The Briar Club by Kate Quinn

So when I sat down to write this post I was intending to do a couple of mini reviews of some historical fiction novels I've read over the last couple of months. However, it turns out that I have plenty to say about this book. The other mini reviews will just have to wait as this is a maxi review!

This the second Kate Quinn book I have finished  over the last few months. The first book I read was The Diamond Eye and then I listened to the audiobook of The Briar Club. I already know that I will be reading more Kate Quinn as soon as I can find space in my reading schedule. It is easy to see why Kate Quinn is such a popular author. 

In this book she bring together a house full of women who are all boarders at Briarwood House. The ladies all live very separate lives with most of their interactions being fights over the bathroom until Grace March moves into the small apartment on the top floor. Soon they are regularly gathering together every Thursday for a supper club and they are sharing their lives and their food. Also joining them are Pete and Lena who are the children of the crusty and judgemental landlady Doilies Nelson. I loved the way that all the boarders become involved in the lives of the young people, providing them with the care and attention that they don't get from their mother and their absent father.

Among the boarders there is Fliss who is a young British mum who is married to an American doctor who is serving in Korea. She is determined that she should be the perfect wife and mother to her baby girl, but that is a hard facade to maintain when you are falling apart. Also living in the house are Reka, an elderly German art professor who is now poverty stricken and who holds a long standing grudge, Claire who comes across as being very tough, Bea who is a former professional baseball player, and Nora who is a policeman's daughter and works at the National library but falls in love with an unsuitable man. Oh, and then there is Arlene, a young Texan woman who is desperate to find a husband. 

I loved the way that Grace is able to break through the barriers that her housemates put up so that soon she knows all their secrets. We hear each of their stories, see them as they fall in love, find their direction, challenge society's restrictive norms, touch on many cultural and historical events and more. Yet, as someone points out, Grace manages to keep all of her own secrets in tact, until her past catches up with her.  

Set in Washington in the 1950s, this is the McCarthy era and lots of people were scared of the Red Threat of communism but there is plenty of other ground covered here too including racism and domestic violence, art and food

One of the surprises in this book is that Briarwood House is a character in the book. As the boarders in the house grow together then the house too begins to come to life. It loves the way that Grace begins painting the walls. It is also the narrator for the shocking events that are unfolding as we hear each of the women's stories. 

Given that one of the keys to this story is the Thursday night supper club, it is probably no surprise that food plays a big part in this story. I probably would have really liked to read this book as well as listen to it so that I could read the recipes. It was interesting how culturally varied the recipes were. Pretty sure I am not too worried about trying Arlene's Candlestick salad though! I did love Lena's story arc particularly in relation to her food journey.

It's fair to say I loved this book. When I finished it I was desperate to talk about it with someone who had read it, about books that one of the stories reminds me of, but I can't even say that now because it will then spoil the twist at the end!

The narrator was Saskia Maarleveld and she did a great job of telling the story. I was interested to hear the additional feature at the end of the book where the author and the narrator sat down to talk about the audiobook process. Kate Quinn even said that when she was writing she was thinking about the audiobook performance so that influenced some of the backstories for the women. This meant that it made it easier for the narrator to have different voices and intonations for each of the character. 

This is another fantastic read from Kate Quinn, and I highly recommend it.

I am sharing this review with Foodies Read hosted at Based on a True Story and with the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge which I host.  

Rating 4.5/5

Six Degrees: Ghost Stories to A Brief History of Montmaray

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 and A Good Book and a Cup of Tea hosted at Boondock Ramblings.

This month the starting point is Ghost Cities by Siang Lu which was recently announced as the winnter of the 2025 Mile Franklin Literary Award here in Australia. I haven't read it, and I don't think I am likely too, but that doesn't mean that I can't make a chain from it!

A book I read earlier this year that featured a house that was haunted by ghosts was Lauren Westwood's The House of Light and Shadows. (my review)

I do love it when a house is almost a character in a book. In The Briar Club by Kate Quinn Briarwood House is a character in it's own right, telling part of the story. I listened to this book on audio recently and thoroughly enjoyed it.

The next book I listened to on audio was Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby van Pelt which also featured an unusual character - a giant Pacific octopus named Marcellus. I loved the voice of Marcellus in the audiobook so I am really pleased to hear that the same actor is going to be the voice in the upcoming movie version too! 

There are remarkably few books with the word remarkably in the title (at least in my reading lists) but there is Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier which is about a woman who was a fossil collector.

Which leads me nicely to The Fossil Hunter by Tea Cooper.

Choosing the final book was actually a bit harder, as there were almost too many directions I could choose from but in the end I went with the surname of Cooper and chose A Brief History of Montmoray by Michelle Cooper

Next month, the starting point is Dominic Amerena’s novel about authors and publishing, I Want Everything.

Will you be joining us?

This week....

I'm reading

It's been a busy reading this week with books read and author events attended! 

I read Waves of Change in Pelican Cove by Maggie Christensen who is definitely a comfort read author for me. My review will be up later this week!

I also finished reading The Library of Heartbeats by Laura Imai Messina which is an absolutely delightful read. She is an Italian author who has lived in Japan for 20 years. The book felt like a Japanese book, and I can't wait to read more from her. This book will count as a read for Women in Translation Month.

I finished listening to The Briar Club by Kate Quinn. What a book! I really need to find someone to talk to about parts of the book. I will have a review up later in the month, but I can't talk about some of the things that happened as they are major spoilers! Anyone up for a chat about this book?

I then started listening to Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby van Pelt. I am only a short way in but I already know I am going to love this book too! I love Marcellus the Octopus! I am also already looking forward to the movie adaptation. 

The book that has taken most of my reading time is The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson. It's a big book at nearly 600 pages, but so good - a five star read for me! I have now read all of her books which means I just have to wait for the next one. She does tend to have pretty big gaps between books but it will be worth the wait I am sure.

I did also start reading Kelly Rimmer's new book, The Midnight Estate. It is only early days but I am enjoying it so far.

Now I have to work out what my new normal looks like seeing as I won't have as much reading and blogging time going forward. 

At the end of each month I share where my reading has taken me. Before I do that though, I found this quote in the Author's Note for Adam & Evie's Matchmaking Tour by Nora Nguyen and it sums up bookish travel perfectly!

Books let our imaginations travel where our feet cannot.

You might note a lot of books set in France. I was participating in Paris In July and making the most of it!

Europe

Sweden - Beartown

France - The Magic of Provence, A Bakery in Paris, The Paris Novel, The Village Cafe in the Loire, One Summer in Provence, Fresh Water for Flowers, Eat Your Heart Out

United Kingdom - Your Friend and Mine, One Snowy Day, The Summer Before the War

Iceland - Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries

Italy - A Place in the Sun

Asia

Vietnam - Adam & Evie's Matchmaking Tour

Australia

Tasmania - The Secrets of the Huon Wren

Sydney - The Deadly Dispute

Queensland - Waves of Change in Pelican Crossing

I also share my favourite reads for the month on Bookstagram and here. I read 18 books in July. Beartown and Eat Your Heart Out were both 5 star reads and the others shown were all 4.5 star reads! Not a bad reading month.

I attended a couple of author events this week. The first was the launch for Alli Parker's new book Until the Red Leaves Fall which was held in a super cool bar with 1950s music playing and there were these adorably cupcakes. It was such a fun night.

The second was an event at a nearby library run by Penguin which featured three of their debut authors, Joanne Miller (The Eights), Chloe Adams (The Occupation) and Michelle See-Toh (Jade and Emerald). It was such an interesting discussion. I ended up buying two of the three books.

There are a couple of theme for August and I am going to be participating in them to some degree or another. The first is Women in Translation and on Instagram also Aussie August 2025 which is a focus on Aussie authors. Unfortunately there isn't a lot of crossover there. After all I shouldn't need Australian translated for me, but I will do my best to read for both of them! 

Have you seen that Lisa from Hopewell has a new monthly link party called A Cup of Tea and a Good Book. The idea is that you can add any bookish links to her link party. All she asks in return is that you visit a couple of other people's links during the month. I am going to be participating where I can.

I'm watching

We finally finished watching season 2 of Andor. The last few episodes were amazing!

We also finished watching the Great Canadian Bake-off. Just in time too, as the Great Australian Bake-off started this week!

We went and saw The Stolen Painting which is a French movie about a painting that was thought to be lost during WWII being found. It was based on a true story. In the movie, a young factory work buys a house, contents and all and it turns out one of the paintings is a masterpiece. Here's the trailer

Life


I spent the last week trying to get some of the things done that I have been meaning to do while I wasn't working. 

I went to the National Gallery of Victoria and took one of their free collections highlight tour. I go to the NGV quite regularly for their big exhibitions but I don't often look at any of the other rooms outside the major exhibition spaces. The tour was super interesting as the guide told us stories behind the pictures, and explained a lot of the symbolism in the painting.  She mainly concentrated on 17 and 18th century pictures but there were some later pictures too. I am definitely going to go and do more of these tours.

On Thursday I went for a very nice massage and facial experience which included a hammam and I could stay in the pool and spa for as long as I wanted to.  

On Friday we went for a drive to the Yarra Valley for a lovely lunch at a winery and a visit to the locat Chocolaterie. It was a lovely way to spend my last weekday before I get back into the working life.

Posts from the last week


Top Ten Tuesday: Sunset Colours

Paris in July: Fresh Water for Flowers by Valerie Perrin

Paris in July: French Impressionism from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston exhibition
Paris in July: The End
Historical Fiction Reading Challenge: August links
The Storytellers by Sue Heath
Weekend Cooking: In My Kitchen - July
Six Degrees of Separation: The Safekeep to I Knew You Were Trouble


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...

I'm reading

Last week I finished listening to Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent by Brendan O'Hea and Dame Judi Dench. What a delight hearing many of the stories about her roles, performances, friends, her sense of fun and about Shakespeare and his continuing relevance today! Dame Judi Dench is voiced admirably by Barbara Flynn, but there are some quotes where it is Dame Judi who is speaking, and there is 45 minutes at the end of the audiobook where there is a conversation between the two authors! I don't read a lot of non fiction so it is fantastic when I do and it is so enjoyable!

I then started Corked by Marc Fennell but put it off to one side to listen to The Briar Club by Kate Quinn. I think Corked was actually a podcast but now it has been packaged up and is showing on Goodreads as a book. So far The Briar Club is an excellent audiobook experience but I do kind of wish I was reading it so I can see the recipes that are included throughout the text. I might swap if I can get the book from the library when I go later this week. 

I finished reading Adam & Evie's Matchmaking Tour by Nora Nguyen. I really enjoyed all the places in Vietnam that we visited in the book, and ultimately the romance was satisfying, but it did take a long time!

Then I read a couple of books for Paris in July. I read One Summer in Provence by Carol Drinkwater (review here) and then I read Fresh Water for Flowers by French author Valerie Perrin. This was a very unusual book but I did really enjoy it! My review for this one will be up later in the month.

I then started a couple of things which I wasn't really feeling, but then the library helped me prioritise when I couldn't renew two books so I read the third book in Amanda Hampson's Tea Ladies series, The Deadly Dispute. These books are so much fun and I sped through it in one sitting last night!  I have one other book I need to read in the next couple of days but that will be on the list for next week.   

I did reach my Goodreads reading challenge goal for this year last week! I think I will increase it to 150 books which is basically 2 books a week for the rest of the year.

I'm watching


I went to the movies a couple of times last week. The first one I went to see was Grande Maison Paris which is a Japanese movie about a chef who runs a fine dining restaurant in Paris and is desperate to be awarded a third Michelin star. I have written a review which will be up on the weekend as my Weekend Cooking/Paris in July post. Here's the trailer.

The other movie we went to see was called Number 24. It is a Norwegian movie which is showing as part of the Scandinavian Film Festival. It is about a man who was part of the Norwegian resistance in WWII. It was a really interesting movie. It was structured as the elderly main character giving a speech to a group of students and then flashing back to the things that happened during the war. It was very well done. Here's the trailer.

Life

Not much to talk about here! Fingers crossed I have some exciting news to share soon.

Posts from the last week


Top Ten Tuesday: Honorifics
Paris in July: French-ish songs
Blog Tour: The Village Cafe in the Loire by Gillian Harvey
Blog Tour: One Summer in Provence by Carol Drinkwater
Weekend Cooking/Cook the Books: A Bakery in Paris by Aimie K Runyan
Spell the Month in Books: July 

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

Sunday Salon: Historical Fiction Reading Challenge June Statistics (and for the first 6 months of the year!)

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 June, there were 70 reviews linked up for the challenge, shared by 20 participants. There were 69 individual titles reviewed, written by 66 different authors. There were 5 reviewers who reviewed 5 or more books each. Thank you to everyone who shared their links whether it be 11 or just 1.

So which book was reviewed more than once in June? 

Last year The Women by Kristin Hannah was the most reviewed book for the whole year. This month, it was reviewed by both Bree from All the Books I Can Read and by myself. This book certainly made both of us feel a lot! 

There were also two other authors who had more than one book reviewed. 

I reviewed The Diamond Eye and Margaret from Books Please reviewed Signal Moon which is a short story. Both are by Kate Quinn.

Bev from My Reader's Block has been working her way through the Redmond and Haze mystery series by Irina Shapiro and reviewed the first three books. They were Murder in the Crypt,  Murder at the Abbey and Murder at the Mill.

I wonder what books will be featured next month!

It is hard to believe but we are half way through the challenge already for 2025, so I thought it would be interesting to look at the stats for the first 6 months and see what stands out. 

So far this year there have been 366 reviews linked up for the challenge, shared by 32 participants. There have been 335 individual titles reviewed, written by 292 different authors. There are 3 reviewers who have reviewed 25 or more books each with Laura from Laura's Reviews having contributed an astonishing 53 reviews so far! Thank you to everyone who has shared their links with the challenge.

There are 3 books that have all been reviewed 3 times for the challenge. They are The Lost Passenger by Frances Quinn, The Story She Left Behind by Patti Callahan Henry and The Versailles Formula by Nancy Bilyeau.

Agatha Christie tops the list of authors who have been reviewed most with 10 reviews, followed by Kerry Greenwood who has been reviewed 6 times, and Kate Quinn and Patrice McDonough who have both been reviewed 4 times. 

And so far there have been 29 books reviewed that have the words death or murder in the title! What a bloodthirsty bunch of readers we are!

It will be interesting to see what changes over the next 6 months when I do the statistics for the whole year!

If you love historical fiction and reading challenges, it isn't too late to join us! All the details can be found in the sign up post.

I am sharing this with Sunday Salon hosted at Readerbuzz

20 Books of Winter - June

 

We are already a month through the 20 Books of Summer/Winter event! Can you believe how quickly that has gone?

Our hosts, Emma from Words and Peace and Annabel from Annabookbel have come up with some fun questions for our end of month recaps.

I am pretty happy with my progress so far. I read 7 of the books that I nominated on my original lists which puts me on track to finish the list. I did read 19 books in total in June so I do have some opportunities for swaps should I need them later. 

Here's my full list. The ones in bold are the titles I have read.

20 Books of Winter

Beartown by Fredrik Backman

The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn - Review

A Bakery in Paris by Aimie K Runyan

Over the Seas to Skye by Sue Moorcroft - Review

Three Juliets by Minnie Darke

A Secret Garden in Paris by Sophie Beaumont

The Midnight Bakery by Emma Davies

Half Truth by Nadia Mahjouri - Review

The Village Cafe in the Loire by Gillian Harvey

The Storytellers by Sue Heath

The Story Collector by Evie Woods

French Rhapsody by Antoine Laurain

The King's Jewel by Elizabeth Chadwick

The Butterfly Women by Madeleine Cleary - Review

The Last Love Note by Emma Grey

The Library of Heartbeats by Laura Imai Messina

Emily Wildes Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett

Butter by Asako Yuzuki

The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson

Dallergut Dream Department Store by Miye Lee

If your #20BooksofSummer25 TBR were a beach, what’s the most surprising thing you’ve unearthed so far – a hidden gem, a total shipwreck, or something unexpectedly delightful?

I think the book that surprised me was The Butterfly Women by Madeleine Cleary mainly because of the light it shone of the hidden or forgotten history of Melbourne!

Imagine your reading progress as a summer road trip. Which book has been the scenic route, which has been the highway, and is there a rest stop book you’re looking forward to?

The book which was the scenic route was Over the Seas to Skye by Sue Moorcroft because it took us to the Isle of Skye in Scotland and was the final book in the trilogy, so we got the opportunity for all three stories to be wrapped up. 

The highway was The Storyteller by Sue Heath, because once I started it, I just could not put it down!

The rest stop book that I am looking forward to is The Village Cafe in the Loire by Gillian Harvey which I am reading soon. I really love her books and have high hopes for this one. It will also bring back memories of our visit to the Loire a couple of years ago.

Thinking about the books I have read collectively, it has been quite the road trip so far. I have visited the Ukraine and US, Scotland, Paris (twice), Morocco, Britain and historical Melbourne.  

If one of the books you’ve read this month was turned into an ice cream flavor, what ingredients would it have, and what would it be called?

I would turn Half Truth by Nadia Mahjouri into a pistachio and saffron ice cream. The colour of the pistachio could represent the green and gold of Australia and the saffron the flavours and cultures of Morocco. I feel like an ice cream would be very welcome in the heat of Morocco. 

If you could swap places with a character from one of the books you’ve read this month, purely for the summer, who would it be and what items would you absolutely take with you?

My answer to this one will surprise no one I am sure. If I could swap places with a character from one of the books I read it will be Charlotte from A Secret Garden in Paris. Why specifically Charlotte and not one of the other characters. She is staying rent free in her aunt's house in Paris! And the item I would take with me would be the hand drawn map of the garden tour that Emma's grandmother Mattie drew so that I can wander all over the city finding hidden and lesser known gardens.

“Plot twist!”: If your summer reading challenge were a book, what unexpected event just happened to shake things up? Or did life get in the way of your reading plans?

Whilst I did think a lot about what books to include in my original list, only two from the original list were from my list of committed blog tours, and I also didn't really take into consideration all of the books that I already had out from the library. This means that I have several reading lists going with due dates looming! That could become a problem over the next couple of months.

And now, onto July!

Top Ten Tuesday: Books on my Winter 2025 to-read list

 Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is Books on My Summer Winter 2025 to-Read List.

A couple of weeks ago I shared the first 10 of my 20 books that I plan to read for the 20 Books of Winter event hosted by Emma from Words and Peace and Annabel from Annabookbel. Today I am sharing the rest of the books I plan to read. 

The Last Love Note by Emma Grey - I loved Pictures of You when I read it earlier this year so I am really looking forward to this one. 

The Library of Heartbeats by Laura Imai Messina - This sounds like such a lovely read. 

Emily Wildes Encyclopeadia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett - I have been not so gently encouraged to read this book for a while!

The Storytellers by Sue Heath - I am so excited for this book. The Secret Ingredient was one of my favourite books last year. 

The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn - I have had this on my Kindle for 3 years. I actually already read and reviewed this one.  (My review)

Over the Sea to Skye by Sue Moorcroft  - I have already read and reviewed this one too. (My review)

Butter by Asako Yuzuki  - Every now and again my read on a theme book club reads the same book. This is the book we are going to read for our August meeting.

The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson. I recently read her latest book. Having read and love both her first and latest books I had to read the one in the middle that I haven't read yet.

DallerGut Dream Department Store by Lee Mi-Ye - Can't remember where I heard about this book but I currently have it out of the library, along with a few others that I didn't include on this list. Not sure when I will read those!

The Butterfly Women by Madeleine Cleary - I am going to an author event for this book soon so will definitely want to read it after hearing the author talk

So now I have put my 20 Books of Winter out into the world. Now to read them all!

Do you have any of these books on your list this week?

This Week...

I'm reading

As I mentioned last week, the theme for our next read on a theme book club is war. I probably have at least 50 options already on my Kindle to fit that theme so I suspect that I will be reading multiple books again this month. I have already read the first which was The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn. I had this from Netgalley before it was even released. I do intend to write a review. Do you think it's too late to add feedback now?

I also read Over the Sea to Skye this week. This is the third book in the Skye Sisters trilogy and I enjoyed it. My review will be up later this week.

On audio, I finished The Mirror by Nora Roberts, the second book in the Lost Brides trilogy. The final book comes out later this year and I am looking forward to seeing how she wraps the story up. I have no idea what book I am going to listen to next. I have so many options and I can't make a decision. I did look at all the books I have nominated for 20 Books of Winter, but I already own them all or at least have them out of the library. 

I also finished The Page Turner by Viola Shipman Normally l love this author but this one didn't work for me. It did, however, have some great quotes about books and reading.  Here's just one

"Sometimes we forget why we read," my mother says as if to herself. "Sometimes it is to walk in someone else's shoes for a while. Sometimes it is to travel to a place or time we never will. Sometimes it is to get angry or more informed. And sometimes it's simply to escape, smile and be offered a little bit of hope so it's possible to go on in this world."

I was excited to attend the launch event for Jodie McAlister's new book, An Academic Affair. I am really looking forward to reading this one! It sounds so good!

I'm watching


I watched a French movie called Siddonie in Japan. It was a very quiet movie about an author who goes on a book tour to Japan. However, the ghost of her husband starts to appear to her as she begins to have feelings for her publisher. She visits some of the same places we went to in Japan. Only difference....there were no crowds! Here's the trailer

Life

It's been a very social long weekend here. Today is a public holiday to celebrate the King's Birthday (it's not his actual birthday) but it was mine! I was out for lunch and dinner on Friday, then we went to Geelong for lunch, and then to an engagement party and then brunch on both Sunday and Monday! Now I am ready for a good lay down!

Everything at the lunch at Geelong was delicious, and the view is pretty spectacular too!

Posts from the last week

Top Ten Tuesday: 10 of my 20 Books of Summer
The Women by Kristin Hannah

The Bad Bridesmaid by Rachael Johns

Blog Tour: The Silver Ladies Seize the Day by Judy Leigh
Weekend Cooking: In My Kitchen - May

Six Degrees: All Fours to War and Peace






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

Six Degrees of Separation: All Fours to War and Peace

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 All Fours by Miranda July which is nominated for 2025 Women’s Prize for Fiction. Nominated or not, it's a book that I am really not interested in reading based on the things I have heard about it!

My first link is based on the number 4 and takes me to The Fourth Bear by Jasper Fforde. This is the second book in the Nursery Crimes series, which I seem to have enjoyed a lot when I read it 19 years ago (my review)

My next choice used the word bear as the link and is The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden. This is a book that I started on audio years ago and have never quite finished. One day.

This time, I am using the nightingale as connected to The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. This is a book that I also listened to on audio but the difference is that I did finish it! 

Next, I am using the word nightingale as my connection to The Rose of Sebastopol by Katherine McMahon. How does that work you might wonder? Well, this book tells the story of a young woman who went to the Crimea to work alongside Florence Nightingale. (my review)

This week I have been reading The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn, which is partially set in and around Sebastopol during WWII.

And next, we make a leap to War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. The connection on this one is probably a bit obscure but I chose it because one of the characters in The Diamond Eye carries a copy of War and Peace around with him on the battlefield. This also acted as a reminder that I am a bit behind on my chapter a day readalong!

I am pretty sure that there is no way that I can link All Fours to War and Peace to come full circle! Another time!

Next month, the starting point is 2025 Stella Prize winner, Michelle de Kretser’s , Theory & Practice.

Will you be joining us?

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: Books set in another time

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's them is Books Set in Another Time. You may be aware that I host the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge, so I have decided to share 10 books that were reviewed more than once in last year's Historical Fiction Reading challenge. Most of these were reviewed three times during 2024, with the last two being reviewed four and five times respectively! There were 600 individual titles reviewed for the challenge which is impressive! You can find more statistics from last year's challenge here.

The Phoenix Crown by Kate Quinn and Janie Chang

The Household by Stacey Halls

The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon

The Briar Club by Kate Quinn

James by Percival Everett

Gabriel's Moon by William Boyd

Every Time We Say Goodbye by Natalie Jenner

Hungry Ghosts by Kevin Jared Hosein

The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club by Helen Simonson

The Women by Kristin Hannah

Have you read any of these? I have several of these on my TBR pile.

Do you love historical fiction? Do you love reading challenges? It's not too late to join us. All the details can be found here!

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Was Super Excited About But Still Haven't Read

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is Books I Was Super Excited to Get My Hands on but Still Haven’t Read. And yes, I am sticking to the script this week. It isn't always the case

Daisy and Kate by Meredith Appleyard - I first saw the cover for this at a reader retreat last year and wanted to read it straight away....but still haven't!

The Other Bridget by Rachael Johns - I bought this as soon as it came out in book form, as opposed to on Kindle, but still haven't read it.

The Missing Sister by Lucinda Riley - I listened to all the previous Seven Sisters books, but the idea of listening to a book 30 hours long is very intimidating right now as I don't get to listen that much anymore. And then I have the next book after that as well

Midnight Blue by Simone van der Vlugt - I had to have this book as soon as I saw it!

The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn - What am I waiting for? Yeah, I don't know either

The Last Bookshop in London by Madeline Martin - I could also mention this author's subsequent books too.

Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-Reum - I have had this on my radar since last year.

The Starfish Sisters by Barbara O'Neal - I have quite a few unread books by this author

An Astronomer in Love by Antoine Laurain - Maybe I'll get to read this for Paris in July.

The Air Raid Book Club by Annie Lyons -  I like the sound of this author's upcoming book too.

Have you read any of these books?

Top Ten Tuesday: Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the First 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 in the First Half of 2024

The Radio Hour by Victoria Purman (May) - I love this cover!!

The Chocolate Factory by Mary-Lou Stephens (January) - I am really looking forward to reading this book which is set in Tasmania

The Other Bridget by Rachael Johns (January) - How cute is this cover.

Funny Story by Emily Henry (April) - Emily Henry is pretty much an autobuy author for me now.

The Underground Library by Jennifer Ryan (March) - I really enjoyed The Kitchen Front so I am looking forward to this one.

Those Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson (March) - I don't read a lot of sci-fi but I did enjoy this author's previous book, The Space Between Worlds.

Happy Ever After in Bellbird Bay by Maggie Christensen (February) - I always look forward to a new Bellbird Bay book.

Bordeaux Book Club by Gillian Harvey (March) - This cover was only revealed a couple of days ago,and I think it is cool!

The Phoenix Crown by Kate Quinn and Janie Chang (February) - This sounds really good!

The Dubrovnik Book Club by Eva Glyn (March) - I've never read this author but as soon as I saw the title I knew it would be on my list!

Are any of these books on your list this week?

Top Ten Tuesday: Books on my Summer 2023-2024 to read list

 

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week the them

e is Books on My Winter 2023/24 to-Read List but it is summer here so this is my summer to read list.

The Vintage Village Bakeoff by Judy Leigh - This is for a review. Apparently it was supposed to be last week but I wrote next week's date down instead.

The Other Bridget by Rachael Johns - I am a big fan of Rachael Johns so of course this is on my list!

The Chocolate Factory by Mary-Lou Stephens - I enjoyed this author's debut novel The Last of the Apple Blossom so I am looking forward to this one!

The Secrets of Crestwell Hall by Alexandra Walsh - Another review copy!

The Phoenix Crown by Kate Quinn and Janie Chang - I am always up for a new Kate Quinn novel.

The Secret Ingredient by Sue Heath - This will be a future Weekend Cooking post.

Exit Strategy by Martha Wells - the fourth Murderbot book! I have already started this one.

Hogfather by Terry Pratchett - My now traditional re-listen to this book!

Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros - I am pretty sure this won't be the only time this book appears on TTT posts.

Before Your Memory Fades by Toshikazzu Kawaguchi - I will be listening to this for the Japanese Literature Challenge

Do you have any of these books on your TBR list?