Cannonball Read 13

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Search This Site

> FAQ Home
> Tag: World War I

Pretty Enjoyable

Birds of a Feather by Jacqueline Winspear

by 2 Comments

Series: Maisie Dobbs. I read Book 1 in 2016 (and reviewed it). What I remembered about this series prior to reading this book: Absolutely nothing. I thought I remembered that these took place after World War II, but that was actually incorrect–so, nothing. Why I stopped reading the series: Clearly, the first book didn’t make much of an impression on me. I thought that was the only reason, but then halfway through Birds of a Feather I went back and read my review of the […]

It’s the end of the world as they knew it

Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson

by Leave a Comment

I’m a new-er fan of Erik Larson. I read Devil in the White City only last year (or last last year?) which makes me unique in these parts, these parts being the Chicagoland area. That book details the creation of the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago, as well as the horrific serial killings by H.H. Holmes during that time period, and it is compelling. It’s pretty much required reading here, much like (shudder) Kate Chopin’s The Awakening in Louisiana which I read, I dunno, 5 […]

Silly Ol’ Bear

Winnie’s Great War by Lindsay Mattick

by Leave a Comment

Having read the picture books about the true story behind Winnie-the-Pooh, (one also created by Lindsay Mattick and Josh Greenhut and illustrated by Sophie Blackall) I figured I had a pretty good handle on the story before going into the high second-to-third grade novel, Winnie’s Great War. I will say I liked. But will add, your experience will vary from mine. Shoot, my experience varied from page to page. Mattick is a decedent of the Captain Harry Colebourn of the story. One night her son […]

The black bat night approached and enfolded her in its wings

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

by 4 Comments

For the past 15+ years, I’ve been the target audience for the Man Booker awards: literary fiction snob leaning to British Commonwealth authors. Though I have been branching out into other genres over the last few years, I still look to the Booker long- and shortlists for recommendations and usually pick up at least a few each year. For some reason, I haven’t looked much into other prizes until this year when I realized the Baileys (formerly Orange) prize lists would be a great resource […]

Timing is Everything

Dead Wake: The last crossing of the Lusitainia by Erik Larson

by 1 Comment

Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania is another piece of historical non-fiction by Erik Larson, who brought us The Devil in the White City. It isn’t quite as gripping a read as its predecessor, but it’s definitely worth your time. Told from about four points of view (the German U-boat that sinks her, the passengers on the Lusitania and her captain, President Woodrow Wilson, and Room 40 of the British Intelligence Service), the book addresses the build-up to the US’s entrance into The Great […]

Little Too Many Ideas

Little Nothing by Marisa Silver

by Leave a Comment

I took a stab at something newly published and completely outside of my comfort zone. In all honesty, it wasn’t a total wash; “Little Nothing” comes in at a solid 3. Pavla is born a dwarf to agrarian parents living somewhere in Eastern Europe right before the outbreak of World War I. The industrial age is just beginning to dawn on her small farming community, and there and many of the villages surrounding her town still conduct daily activity with a fairly Medieval mindset, meaning […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo