New Meme: Six Degrees of Separation - with books!

This is a new meme hosted by authors Emma Chapman and Annabel Smith. 

It's based on the idea of six degrees of separation, but with books!  

It is claimed that every person on this planet is linked to any other in six or fewer steps.  But what about books?  Can we link them together too?

We'll choose one book on the first Saturday of every month and then link it in a chain to five others to see what we come up with.     

The books can be linked in obvious ways, or more personal ways, and a book only needs to be connected to the ones next to them in the chain. 

Find out more here and here.

Well, here's my attempt; I found it hard at first, it'll be interesting to see what others thought of too!

Six Degrees of Separation

Our first book is Burial Rites by Hannah Kent

which brought to mind...

1 - The Kindest Thing by Cath Staincliffe, in which there's a very strong central female character who grapples with a huge decision with potentially awful consequences, and which makes you think about loyalty and betrayal, it was emotional and thought-provoking, causing the main character to question her decisions, 

which made me think of...

2 - Nearest Thing To Crazy by Elizabeth Forbes, a brilliant, pacy read where the reader is caused to question what is real and true and what is a deception, as the main female character herself wonders if she is losing her grip on her sanity and has to question her own mind, 

which brought to mind...

3 - The Cry by Helen Fitzgerald, another super page turner in which the reader wonders who to trust and what is the truth,

which reminded me of the excellent crime novel...

4 - Defending Jacob by William Landay, a brilliant story, in which I also wondered who to trust, and with a family defending their son,

which made me think of...

5 - The Son-in-Law by Charity Norman, a very moving read dealing with a family who are trying to cope in an extremely difficult, very emotional situation and do the best by the children, with whom their father has to rebuild his relationship,

which brought to mind...

6 - Emotional Geology by Linda Gillard, because of the strong yet damaged 

relationship between mother and daughter portrayed here in this compelling, 

passionate, moving novel.

That's my six degrees in books from Burial Rites!

Book Beginnings (1)

Gilion at Rose City Reader hosts Book Beginnings on Fridays

I keep meaning to join in with this and this week I have finally managed it! I've got a few books on the go at the moment so I've just picked one out to mention here. 

The idea, as stated on the host's blog, is 'to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires.' There's a hash tag #BookBeginnings for twitter etc too, and a master linky list on the host's blog.

My Book Beginning

'It is the smallest details that come to her: the damp grass underfoot threaded with buttercups, the air humming with insects, the snap of her nightdress catching in the breeze. As she wanders out of the cottage and down towards the mirrored surface of the lake, her senses are heightened.'

This is the start of the short prologue to the novel, and instantly had me wondering and asking, who is this woman, where is she now and where is she headed to? The mention of the cottage and the lake makes me think this may be a countryside location and I can already begin to picture the scene and imagine the sounds just from this brief description. 

I'm enjoying this mysterious story so far, and will share my thoughts in a review once I've finished reading it.

Published by Orion

~~~~~

Here's the story synopsis from goodreads:

On a sultry summer’s day in 1980, five friends stumble upon an abandoned lakeside cottage hidden deep in the English countryside. For Kat and her friends, it offers an escape; a chance to drop out for a while, with lazy summer days by the lake and intimate winter evenings around the fire. But as the seasons change, tensions begin to rise and when an unexpected visitor appears at their door, nothing will be the same again.

Three decades later, Lila arrives at the same remote cottage. With her marriage in crisis, she finds solace in renovating the tumbledown house. Little by little she wonders about the previous inhabitants. How did they manage in such isolation? Why did they leave in such a hurry, with their belongings still strewn about? Most disturbing of all, why can't she shake the feeling that someone might be watching her?

The Shadow Year is a story of secrets, tragedy, lies and betrayal. It’s a tale that explores the light and dark of human relationships and the potential the past has to not only touch our present, but also to alter our future.

An interview with me!

Well, it's a much more common occurence that I feature guest authors and ask them questions, but...today it's the other way around and I am delighted to have been interviewed myself by author Claire King for a feature in her series of discussions with a few book bloggers - you can read it on her website and here's the link:

Word of mouth: Lindsay Healy

I am talking amongst other things about book blogging, star ratings for books, taste in books, and recommending three books that blew me away.

Claire's debut novel The Night Rainbow was published earlier this year. (You can read my review of it here.) 

Thanks very much to Claire for asking me to take part in her feature and challenging me with some interesting questions.