Six Degrees of Separation – from Land to Into the Fire

It’s time for #6degrees, inspired by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best. We all start at the same place as other readers, add six books, and see where it ends up. July’s starting point is Land by Maggie O’Farrell (2026). Land is about an Irish family in the 19th century, and is described as a spellbinding story of separation, longing, recovery, and survival as a family makes a new home in the aftermath of 1840s famine. It’s set on an unnamed, fictitious peninsula on the west coast of Ireland.

Top Ten Tuesday: Book Titles That Include the Word *Summer*

 Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.  This week the theme is Book Titles That Include the Word (add the word of your choice – and I chose) Summer:

Deep Summer by Gwen Bristow (1937). When Judith is swept off her feet by handsome Philip Larne, an adventurer and slave trader, he builds her a beautiful plantation in Louisiana, where they raise a family, despite joys and sorrows along the way.  Bristow is focused on the development of Louisiana and the role all its people played, affluent whites, poor whites, and slaves, in this compelling historical novel.  My review. 

April 2026 Reading

My best reads in April were The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichl and three rereads - Spring Magic by D.E. Stevenson (the ultimate in comfort reads as April was chilly and reading required a cozy blanket) and The Ivy Tree and Marry in Haste for the 1961 Club.

WWW Wednesday - Special 1961 Edition

WWW Wednesday is hosted by Taking on a World of Words.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

This post is a warm-up for Simon at Stuck in a Book and Karen at Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings’ 1961 Reading Challenge, which begins next week. It is always fun to select my books and see what everyone else has chosen!

Six Degrees of Separation – from The Correspondent to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

It’s time for #6degrees, inspired by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best. We all start at the same place as other readers, add six books, and see where it ends up. April’s starting point is The Correspondent by Virginia Evans (2025). I enjoyed this book and thought it was an ideal choice for my book group because it was very readable, included serious and lighter topics (Sybil’s surprise when her friends enjoyed Outlander), and there was lots to discuss. My review.

Spring Magic by D.E. Stevenson

Frances Field knows she was lucky to be taken in by an uncle and aunt when she was orphaned at three but whatever she owes them has been amply repaid – she has acted as housekeeper and slaved for her indolent aunt since her late teens, without payment or time off. When the war begins she is eager to do her bit but is forced to go on catering to her aunt’s every demand until a bomb lands near their home, breaking most of the windows in Wintringham Square. 

January 2026 Reading

A new year and all my library holds arrived at once, so I even had to return a few without reading! Two mysteries were my favorites this month: Guilty by Definition and Murder Takes a Vacation, and I decided to try Mick Herron’s Oxford Investigation series and enjoyed the first two books. I don’t expect to get much reading accomplished in February because I will be glued to the Olympics but I may get some quilting done . . . .

The Tall Stranger by D.E. Stevenson

Nell is worried about her friend, Barbie France, who has been very sick and is not getting better. When the doctor she works for accompanies her to the hospital in a thick fog, he recommends that Barbie recuperate in the country. Nell calls Barbie’s aunt, Lady Steyne, and Barbie is sent by ambulance to the Cotswolds to Underwoods to rest. Barbie misses her work for an interior decoration firm but it is wonderful to be spoiled by her Aunt Amalie and her companion, Miss Penney.

Six Degrees of Separation – from We Have Always Lived in the Castle to Summer of Fear

It’s time for #6degrees, inspired by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best. We all start at the same place as other readers, add six books, and see where it ends up. This month’s starting point is We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson. I guess it is a good Halloween tie-in because it is certainly creepy but I used it once before. One of the characters is a Constance, which tempted me, but for my link I am going with the author’s name.

Six Degrees of Separation – from Ghost Cities to Fortune’s Folly

It’s time for #6degrees, inspired by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best. We all start at the same place as other readers, add six books, and see where it ends up. This month’s starting point is Ghost Cities by Siang Lu, a satirical novel that begins with a Chinese-Australian character being fired from his job at the Chinese consulate in Sydney because he misrepresented his language skills and only speaks English.

WWW Wednesday - 1952 Edition

WWW Wednesday is hosted by Taking on a World of Words.

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading

Love for Lydia by H.E. Bates caught my eye when I was looking for a book for the forthcoming 1952 Club, hosted by Stuck-in-a-Book and Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings.

February 2025 Reading

Although February is a short month, there were some outstanding reads, especially The King’s Messenger, Slow Bomb at Dimperley, and The Spy Coast - links to those reviews are below.

Historical Fiction

Slow Bomb at Dimperley by Lissa Evans (2024). A soldier returning to his ancestral home after WWII finds new responsibilities and little in the way of practical help from his family as he copes with death duties and ennui in this amusing story. My review.

Miss Buncle's Book by D.E. Stevenson

When our fellow humans annoy us with their squabbles and predictability, don’t we all fantasize about memorializing them in fiction – to their detriment?* 

Mrs. Lorimer's Quiet Summer by Molly Clavering #DeanStreetDecember24

As the introduction by Elizabeth Crawford to this new edition points out, after serving as a Wren in WWII, Molly Clavering settled in Moffat, in Dumfries and Galloway, in the Scottish Borders. She was already acquainted with another writer, D.E. Stevenson, who had moved to Moffat with her husband James after the bombing of Glasgow in the early 1940s. This is the story of two writer friends during one full summer, inspired by the real life friendship of Molly and Dorothy.

The #1970Club – some books I have enjoyed as recommendations for next week

On Monday, October 14th, Karen and Simon will launch the #1970Club, a week-long celebration of books first published in 1970. It is very entertaining to see what everyone comes up with and when I started to consider what to read, I saw that I had already reviewed some of the best books published that year. Some of these might appeal to anyone still looking for the right book to read this weekend!

My January 2024 Reading

My favorites this month were The Violin Conspiracy; Harbour Street; Turning Pages, a publishing memoir; and a reread of Charlotte Fairlie.  Now that I am taking public transportation to work after several pandemic years of driving, my audiobook usage has declined but I can read actual books as I sit on the bus and subway.  It has been downright freezing waiting for them to arrive, however!

Charlotte Fairlie by D.E. Stevenson

Charlotte is the relatively new headmistress at St. Elizabeth’s, a well-regarded girls’ boarding school she attended before Oxford - she wore a dowdy hat at her interview so her male interviewers wouldn’t think she was too young. She takes pride in her work and in knowing the girls but she is lonely because befriending the staff would create jealousy. New girl Tessa MacRynne breaks through Charlotte's reserve when her parents get divorced and she tries to run away back to Scotland.  Charlotte identifies with Tessa, having gone through a

My October 2023 Reads

October was a busy month with a business trip to Tulsa (no direct flights, so lots of reading time), some reading for the 1962 Club, and hosting my book group’s discussion of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow (not everyone finished it). My favorites this month were Just Another Missing Person, The Serpent Pool, Witch of the Glens, and two from D.E. Stevenson, along with several rereads.  Three reads this month were audiobooks.

Fletchers End by D.E. Stevenson #1962Club

Title: Fletchers End
Author: D.E. Stevenson
Publication: Ace Books, paperback, originally published in 1962
Genre: Fiction
Setting: 20th century Britain

my copy is a bit garish!

I read Fletchers End for the 1962 Club, which Simon from Stuck in a Book and Karen from Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings are hosting this week.

Bel Lamington by D.E. Stevenson

Title: Bel Lamington
Author: D.E. Stevenson
Publication: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, hardcover, 1961
Genre: Fiction
Setting: Great Britain

Description: After Bel’s aunt dies, she is on her own and leaves Sussex for a tiny flat in London and a secretarial job at an import/export firm. She finds the work interesting but is lonely and the other office staff resent that her industry is recognized when she is promoted to work for a young partner, Ellis Brownlee.