Six Degrees of Separation – from Tom Lake to Some Writer!

It’s time for #6degrees, inspired by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best. We all start at the same place, add six books, and see where we end up. This month’s starting point is Tom Lake by Ann Patchett, which I reviewed in September and liked so much it made my Best of 2023 list.

Six Degrees of Separation – from The End of the Affair to Diana: Her True Story in Her Own Words

It’s time for #6degrees, inspired by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best. We all start at the same place, add six books, and see where we end up.   This month’s starting point is The End of the Affair by Graham Greene (1951), who was one of my grandmother’s favorite writers.  

How to Be Brave, a modern school story by Daisy May Johnson

Title: How to Be Brave
Author: Daisy May Johnson
Publication: Henry Holt & Co., hardcover, 2021
Genre: Middle-grade fiction
Setting: 21st century England

Description: Elizabeth North survived the loss of her parents with the help of the Good Sisters at her boarding school and an obsessive interest in ducks.

France 2021, Day 13, Lyon and Château de Fléchères

I think most of the passengers were doing a winery tour this morning but we wanted to stroll around Lyon and I wanted to do some shopping. We had driven past one of the main shopping areas previously and it was a pleasant walk along the Rhône and then over the Pont de la Guillotière to what is called La Presqu’ile, between the Rhône and Saône rivers.

Château de Fléchères

Bookshelf Traveling - July 25, 2020

Time for another round of Bookshelf Traveling in Insane Times which is being hosted by Judith at Reader in the Wilderness.   The idea is to share one of your neglected bookshelves or perhaps a new pile of books.   

After traveling with Eva Ibbotson last week, I reread her Magic Flutes and then decided I had never read The Star of Kazan so began that one.  Do you know sometimes you are so familiar with an author or genre so well that you recognize what is going to happen and then you think, wait, have I already read this?   It happens to me with Elizabeth Cadell and D.E. Stevenson’s books, most but not all of which I read years ago, and is definitely happening with The Star of Kazan.   We’ll see if I am right.  As it is an audiobook, I now realize I should have been pronouncing Eva as “Ava.”

Bookshelf Traveling - July 17

Time for another round of Bookshelf Traveling in Insane Times which is being hosted by Judith at Reader in the Wilderness.   The idea is to share one of your neglected bookshelves or perhaps a new pile of books. 

This shelf holds most of my Eva Ibbotson collection, a Viennese-born author (1925-2010) who spent most of her life in England.  I don’t recall if my mother or I first found Ibbotson but we became fans in the 80s after her first two books were published, A Countess Below Stairs and Magic Flutes.  Her seven adult novels are charming, light historical novels with romantic elements about resolute heroines with an oversized sense of responsibility for others, no matter how dire their own straits.  Ibbotson’s books display a sensitivity toward refugees and displaced people that likely resulted from her own experience.  They are real comfort books!

Six Degrees of Separation: From Fleishman to A Cure for Dreams

It’s time for #6degrees, inspired by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best. Start at the same place as other avid readers, add six books, and see where you end up.

This month’s chain begins with Fleishman is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akner who often writes about celebrities for the New York Times Magazine.

I have not yet read Fleishman but the author’s name led me to my first book which is Daddy- Long-Legs by Jean Webster (1912), an old favorite.  At a fictional college based on Vassar, orphaned Judy learns how to have fun as well as to study, making choices and developing personality not previously available to her. There is plenty of taffy and fudge making (a pity that tradition has not endured) in these college stories. As Bronte Coates observes,

“A variant on the boarding school theme, these stories were set in fictionalised versions of women’s colleges and are credited as playing a part in normalising the idea of higher education for women.”

The Oracle of Stamboul

The Oracle of Stamboul, a debut juvenile novel by Michael David Lukas, whirls the reader into a dark and intriguing late 19th century Balkan town of Constanta, then on to the more glamorous city of Stamboul. When Yakob Cohen, a worthy carpet merchant, loses his wife in childbirth, he is left to bring up his precocious daughter Eleonora alone. A grim aunt turns up and bullies Yakob into marrying her but her primary purpose is to make Yakob and Eleonora miserable. She even limits Eleonora’s reading in a way that is reminiscent of Emily Byrd Starr’s Aunt Elizabeth in Emily Climbs (but Elizabeth Murray cared for Emily and simply couldn’t show it, unlike Aunt Ruxandra). The action begins when Yakob plans a trip to Stamboul to sell his carpets and 8 year old Eleonora stows away on the ship rather than stay home alone with hard-faced Ruxandra. Yakob is not thrilled when she appears on the last night of the voyage, but he rallies and she is welcomed by his business partner in Stamboul, Moncef Bey, who showers her with beautiful clothes and gives her the run of his library. It is Bey who gives her a home when tragedy strikes, and provides her with a tutor, a robust Englishman she and Yakob met on their voyage. A brilliant student who can break a code without effort, Eleonora’s skills soon come to the attention of the Sultan, who invites her to his palace as a novelty and ends up consulting her on political strategy.

I had heard about this book several months ago, and was intrigued because it reminded me of books by Eva Ibbotson, sadly no longer with us. There were some elements that were similar – the intrepid orphan who enchants adults and faces the direst situations with courage and integrity. However, Eleonora, while plucky, never won my heart the way an Ibbotson heroine does. Her sorrow was too bleak and while I pitied her, I yearned for some hint her life would get better (instead, she was deluged with political paperwork to wade through and analyze like an overburdened lawyer doing document review) and it was hard to care about her. Ultimately, while original and very readable, I felt the book lacked the dimension that would transform it into the type of juvenile classic that is reread. I enjoyed the descriptions of Stamboul, and the book made me want to visit Istanbul. However, I found the ending extremely disappointing, if not annoying. While it leaves open the possibility for more stories, it made me impatient for an 8 year old to set off alone to find happiness elsewhere. It seemed unfair for the exotic city of Stamboul not to provide a permanent home for this able heroine. And what use were the hoopoes? I kept waiting for them to provide assistance or guidance but they primarily just followed Eleonora around.

The book is beautifully packaged as you can see, with a design that is reminiscent of the exotic world the author is trying to convey. I appreciated the opportunity to participate in the TLC Tour for this book, and did enjoy it. To see how others reviewed it on the Tour, please visit:

Tuesday, February 22nd: The Feminist Texan [Reads]
Wednesday, February 23rd: My Two Blessings
Thursday, February 24th: One Book Shy
Monday, February 28th: A Fair Substitute for Heaven
Tuesday, March 1st: Unabridged Chick
Wednesday, March 2nd: Simply Stacie

I always enjoy seeing what others thought after I have written my review!