Six in Six is Back for 2021!

Here we are in July, which means it's time for this fun meme hosted by Jo @ The Book Jotter.

The aim of Six in Six is to share what we've read in the first six months of the year by choosing six of the categories given and listing six books under each category. More information and the list of categories can be found here.

This meme has been going since 2012, but I've only participated since 2016. I found it's a great way to look back on what you've read so far in the year and to see any emerging trends.

Six Degrees of Separation: from Eats, Shoots & Leaves to Valentines from Bath

The first Saturday of the month is 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 Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss, a book that topped the critics ‘best of 2019’ lists. It is about punctuation told in such away as to make it a fun read. I haven't read this book, but am adding it to my TBR pile.

I haven't participated in this meme for a while as I was unable to launch from the starting book. This time that first jump came to mind instantly and the rest followed on easily from there.

Punctuation goes hand in hand with writing, which uses some sort of writing implement

The Shut Away Sisters by Suzanne Goldring
Book Review

Publication Date: 29 June 2021
Publisher: Bookouture
Format: ebook and paperback
Genre: Historical Fiction

Synopsis

Two ordinary sisters. A long and brutal war. A heroic sacrifice…

London, 1915. As German bombs rain down on the East End of London and hungry children queue for rations in the blistering cold, fifteen-year-old Florrie is forced to grow up fast. With her father fighting in the muddy trenches, Florrie turns to her older sister Edith for comfort. But the war has changed Edith. She has grown quiet, with dark shadows under her eyes, and has started leaving the house at night in secret. When Florrie follows her sister through the dark and winding streets of

Last Flight to Stalingrad by Graham Hurley
Read An Excerpt

Today I'm bringing you an excerpt from Graham Hurley's latest World War II thriller, Last Flight to Stalingrad.

Publication Date: July 1, 2021
Publisher: Head of Zeus
Series: Spoils of War #5
Genre: Historical Fiction, World War II, Thriller

Synopsis

Berlin, 1942.

For four years, the men in field grey have helped themselves to country after country across Western Europe.

For Werner Nehmann, a journalist at the Promi – the Ministry of Propaganda – this dizzying series of victories has felt like a party without end. But now the Reich's attention has turned towards the East, and as winter sets in, the mood is turning.

Werner's boss, Joseph Goebbels, can sense

Shades of Gray Civil War Trilogy by Jessica James
Book Blast + Giveaway (US only)

Publication Date: June 29, 2021
Genre: Historical Fiction

Synopsis

They started as sworn enemies. Can they open their hearts to love?

Shades of Gray Trilogy is sweeping Southern fiction that, according to one reviewer, “transcends the pages to settle in the very marrow of the reader’s bones.”

The Civil War Trilogy takes readers across the rolling hills of Virginia in a page-turning tale of action and adventure as a Union spy spars with a renowned Confederate cavalry commander. Gallantry and chivalry are put to the test when Colonel Alexander Hunter discovers that Andrea Evans is not only the woman he promised his dying brother he

The Case of the Peculiar Inheritance
by Samantha St. Claire
Book Blast w/ Excerpt + Book Trailer

Today I'm drawing your attention to The Case of the Peculiar Inheritance by Samantha St. Claire, one of two books in the new McKenzie Sisters Mystery Series set in the American West at the end of the 19th century.

Details of the other book in the series, The Case of the Copper King by MK McClintock, can be found HERE.

Publication Date: June 22, 2021
Publisher: Trappers Peak Publishing
Series: McKenzie Sisters Mysteries
Page Count: 248pp
Format: ebook & paperback
Genre: Historical Western Cozy Mystery

Synopsis

Witty and irascible Rose McKenzie tackles Denver’s criminal cases with a woman’s intuition and a loaded Smith and Wesson tucked in her skirt pocket.

Eager for adventure beyond her scientific experiments, Rose accepts her uncle’s challenge to become Denver’s first female private detective. When a wealthy woman employs her to track down a burglar, Rose zealously applies her unique investigative talents to prove she can handle any job. After

The Case of the Copper King by MK McClintock
Book Blast w/ Excerpt + Book Trailer

Today I'm drawing your attention to The Case of the Copper King by MK McClintock, one of two books in the new McKenzie Sisters Mystery Series set in the American West at the end of the 19th century.

Details of the other book in the series, The Case of the Peculiar Inheritance by Samantha St. Claire, can be found HERE.

Publication Date: June 22, 2021
Publisher: Trappers Peak Publishing
Series: McKenzie Sisters Mysteries
Page Count: 290pp
Format: ebook & paperback
Genre: Historical Western Cozy Mystery

Synopsis

Clever and feisty Cassandra McKenzie engages her newest assignment for the Pinkerton Agency with a knack for deception and a blade in her boot.

Smart, skilled, and unafraid to get her hands dirty, Cassandra grudgingly takes on a new assignment in one of Colorado’s busiest mining towns, where murder and theft draw her deep into a puzzle of lies, quarries, and forgery.

When the mysterious and handsome Quinn Morgan

A Note to Email Subscribers

As of July 2021, Google will be discontinuing Feedburner, the application behind the email subscription widget on Blogger.

So from today, when there is a new post on my blog, you will receive an email from "Adarngoodread - follow.it".

If you currently don't receive my posts by email and would like to, please sign up via the Get New Posts by Email box in the side bar.

Thank you for reading my posts. Your interest is much appreciated.

The English Girl by Sarah Mitchell
Book Review

Publication Date: 18 June 2021
Publisher: Bookouture
Format: ebook and paperback
Genre: Historical Fiction

Synopsis

He is German. She is English. Their countries are enemies. Can love bring them together? Inspired by an incredible true story, this is a sweeping tale about the power of hope in the face of war and the legacy of an impossible choice.

1946, Norfolk, England: Grief and fear spill over in Fran’s small village when German prisoners of war are sent to the nearby camp. After the death of her beloved brother on the front lines, Fran cannot see the new arrivals as anything but his killers.

The Assassins by Alan Bardos
Spotlight - Audio Blog Tour

Publication Date: (current edition) 15th February 2021
Publisher: Sharpe Books
Series: Johnny Swift Thrillers
Page Length: 376 Pages
Genre: Historical Thriller
Audiobook Narrated By: Jack Bennett

Synopsis

1914.

Tensions are reaching boiling point in Europe and the threat of war is imminent.

Johnny Swift, a young and brash diplomatic clerk employed by the British embassy is sent to infiltrate the ‘Young Bosnians’, a group of idealistic conspirators planning to murder Franz Ferdinand. The heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, in a bid to liberate their

Murder at the Fair by Verity Bright
Book Review

Publication Date: 15 June 2021
Publisher: Bookouture
Series: A Lady Eleanor Swift Mystery #6
Genre: Historical Fiction - Cosy Mystery

Synopsis

Summer flowers, warm sunshine, a maypole dance and… is that another murder? A tricky case is afoot for Lady Swift!

Summer, 1921. Lady Eleanor Swift, the best amateur sleuth in the country, is delighted to be in charge of the prize-giving at her village summer fair. But the traditional homemade raft race takes a tragic turn when the local undertaker, Solemn Jon, turns up dead amongst the ducks. Jon was the life of any party and loved by the entire village. Surely this was simply an awful accident?

The Poison Keeper by Deborah Swift
Book Review

Publication Date: 18th May 2021
Publisher: Quire Books
Page Length: 394 Pages
Genre: Historical Fiction

Synopsis

Naples 1633

Aqua Tofana – One drop to heal. Three drops to kill.

Giulia Tofana longs for more responsibility in her mother’s apothecary business, but Mamma has always been secretive and refuses to tell Giulia the hidden keys to her success. When Mamma is arrested for the poisoning of the powerful Duke de Verdi, Giulia is shocked to uncover the darker side of her trade.