Six Degrees of Separation: The Wintering to The Winter Crown

 

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 book is Wintering by Katherine May.

I thought about doing something about all the seasons for today's post, but it is currently cold, very cold, so in the end I have decided to stick with a winter theme. I could have chosen cold or snow as well, but it turned out I had more than enough books with just the word "winter" .

The Winter Rose by Jennifer Donnelly - It's hard to believe I read this book 16 years ago. I still have such fond memories of it still. It is about a young woman who wants to become a doctor and finds herself working in the poor East End of London in the very early 1900s.

The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley - I first read this book 13 years ago, but I have read it a couple of times since. One of my favourite books, and I never miss any opportunity to include it in a Six Degrees post! 

Russian Winter by Daphne Kalotay - I read this book 11 years ago, and thoroughly enjoyed it at the time. It is a novel about a Russian ballerina who is looking back on her interesting life, both before an after her defection to the West.

In the Bleak Midwinter by Julia Spencer-Fleming - This is the first book in the Rev Clare Fergusson/Russ van Alstyne mystery series. Clare is a priest who moves to a small town and meets the local police chief.

A Train In Winter by Caroline Moorehead - I read a lot of WWII fiction, but this one is a non fiction title that I read 10 years ago.

The Winter Crown by Elizabeth Chadwick - I have read another title from Chadwick which has Winter in the title, but I am choosing this one because I still need to read it. This is the third book in the trilogy about Eleanor of Aquitaine. Such a fascinating woman.

Next month's starting point is The Book of Form and Emptiness by Ruth Ozeki. It just so happens that our next book club theme is award winners. Given that this book has just won the 2022 Women's Prize, maybe this might be my choice?  We'll see.

Top 10 Tuesday: Most Anticipated Book Releases for the First Half of 2020

In my quest to find ways to try to get myself into blogging I thought I would participate in this week's Top 10 Tuesday meme as hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. The theme this week is the books you are excited about in the first half of the year. I don't know if I can join in on the topics on a regular basis and I didn't come up with ten books but never mind!!

Here are the top 8 books I'm looking forward to

The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel - The third book in the Wolf Hall series about the life of Thomas Cromwell

The Switch by Beth O'Leary - The Flatshare by this author was my sole 5/5 read in 2019 so I am very much looking forward to this book

Hid From Our Eyes by Julia Spencer Fleming - It has been 7 years since the last instalment in the Rev Clare Fergusson/Russ van Alstyne series which is one which I was well and truly invested in back in the day

The Good Turn by Dervla McTiernan - The next book in the Cormac Reilly crime series set in Galway

The Queen's Bargain by Anne Bishop - Another long wait for this book, this time 9 years. In fact, I'm not sure that I even thought that there would ever by another book in the Black Jewels series but here it is!

Something to Talk About by Rachael Johns - Australian author Rachael Johns has been one of my go to authors for a few years now, and I'm sure that this book won't disappoint

The Land Beyond the Sea by Sharon Kay Penman - Confession time. I have loved so many SKP books but despite that I am actually quite behind on her books. Doesn't stop me being excited about a new one though!!

The Women's Page by Victoria Purman -I really enjoyed the Land Girls and The Last of the Bonegilla Girls by this author. This time the author is focusing on the lives of women in the immediate aftermath of WWII.

What upcoming releases are you excited about?

Teaser Tuesday: Out of the Deep I Cry by Julia Spencer-Fleming

One of my favourite discoveries this year has been the Reverend Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne mysteries by Julia Spencer-Fleming, mainly because the dynamic between the main two characters is so interesting!


My teaser this week comes from page 224:

Evening prayer had a whopping seven attendees, but they were evidently as eager to get home as Clare, and after she concluded the service with a verse from Ephesians, they all scattered, and she was back in the rectory by dinnertime.

She figured that the rare-collections librarian would never have approved reading the diaries while scarfing down pasta, so she plunked her plate in front of the tube and ate with Jim Lehrer, who was never put off from discussing the day's events by the sight of her chewing rigatoni.

Teaser Tuesday is hosted by Miz B at Should Be Reading. Head on over to find out all about it, and how to join in!

Teaser Tuesday: In the Bleak Midwinter by Julia Spencer-Fleming

My teaser this week comes from In the Bleak Midwinter by Julia Spencer-Fleming, the first book in the Rev. Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne series. I have heard lots of good things about the later books in the series, but I can't start a series part of the way through so here I am at the beginning of the series, and so far, it seems like a very good read.

My teaser comes from page 88:

"I thought...I thought she'd finally be safe once she was in Albany. Once she was away.. Why did she come back?" Fresh tears rose in her eyes. "Why did she come back?"

Teaser Tuesday is hosted by Miz B at Should Be Reading. Head on over to find out  all about it, and how to join in!