2019 New Releases Challenge - My Sign Up Post

Hosted by: Brandee and Lexie at (un)Conventional Bookworms
Challenge period: 1st January to 31st December, 2019
Sign Up: By 1st September, 2019
Aim: To read books released in 2019.

All the information can be found here on the sign-up page.

Historical Fiction Reading Challenge 2019 - My Sign Up Post

Hosted by: Passages to the Past.
Challenge period: 1st January to 31st December, 2019
Sign up: anytime during the year

All the details are available on the sign-up page.

There are six different reading levels: 20th Century Reader (2 books), Victorian Reader (5 books), Renaissance Reader (10 books), Medieval (15 books), Ancient History (25 books) and Prehistoric (50+ books).

Australian Women Writers Challenge 2019 - My Sign up Post

Hosted by: Australian Women Writers.
Challenge period: 1st January to 31st December, 2019.
Sign Up: Throughout the year until 30th November, 2019.
Aim: To help overcome gender bias in the reviewing of books by Australian women.

Further information about the challenge and how to join can be found here.

Aussie Author Challenge 2019 - My Sign Up Post

Hosted by: Jo at Book Lover Reviews
Challenge period: 1st January to 31st December, 2019
Sign Up: Anytime during the year
Aim: To showcase the quality and diversity of the books being produced by Australian authors.

All the information and how to join is here on the sign-up page.

This year I'm participating at the Wallaroo level:

BOOK REVIEW/BLOG TOUR: The Road to Newgate by Kate Braithwaite

Publication Date: July 16, 2018
Crooked Cat Books
Paperback and eBook; 280 Pages
Genre: Historical/Mystery

Synopsis

What price justice?

London 1678.

Titus Oates, an unknown preacher, creates panic with wild stories of a Catholic uprising against Charles II. The murder of a prominent Protestant magistrate appears to confirm that the Popish Plot is real.

2018 Reading Challenges - My Wrap Up Post

Here is my wrap up post for the challenges I signed up for in 2018. Once again, I have mixed results. Okay, I'll be honest - I failed miserably. On the bright side, I did read some wonderful

SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION: From A Christmas Carol to Mr. Dickens and His Carol

It's the beginning of a new month which means it's time to play Six Degrees of Separation. This meme is hosted by Kate of Books Are My Favourite and Best. The aim is to link six books to each other from the starting point.

This month the starting point is another book I've read a number of times and which remains one of my Christmas favourites, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.

So where to from here? Do I go the easy route and stick with the Christmas theme or tax my brain a little to come up with other links? I've tried to do both.

A Christmas Carol is a novella. This links to one that I've recently read. It is also set in Victorian England during

BOOK REVIEW/BLOG TOUR: The Monastery Murders by E.M. Powell

Publication Date: September 27, 2018
Thomas & Mercer
Paperback & eBook; 288 Pages
ISBN-13: 978-1503903241
Series: Stanton and Barling #2
Genre: Historical Mystery

Synopsis

Their lives are ones of quiet contemplation—and brutal murder.

Christmas Eve, 1176. Brother Maurice, monk of Fairmore Abbey, awaits the night prayer bell. But there is only silence. Cursing his fellow brother

A Top 35 Historical Book Blog!

I am very surprised and pleased to have received this award from Feedspot. Thank you!

My fellow recipients are some of the popular and well-respected historical book blogs on the internet today. I am very flattered that A Darn Good Read is ranked amongst them.

The complete list and the criteria used for selection can be viewed here.

BOOK REVIEW/BLOG TOUR: The Blue by Nancy Bilyeau

Publication Date: December 3, 2018
Endeavour Quill
eBook & Hardcover; 430 Pages
Genre: Historical Fiction/Mystery

Synopsis

In eighteenth century London, porcelain is the most seductive of commodities; fortunes are made and lost upon it. Kings do battle with knights and knaves for possession of the finest pieces and the secrets of their manufacture.

For Genevieve Planché, an English-born descendant of Huguenot refugees, porcelain holds far less allure;

BOOK REVIEW/BLOG TOUR: A Holiday by Gaslight: A Victorian Christmas Novella by Mimi Matthews

Publication Date: November 13, 2018
Perfectly Proper Press
eBook & Paperback; 172 Pages
Genre: Historical Romance/Christmas/Novella

Synopsis

A Courtship of Convenience

Sophie Appersett is quite willing to marry outside of her class to ensure the survival of her family. But the darkly handsome Mr. Edward Sharpe is no run-of-the-mill London merchant. He's grim and silent. A man of little emotion--or perhaps no emotion at all. After two months

BOOK REVIEW/BLOG TOUR: A Pivotal Right by K.A. Servian

Publication Date: August 15, 2018
Paperback & eBook
Series: Shaking the Tree, Book #2
Genre: Historical/Romance/Victorian

Synopsis

Florence struggled for breath as she stared into the face of a ghost. "Jack?"

Twenty years after being forced apart Jack and Florence have been offered a second chance at love. But can they find their way back to each other through all the misunderstandings, guilt and pain?

And what of their daughter, Viola? Her plan to become a doctor is based on the belief she has inherited her gift her medicine from Emile, the man she believed was her father. How will she reconcile her future with the discovery that she is Jack's child?