Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Degrees of Separation

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is Books You’d be a Fool Not to Read (Happy April Fool’s Day! In honor of this silly holiday, share the books you think people must read for whatever reason. They could be your favorites, books you deem classics, books that you learned something important from, books you wish you’d read sooner, etc. You could even narrow it down to a specific genre and share the must-reads for that genre. Get creative!)

I am not really feeling this as a topic so I have decided to be a fool in a different way. Every month, I participate in a meme called Six Degrees of Separation. It is a monthly meme hosted by Kate from Books Are My Favourite and Best. The idea is to start with a specific book and make a series of links from one book to the next using whatever link you can find and see where you end up after six links.

You can choose to make the links between books in any way that you like. It could be from a word in the title, part of the authors name, a cover that reminds you of another book, the subject of the book. It really is just a big game of association. In order to start things off, I am going to choose to use the last book I mentioned in last week's Top Ten Tuesday post and see where that takes me using 10 books instead of the normal 7!

So how does this make me foolish? Because I am doing the wrong meme!

My starting point is White Mulberry by Rosa Kwon Easton as it was the last book that I mentioned in last week's Top Ten Tuesday post. 

One of the main characters names in Daughters of Tuscany by Siobhan Daiko is Rosa which connects nicely to the author's name for the previous book. (my review)

I am choosing to use the fact that the main setting for Still Life by Sarah Winman is Florence which is  the capital city of Tuscany This book is almost a love letter to the city.

From there I am choosing to use the word Life from the title and choose Life After Life by Kate Atkinson 

Another Kate whose writing I enjoy is Kate Forsyth who writes phenomenal fairy tale retellings wrapped up in historical fiction. Normally I would pick Bitter Greens but this time I am going with The Beast's Garden which is set against the backdrop of WWII.

Next I am choosing Briar Rose by Jane Yolen. This is another fairytale retelling I enjoyed, once again set during WWII. There are even some similar motifs on the cover of both of these books. (my review)

Using the word Rose and the WWII setting as the links I am choosing The Rose Code by Kate Quinn, which is about the codebreakers working at Bletchley during WWII. 

Still focusing on WWII settings, and the work of codebreakers, this time Australian women who were based in Brisbane, I have chosen The Codebreakers by Alli Sinclair

I hadn't really intended to have so many WWII connections, but here is another one. My main link though is that both authors have the same first name. I have therefore chose At the Foot of the Cherry Tree by Alli Parker as my next link.  

And finally, I am using the word tree as my link to Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak . (my review)

So there we have it! 10 books linked by various different means taking us from a Korean woman living in Japan in the lead up to WWII to a book where the Cypriot characters are living in London following years of conflict on their island. I inadvertently ended up with quite a few WWII books, as well as several books with roses on the cover!

I would mention that there are lots of option with every level of this there are multiple different ways you could go. For example, I saw Sarah Winman at Melbourne Writers Festival a few years ago now, so I could have picked any other author who I have seen at MWF as my next choice and the chain would have ended up looking very different, and everyone's chains are always unique. Do you think you would have fun doing this exercise?

Top Ten Tuesday: Ten 5 star reads from previous years

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week is a love freebie so I am bringing you ten books I loved so much I gave them a 5/5 rating! And let's face it, I love a good love story so a lot of them will be about love in some form or another!

Given that we have only recently done our best of lists for 2024, I have decided to go with the last ten books that I gave this rating to before 2024. 

The Dressmaker's of Yarrandarrah Prison by Meredith Jaffe - I recently saw that Lisa from ANZ Litlovers had reviewed this book, and I was reminded again how much I enjoyed it! (My review)

The Cartographer's Secret by Tea Cooper - I saw Tea Cooper talking about her latest book a few months ago! I really must read it!

Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak - My goodness I loved this book! And I recently read her latest book which I liked a lot too! (My review)

The Beautiful Words by Vanessa McCausland - The first of two books by this author on my list today!

Book Lovers by Emily Henry - I have really liked all the Emily Henry books I have read but this is the one that I loved the most when I gave it a rating!

The Forgotten Palace by Alexandra Walsh - I have since read a couple more of this author's books. They have all been set in different time periods but all really good. (My review)

The Lost Daughters of Ukraine by Erin Litteken - A really good WWII novel with an unusual setting (My review)

The Bookbinder of Jericho by Pip Williams - Not as well known as the accompanying book, The Lost Dictionary of Words, but an excellent read!

Dreaming in French by Vanessa McCausland - I really must read this author's newest book and see if it is as good as the two I have on this list (My review)

The Little Paris Toy Shop by Lauren Westwood - I love the cover of this one, the story, the Paris setting! I am about to read another book from this author! I hope I love it! (My review)

Have you read and loved any of these?

Sunday Salon: Historical Fiction Reading Challenge - January statistics

Every month I share some of the statistics related to the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge. I try very hard to visit every post which has been linked (time permitting) and I find it interesting to see what are the books that people are reading and reviewing! I often end up adding a couple of books to my never ending TBR list.

In terms of the books read in January, there were  reviews linked up for the challenge, shared by 22 participants. There were 55 individual titles reviewed, written by 52 different authors. There were 3 reviewers who reviewed more than 5 books each. There were also a couple of people who contributed their first reviews for the challenge! Welcome to you all. Thank you to everyone who shared their links whether it be 11 or just 1.

So which books were reviewed more than once in January?

There Were Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak was reviewed by myself and Bree from All the Books You Can Read.Now you would be right to wonder if this is a coincidence as we did have a conversation where one of us said we were reading it and the other said maybe I will too. You can read Bree's review here and mine is here.

The other book that was reviewed twice was The Night on the Darling River by Darry Fraser. I am so excited to see this book by an Australian historical fiction author reviewed by two American reviewers! The first review was from Laura at Laura's Reviews and the second was from Sarah at Reading the Past.

There was also one author who had two individual books review which was Mary Balogh. Laura from Laura's Reviews reviewed Under the Mistletoe and Susan from Reading World reviewed Remember When.

I'll be back next month with the statistics for February!

I am sharing this post with Sunday Salon, hosted at Readerbuzz.

Six Degrees of Separation: Dangerous Liaisons to Tomorrow When the War Began

Welcome to this month's edition of Six Degrees of Separation, which is a monthly meme hosted by Kate from Books Are My Favourite and Best. The idea is to start with a specific book and make a series of links from one book to the next using whatever link you can find and see where you end up after six links. I am also linking this post up with The Sunday Salon, hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.

This month's starting point is Dangerous Liaisons by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos. I looked and thought yay! An opportunity to choose some books set in France. And then I looked at last month's post and realise that the majority of them were set in France! Let's see where the chain takes us this month. 

Another French classic is  Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. I read this a long time ago now.  I just bought tickets to see this in an arena show in May. Should be interesting to see it in a crowd of around 10000 people, presumably singing along in some parts. Will have to watch the movie version to refresh my memory between now and then.

I have seen a number of plays and shows that were originally based on a book. A while ago now we went to see Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams, and I also saw her live at Melbourne Writers Festival. 

Recently, I read There Are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak. I saw her online at Adelaide Writers Festival a few years ago. In There Are Rivers in the Sky, there were a couple of paragraphs musing over the nature of numbers and words, something I end up overthinking about myself on occasion. I tend to think more about who was the first person who called something it's name and why did they choose that, or how did the words evolve in the first place, because some words just look a little odd. I couldn't fit the passage into my review but I thought I would share it here instated. 

Sniffling, the boy pulls up his collar and rubs his hands. It is not good. The wind pierces through his frayed garments, chilling his bones. He does not mind the cold as much as the hunger. Hunger is a beehive in his abdomen, one that has been stirred with a stick, buzzing day and night, jostling, irritated and frantic. He reckons the bees need a distraction, something to keep them busy and out of mischief. So he seeks help from mathematics. Whenever he feels worried, he does sums and multiplications in his head. He takes a gander at a lady with a parasol strolling along the park or a gentleman in a top hat sprinting across the square, and he sets himself the task of calculating how many ruffles are on her skirt or how many lines pattern his frock-coat. Numbers, with their unwavering reliability, comfort him and make him forget the pangs in his belly.

Hearing the snap of a whip now, Arthur instinctively recoils. As he has reached a busy high street, he needs to be extremely watchful. Last winter on this very spot a man was trampled to death by a hansom cab. The horses slipped in a rut in the road, pulling the carriage a full tilt even as they charged on over human flesh and bones. No sooner does the boy reflect on that day than the word 'accident' flashes through his mind, leaving a curious taste in his mouth Words always come to him with their distinctive flavours. 'Accident' is gamey, like burning fat and stale sausages, bags o'mystery, whose ingredients no one really knows. 'School' has a pungency that lingers on the tongue, like licking old boots. And 'mother' is buttery, warm and sweet, though with an acidic undertone, reminiscent of an apple pie gone sour. For years, Arthur assumed it must be the same for everyone, that other people also experienced similar associations, until he realized this was not the case. Since then he has been careful not to mention it to anyone. A quiet boy by nature, there are lot of thing she keeps to himself.

Keeping with the idea of words, my next choice is The Beautiful Words by Vanessa McCausland. I still need to read her latest book.

I recently bought a new book called Pipsworth by Simon Van Booy. The only book I have read by him previously is Everything Beautiful Began After so I am using the word beautiful to create this link.

I am finishing this month using the word began as my link. I am choosing Tomorrow When the War Began by John Marsden, who recently passed away. Vale John Marsden. 

Next month, the starting point is the 2023 Booker Prize winner, Prophet Song by Paul Lynch.

Will you be joining us?

There are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak

A couple of years ago now I read the amazing The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak which I reviewed here. Right then and there I knew that I wanted to read more from her! I do have a couple of her books waiting to be read on my Kindle, but as soon as I heard about this latest book, I decided that was going to be the one I read!

This is a big, rambling story. It is told in three timelines, and linking them all together is a single drop of water.

The first, and most interesting, story is that of a young baby who is born on the banks of the Thames and is named King Arthur of the Sewers and Slums, which is obviously quite the mouthful.  Arthur is born in poverty to an alcoholic father and a mother who struggles to keep food on the table for her children at the best of times, but is also plagued with mental health episodes.. From a young age, Arthur has to bring in money, however, he can. What he lacks in worldly goods though, he more than makes up with his prodigious memory. He can recall the tiniest detail of a meeting with someone, of something he has seen. Eventually he finds work at a printer which gives him the opportunity to read across a wide variety of subjects. 

One day, he finds himself at the gates of the British Museum as tow large sculptures known as lamassus are hauled into the museum, which leads to his lifelong obsession with Mesopotamia, eventually including work at the museum translating clay tablets which previously were unintelligible. He becomes obsessed with finding the missing fragments of the poem we now now as the Epic of Gilgamesh.

Whilst Arthur's life story sounds too unlikely to be true, it is in fact inspired by the life of a man named  George Smith, which makes the novel even more fascinating 

The second strand of this story starts in 2010 with a young Yazidi girl named Narin, who has a disorder which means that she is losing her hearing. Her grandmother, who has the ability to divine water and other skills as a healer, knows that they are going to have to leave their home on the banks of the River Tigris very soon as the Turkish government is going to be building a dam and their village will be destroyed. This is not the first time that the Yazidi have been displaced. They have long been persecuted, believed to be devil-worshippers and idolaters.

Narin's grandmother is determined to take her back to Iraq, for her formal baptism, a journey that is fraught with dangers. Once they do get back to Iraq, they find that the Yazidi's are still being persecuted, but this time it is by ISIS, with heartbreaking outcomes. At times, this part of the book was quite hard to read, but also compelling so hard to put down.

And finally, we have the story of Zaleekhah in 2018 London. She is a hydrologist, and she has just separated from her husband, and is moving into a canal boat moored on the Thames. She has very little furniture, is still trying to recover from her marriage, and she is searching for something more. Zaleekhah's parents were tragically killed when she was a young child, and she has been raised by her rich uncle and aunt. She knows that she owes them a lot, and she also knows that by the choices she is currently making, she is causing them disappointment.

I found Zaleekhah's story to be the least interesting of the three, but it was her story that really pulled two of the threads together at the end of the book, in quite a shocking way.

Obviously, there is a lot of focus on water in this novel, from the Thames to the Euphrates and Tigris. It seems timely as there are plenty of water related issues around the world, from lack of water in drought stricken parts of the world, to more regular flooding. 

This was one of the first books I read on my new Kindle Scribe and I wrote so many notes and highlighted so many passages. This was not only because I could, but because the way that Shafak puts a sentence, a paragraph, a page, together is so fabulous. There are layers and layers of story.

 Sometimes, there might be something small that is there to delight the reader, and sometimes you might wonder why it is there. And then, much later in the book, the connection that pulls through different parts of the story becomes clearer. There are also some very interesting cameos, particularly in the historical part of the story.

I am sure you can tell I really liked this book. Is it as good as The Island of Missing Trees? Not quite, but it is still a book, and an author, that I would recommend whole-heartedly. Now I just need to find some time to read Elif Shafak's backlist.

I am sharing this review with the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge which I host

This week....

 

I'm reading

Last week I finished There are Rivers in The Sky by Elif Shafak. What an amazing author she is! There was so much in the book that I wanted to note down so I could remember it! I loved The Island of Missing Trees when I read it a couple of years ago and this one is right up there.

I them read Widows Waive the Rules by Julia Jarman for review which will be up on Wednesday. It's set on a cruise ship. Let's just say, I hope our cruise in March is a little less dramatic!

I am now reading Midnight in Paris by Gillian Harvey, who is pretty much an auto-read for me these days! This book is a bit different from her usual ones but it is really good so far! My review for this one will be up this week too!

The theme for my read on a theme bookclub this month is 25. I have chosen to listen to the audiobook of The Truth by Terry Pratchett. It was published in the year 2000, so is 25 years old, and is the 25th book in the Discworld series. This one has a different narrator to the one that does Hogfather, which is the book that I have listened to in the lead up for Christmas for the last 4 years at least.

I made an impulsive decision to join a chapter a day readalong for War and Peace. Now I have to come up with some kind of system to make sure that I read a chapter everyday!


I'm watching


Not a lot!

Life


Robert is now back at work, and I am starting to turn my thinking towards trying to find a new job! I could get used to this easy life, although there are some days when I feel a bit lonely, especially on the days that Robert goes into the office. We don't sit and talk all day when he is working, but I can hear his voice in the background while he is on calls. For the most part though, I really enjoy not being stressed, and doing bits and pieces here and there, reading, blogging, etc.  I do miss the structure of working though.

 
I did go and see Dear Evan Hansen with a couple of friends. I really enjoyed it, and found it very powerful and moving! I am now listening to the soundtrack on repeat. I am doing this thing this year where I am creating a Spotify playlist for anything musical we do during the year, so I need to pick a couple of songs to go on my playlist, but I can't decide which one. Each concert we go to we will pick a song or two and slowly build the story of our musical year!

Posts from the last week


Top Ten Tuesday: Most Anticipated New Books Releasing in the First Half of 2025
Blog Tour: A Love Like No Other by Kate Frost
Silos, Sculptures, Scenery and so much more - The Silos

Weekend Cooking: Best of 2024

Historical Fiction Reading Challenge Statistics for December and the whole year!





I've linked this post to It's Monday, what are you reading? as hosted by Book Date and Sunday Salon hosted at Readerbuzz

This week

First book of the year

Every year Sheila from Bookjourney asks us to share our first book of the year. I am usually still deciding what that book might be come 1 January, so I am always too late to share it with her, but here it is this year! And I have to say, it's a good one!

Also, note that shiny new Kindle Scribe! Yes, I am very excited that my husband got me one for Christmas!

I'm reading

I was very determined to finished Land of Milk and Honey by C Pam Zhang in 2024, as I really didn't want to carry it forward into 2025. Fair to say I didn't love it, but I read it for Cook the Books and it did provide plenty of inspiration for food to make. Expect that post in the next couple of weeks!

Whilst I started There are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak my first book, I ended up then picking up A Love Like No Other by Kate Frost for a blog tour this week. 

I then started The Chibineko Kitchen by Yuta Takahashi which was a delight! I read this for Japanese Literature Challenge and my own version of January in Japan!

In other news, I decides to restart again at Storygraph for my 2025 reads. If you are on Storygraph, look me up! You can find me there as Margreads. I am also on Instagram as Intrepidreaderandbaker!

I'm watching


We really have only been watching bits and pieces. For example, we watched the Last Night of the Proms,  and the Russell Crowe version of Robin Hood

Life

We finished our South Australian road trip, coming home via Adelaide and Mount Gambier! I am planning to do a post about all the big things, silos and art we saw along the way but for now here is the Big Lobster in Kingston SE and the Blue Lake in Mount Gambier.

One of the highlights was wandering around the Botanical Gardens in Adelaide seeing the 16 piece of art that are currently on show by famous artist Dale Chihuly. We really enjoyed the display. It would have been great to see it at night where it is all illuminated but we couldn't make the dates work!

After we got home we have been doing a lot around the house in terms of cleaning out the pantry and things like that, but not much more. The last couple of days in particular have been hot, hot, hot! 

Posts from the last week


Countdown to 2025: Day 29 and 30

Top Ten Tuesday: Best Books of 2024
Countdown to 2025: Day 31
Festive Treats 2024

Historical Fiction Reading Challenge: January links

2025 Challenges

Weekend Cooking: What I Baked in My Kitchen in December

Six Degrees of Separation: Orbital to The Secret Daughter of Venice




I've linked this post to It's Monday, what are you reading? as hosted by Book Date and Sunday Salon hosted at Readerbuzz

Countdown to 2025: Day 31

 This year I am participating in Countdown to 2025 hosted by Lynn from Lynn's Books. Today is day 14 and the prompt for today is Bottle of Bubbly – your first read for 2025

It took me a while to decide which book I would post about today as there are several that I wanted to start, but in the end I chose There River in the Sky by Elif Shafak! I loved her book The Island of Missing Trees so I have high hopes that this is going to be a good book to start the new year with. So far, so good!

This photo was taken as we were wandering around the Adelaide Botanical Gardens looking at the Chithuly outddoor exhibition that is on there at the moment!

Thanks to Lynn for the prompts. It's been a lot of fun, and a lot of blogging! 

Six Degrees of Separation: Long Island to Mary, Queen of Scotland and the Isles.

Welcome to this month's edition of Six Degrees of Separation, which is a monthly meme hosted by Kate from Books Are My Favourite and Best. The idea is to start with a specific book and make a series of links from one book to the next using whatever link you can find and see where you end up after six links. I am also linking this post up with The Sunday Salon, hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.

The starting point for this month is Long Island by Colm Toibin. 

I wasn't really sure which direction I wanted to go this month. There are always options, but in the end I decided to spin off of the word island and chose  Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak.

Elif Shafak has recently released a new book called There are Rivers in the Sky so this is my next choice.

From there I am taking the word sky and choose He Shall Thunder in the Sky by Elizabeth Peters, which is part of the Amelia Peabody series set in Egypt.

I could have gone in several directions, but I have chosen to use the first name of the author, Elizabeth and I picked To Defy a King by Elizabeth Chadwick

Using the word King, I have chosen Lady Macbeth by Susan Frazer King. When we were in Scotland we heard a bit about Macbeth, about how he was a real king although some of the other history was incorrect, and along with how historically incorrect the move Braveheart was.

Another historical figure we heard a lot about was Mary Queen of Scots so I have chosen the book by Margaret George about her, Mary, Queen of Scotland and the Isles. I would say that almost brings me to back full circle to our starting point!

Next month, the starting point is Intermezzo by Sally Rooney. Whereas I normally think of a starting book pretty much straight away, I am coming up blank so far. Good job I have a month to think of something.

Top Ten Tuesday: Most Anticipated Books Releasing During the Second Half of 2024

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is Most Anticipated Books Releasing During the Second Half of 2024


Let's get started!

Dirrayawadha by Anita Heiss (July) - I really enjoyed this authors last book, and after meeting her in person last weekend, I am definitely even more keen to read this one.

There are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak (August) - I only heard about this last week but I immediately added this to my list. I loved her last book and this one sounds just as good!

A Love Letter to Paris by Rebecca Raisin (July) - I have this book to read in the next couple of weeks, perfect for a post for Paris in July!

The King's Messenger by Susanna Kearsley (August) - OMG! A new Susanna Kearsley book. I am ready!

Tonight by Nagi Maehashi (October) - Nagi's first cookbook, Dinner, was my cookbook of the year for 2023 and we still cook at least one thing from it every week, if not more. I am already saying that I expect this new cookbook to take that honour this year! 

Before We Forget Kindness by Toshikazu Kawaguchi (September) - I went and listened to Toshikazu Kawaguchi speak at Melbourne Writers Festival last month. He announced that this book was coming so I immediately pre-ordered the audiobook. I have listened to the previous books in the series on audio so there was no reason to do otherwise with this new book.

What I Ate in One Year by Stanley Tucci (October) - Remember last February when I went a bit crazy over Stanley Tucci? Of course I have pre-ordered the audio of this book! When I listened to Taste, it was almost like he was whispering in my year!

The Restaurant of Lost Recipes by Hisashi Kashiwai (October) - I really enjoyed the first book in this series and can't wait to read this one!

Somewhere Beyond the Sea by T J Klune (September) - I suspect that this book might appear on a few lists this week!

A Certain Kind of Starlight by Heather Webber (July) - I really enjoy Heather Webber's books so I am hoping to get to this book soon!

Are any of these books on your list this week?

Top Ten Tuesday: Trees

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. Covers/Titles with Things Found in Nature (covers/titles with things like trees, flowers, animals, forests, bodies of water, etc. on/in them) (Submitted by Jessica @ a GREAT read) I am choosing to focus on trees for my post!

At the Foot of the Cherry Tree by Alli Parker - Listened to this on audio this year and it was really good! It is a fictionalised story of how her grandparents met just after WWII in Japan.

The Flame Tree by Siobhan Daiko - If you are looking for a WWII story set in the Pacific theatre of war, then this could be a good option.

Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak - This was one of my favourite reads of 2022.

Under the Christmas Tree by Robyn Carr - This is part of the Virgin River series.

The Drowning Tree by Carol Goodman - I have read a number of this author's books but it has been a while.

Family Tree by Barbara Delinsky - I don't remember anything about this book. To be fair, I did read it back in 2008.

The Red Tree by Shaun Tan - This is another author I haven't read for a long time.

The Persimmon Tree by Bryce Courtenay - I often think about the love story in this book.

Apple Tree Yard by Louise Doughty - I have had this book sitting on my shelf for a couple of years now.

The Cedar Tree by Nicole Alexander - This is one that has been sitting on my Kindle for a while! The description does sound good.

Top Ten Tuesday: Just Some of the Most Reviewed Books from the 2023 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

 

 

 

 

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is Bookish Goals for 2024. However, don't really have that many goals, other than tryig to review all the historical fiction novels I read, and I am already behind on that goal! I am therefore going rogue and instead sharing some of the books that were reviewed multiple times during the 2023 Historical Fiction Challenge. On the weekend, I revealed  the book that was reviewed most during the challenge (five times) and the three books that were reviewed  four times. You can see those books here along with other statistics.

Today, I will be sharing the five books that were reviewed three times, and then five (out of the 75) books that were reviewed twice.

First off, here are five books that were reviewed three times:

A Marriage of Fortune by Anne O'Brien - It has been an age since I read any historical fiction with a medieval setting.

Strangers in the Night by Heather Webb - This book tells the story of Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner

The Last Lifeboat by Hazel Gaynor - This sounds like a very interesting story

The Orchid Hour by Nancy Bilyeau - Love this cover!

The Romantic by William Boyd - This book was longlisted for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction

And here are five books  that were reviewed twice which I have picked for various reason to share today

The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak - I loved, loved,loved this book when I read it a couple of years ago.

The Sun Walks Down by Fiona McFarlane - This is another book that was shortlisted for the Walter Scott Prize. She is an Australian author, and I feel like she probably goes under the radar a little bit here.

Weyward by Emilia Hart - This was the winner of the Goodreads Choice Awards for Historical Fiction in 2023.

The War Nurses by Anthea Hodgson - I really liked this book when I read it last year.

The Little Wartime Library by Kate Thompson - I keep on being reminded that I really need to read this book!

If you love historical fiction and reading challenges, why not join us. t's not too late to join this year's challenge. All the sign up details are here!

Top Ten Tuesday - Water, water everywhere!

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is Water (This can be covers with water on them, books with bodies of water in them, titles with bodies of water in them, etc.)

I did a water themed TTT post a couple of years ago, but it turns out I have read ten more books with water related titles since them so there is no duplication.

Second Chances in Bellbird Bay by Maggie Christensen - To be fair I could have had 7 books just from this series as the word Bay is in every title. (review)

Hopeful Hearts at the Cornish Cove by Kim Nash -  With a bonus lighthouse playing a key role in the story. (review)

An Island in the Sun by Kate Frost - Islands are surrounded by water so they totally count. This one is set on the Portuguese island of Madeira. (review)

Far Across the Ocean by Suzie Hull - A part of this book was set in Madagascar which is quite an unusual setting. (review)

The House on the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune - Loved this book!

An Island Wedding by Jenny Colgan - This is set in the very far north of Scotland

The Custard Tart Cafe by the Sea by Isabella May - I promise you the words by the Sea are really on the cover! You just have to look closely! (review)

Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak - This is set in the Mediterranean island of Cyprus

A Granite Springs Christmas by Maggie Christensen - Another big series by Maggie Christensen which is set in the fictional town of Granite Springs

The Lights of Sugarberry Cove by Heather Webber - I like a book with a touch of magical realism! (review)

Maybe I will have another set of watery books in a couple of years time.