SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION - From Atonement to Homeland

The first Saturday of the month is time for Six Degrees of Separation, a meme hosted by Kate of Books Are My Favourite and Best. A book is chosen as the starting point and the idea is to link six books to one another to form a chain.

I've often wanted to participate in this meme but could never find the first link to get me started. Finding that link, no matter how tenuous, is a challenge in itself. Once I had that, I found the rest followed quite easily though it did require a bit of creative thinking.

This month the starting point is Atonement by Ian McEwan. I haven't read the book, but I have seen the film.

The Classics Club Spin #18 - The Spin Number Has Been Announced!

The number for this Classics Club Spin is 9 which corresponds to Starvecrow Farm by Stanley J. Weyman on my list.

Weyman was a late 19th century author who wrote over 30 novels. Starvecrow Farm was first published in 1905. I couldn't find a detailed synopsis and the only information I've managed to uncover comes from various sources. It is a romance set in 1819, four years after the end of the

The Classics Club Spin #18

It's time for another Classics Club Spin - #18 - and the first from the new moderators.

The rules are simple. Before Wednesday 1st August 2018, select twenty books still remaining to be read from your Classics Club list and create a post. This is your spin list.

On Wednesday, the spin number will be announced

SIX IN SIX is Back for 2018!

Here we are in July (only just), which means there's still time to participate in this fun meme hosted by Jo @ The Book Jotter.

SIX IN SIX is a meme where the aim is to share in July six books in six categories from the books we have read etc. in the first six months of the year, either using Jo's categories or your own.

I started composing this post at the start of July, but due to a lot of procrastination have left it until now to finalise.

BOOK REVIEW/BLOG TOUR: Last Dance in Kabul by Ken Czech

Publication Date: August 2, 2018

Fireship Press

Paperback & eBook; 306 Pages

Genre: Action & Adventure/Historical/Romance/War & Military

Synopsis

The Ultimate Dance Between Love and War

When his superiors ignore his warnings of an impending Afghan insurrection in 1841, British army captain Reeve Waterton vows never to return to Kabul. But then he rescues strong-willed Sarah Kane from an ambush and his plans for civilian life and self-

BOOK REVIEW/BLOG TOUR: Blood and Ink by D.K. Marley

Publication Date: March 28, 2018

The White Rabbit Publishing

ebook, Paperback, and Audible; 438 Pages

Genre: Historical Fiction

Synopsis

In the tradition of "The Marlowe Papers" by Ros Barber, the debut historical fiction novel "Blood and Ink" tells the story of Christopher "Kit" Marlowe, the dark and brooding playwright of Queen Elizabeth's court. Marlowe sells his soul to gain the one thing he desires: to see his name immortalized.

Inspired at an early age on the banks of the Stour

BOOK REVIEW/BLOG TOUR: A Hangman for Ghosts by Andrei Baltakmens

Publication Date: July 1, 2018
Top Five Books
Paperback & eBook; 288 Pages
Genre: Historical Mystery

Synopsis

“We are transported. We are consigned to the ends of the Earth. And we are therefore as good as dead to the realm and its judges. There can be no hope of reprieve…”

Gabriel Carver, the convict hangman of Sydney Prison, knows that none of his kind may depart Australia’s penal colony without the system’s leave.

BOOK REVIEW/BLOG TOUR: The King's Justice by E.M. Powell

Publication Date: June 1, 2018

Thomas & Mercer

Paperback & eBook; 288 Pages

ISBN-978-1542046015

Series: Stanton and Barling #1

Genre: Historical Mystery

Synopsis

A murder that defies logic—and a killer on the loose.

England, 1176. Aelred Barling, esteemed clerk to the justices of King Henry II, is dispatched from the royal court with his young assistant, Hugo Stanton, to

Cover Reveal: Beautiful Invention: A Novel of Hedy Lamarr by Margaret Porter

Publication Date: October 16, 2018
Gallica Press
Paperback; eBook
Genre: Historical Biographical Fiction

Synopsis

“But I don’t regret anything. I learned a lot.” —Hedy Lamarr

Book Blast + Giveaway: The Daughter of River Valley by Victoria Cornwall

Publication Date: July 17, 2018
eBook; Choc Lit; 313 Pages
AudioBook; Soundings
Genre: Historical Romance
Series: Cornish Tales #3

Synopsis

Beth Jago appears to have the idyllic life, she has a trade to earn a living and a cottage of her own in Cornwall’s beautiful River Valley. Yet appearances can be deceptive …

Beth has a secret. Since inheriting her isolated cottage she has been receiving threats, so when she

Blog Tour/Book Review: The Gilded Shroud by Elizabeth Bailey

Elizabeth Bailey is a popular author of Georgian romances. The Gilded Shroud is the first book in her Lady Fan Mystery series also set in the Georgian era.

Publication Date: June 21, 2018
Publisher: Sapere Books
ebook
Genre:Historical Fiction, Mystery, romance

Synopsis

1789, London

When Emily Fanshawe, Marchioness of Polbrook, is found strangled in her bedchamber, suspicion immediately falls on those residing in the grand house in Hanover Square.

Emily’s husband - Randal Fanshawe, Lord Polbrook

Book Review: We That Are Left by Lisa Bigelow

Many Australians and naval historians know of the mystery surrounding the disappearance of HMAS Sydney during World War II and the discovery of its wreckage which made headline news in 2008.

In her debut novel, Lisa Bigelow draws on her family's history to tell the story of Mae, the wife of a naval engineer aboard the HMAS Sydney, and Grace, an aspiring female reporter whose boyfriend is posted to Singapore to cover the war there.

Synopsis

Melbourne, 1941. Headstrong young Mae meets and falls head over heels in love with Harry Parker, a