviewing books I read three months ago): Lord Alexander Pyne-ffoulkes, the younger son of the Duke of Ilvar, holds a bitter grudge against his wealthy father. The Duke intends to give his Duchess a priceless diamond parure on their wedding anniversary — so Alec hires a pair of jewel thieves to steal it. The Duke’s remote castle is a difficult target, and Alec needs a way to get the thieves in. Soldier-turned-criminal Jerry Crozier has the answer: he’ll […]

A Sherlock Holmes Retelling That Actually Works!

The Angel of the Crows by Katherine Addison

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Katherine Addison might just have made my auto-pre-order list. I loved The Goblin Emperor, and she did it again with her most recent book which is effectively Sherlock Holmes fan-fiction. The cool thing about The Angel of the Crows is how it sets things up to be kind of recognizable but then drops a detail or line that makes it really clear which story you’re in and puts things recently mentioned in new and often interesting perspectives. The world of the story is a Victorian […]

Kidnappings, murders and snooping around in a high-class brothel

A Murderous Relation by Deanna Raybourn

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This is the fifth book in the Veronica Speedwell series. There will absolutely be spoilers for some of the previous books in the series. Skip this review if you’re not up to date. It’s an excellent series; if you want to start at the beginning, pick up A Curious Beginning.  Official description: Veronica Speedwell and her natural historian colleague Stoker are asked by Lady Wellingtonia Beauclerk to help with a potential scandal so explosive it threatens to rock the monarchy. Prince Albert Victor is a regular visitor to […]



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