Six Degrees of Separation: Sandwich to Agnes and the Hitman

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 Sandwich by Catherine Newman.

I thought I would do things a little bit differently this month. Whereas normally this is an exercise in word and thought association. This time, I am going to make....a sandwich

When you are making a sandwich you need to start with bread. In this case, I am choosing a collection of short stories called Bread and Chocolate by Philippa Gregory. I had completely forgotten about this book until I recently revisited the first few book reviews I ever wrote and this was one of them.

Next, I am going to add Butter by Asako Yuzuki

I then need to decide what protein. Will it be ham, or turkey or something else. Maybe chicken, using the book Mr Chicken Goes to Paris by Leigh Hobbs. I read this book many years ago to my nephews  when we were visiting the State Library and I have never forgotten it.

Next up tomatoes. I am choosing Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe by Fannie Flagg, although I probably wouldn't normally fry them!

The next filling was a little trickier. In the end I have chosen a book about Lettice Knollys, cousin and rival to Queen Elizabeth I. I first read about her in high school in a book called My Enemy, the Queen by Victoria Holt, which is a pseudonym of the prolific author Jean Plaidy.

The final link was even trickier. If I was making a chicken, lettuce and tomato sandwich I would want to add mayonaisse, but there aren't many books where this fits. I am therefore choose a book that was co-written by Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer (Mayer/mayo is close right?) called Agnes and the Hitman.

So there you have it, my chicken, lettuce and tomato sandwich!

Next month, which will also be next year (!!!) the starting point is Orbital by Samantha Harvey, which is a new book to me.

Top Ten Tuesday: Back to the beginning

 

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is a Thankful/Thanksgiving Freebie

I recently celebrated my 18th anniversary of blogging. 18!! Happy Blogiversary to me!

To celebrate, I finally decided what I am going to do about Instagram and now I have an Insta account specifically for bookish goodness. Yes, I am committing to Bookstagram. I am always very late for any trends but better late than never!

You can find me @intrepidreaderandbaker and I would love it if you added it, and I will follow back!

For this week's TTT post, I thought I would go back and share the first 10 books I reviewed here on my blog. Best not to look at the reviews themselves because let's just say those early reviews would look very different if I was to write them today.

The Red Tent by Anita Diamant - I had been thinking about starting to write book reviews, but this was the book that I had to write something about and, in effect, started it all. (link)

Sugar Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke - Apparently this was my first review of a book I didn't love! I stopped reading this series soon after because the love triangle annoyed me. If I heard correctly it is still unresolved although I could be wrong. (link)

Chronicals of Narnia by C S Lewis - Not really reviews as such, but this kind of covers the first two books in this series (link)

Dreamland by Kevin Baker - I was trying to recall the book I first read about the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire. Maybe it was this one. (link)

The Dragon and the Jewel by Virginia Henley - I do not remember this book at all!! And I am pretty sure it is a book I wouldn't pick up these days as I can't remember the last time I read a medieval romance. (link)

Bread and Chocolate by Philippa Gregory - At the time, I really loved Phillipa Gregory's books. Wouldn't read them now, but still. (link)

Bubbles Unbound by Sarah Strohmeyer - This was a fun series that I haven't thought about for a long time. Think Stephanie Plum but with an author who knows when it is time to end the series. This was the first book in the Bubbles Yablonsky series.

Last Chance Saloon by Marian Keyes - I would still read Marian Keyes, if I could fit it in my reading schedule. (link)

Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C S Lewis - I was reading this series with my son who was 8 at the time! (link)

A Redbird Christmas by Fannie Flagg - The first second Christmas book I read for this blog, but definitely not the last. (link)

We recently had a topic where we talked about how our reading habits have changed. This post showed that again for me!

Top Ten Tuesday: A visit to the cafe

 

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week the theme is  indie self published books. I feel a bit bad but as usual I am going off script and doing a different theme.

A couple of weeks I posted something and in the comments someone said they would have plenty of cafe books, and i do too. So here are ten books with the work cafe in the title.

The Handsome Man's Deluxe Cafe by Alexander McCall Smith - This is book number 15 in the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series.

The Cafe by the Bridge by Lily Malone - This is the second book in the Chalk Hill series which I really enjoyed. (Review)

Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe by Heather Webber - Another really enjoyable read (review)

Tales from the Café by Toshikazu Kawaguchi - This is the second book in the Before the Coffee Gets Cold series.

The Custard Tart Cafe by Isabella May - Just thinking about this title makes me want to eat a custard tart. (review)

The Cafe at Seashell Cafe by Karen Clarke - This cover just looks feel good to me! 

The Little Cafe in Copenhagen by Julie Caplin - I have another Julie Caplin book to read at some point

Wind Chime Cafe by Sophie Moss - This is on my Kindle to read at some point.

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe by Fannie Flagg - Couldn't have a list of cafe books without this one.

Cafe La Femme series by Livia Day- Whilst this book is A Trifle Dead, it is part of the Cafe La Femme series, set in Hobart. (review)

Cup of tea anyone?

A Redbird Christmas by Fannie Flagg

I don't usually read themed books, especially not Christmas books, but I picked this one up for a group that I read with over at the Oprah Bookclubs.

Oswald T Campbell had a poor start to life, and it hasn't really ever got much better. He was abandoned at an orphanage when just a few days old. Oswald was the next name on the orphanage's list, and, as there was a can of Campbell's Tomato Soup nearby he was given the name Campbell, and his middle initial is T for Campbell.

When we meet Oswald he is in his doctor's office being told that he should get his affairs in order as this is likely to be his last Christmas, and that it would be beneficial for his health if he moved away from cold and draughty Chicago to warmer climes. The doctor has an old pamphlet for a health spa in Lost River, Alabama. Given that getting his affairs in order means giving away a few things, Oswald decides that he might as well go to Alabama, and once he is there, life begins to change for him.

Along the way we meet the ladies of Lost River, along with the shopkeeper who keeps a Redbird in his shop, the postman who delivers the mail by boat, and Patsy, a young girl who is in need of medical attention. We also meet a much better Oswald.

This book was magical. It reminded me in tone of The Five People You Meet in Heaven. In some ways it felt like a fairy tale...there being an innocence around the characters and the storyline.

I haven't read any Fannie Flagg books before, but I have added her to my list of authors to read more of in due course.

Rating 4.5/5