whatcathyreadnext

Six on Saturday is a weekly meme originally hosted by The Propagator but now in the tender care of Jim at Garden Ruminations.

It’s now over a month since we had any rain here in Berkshire. I’m writing this on Thursday as I’m away for the weekend and, as of now, there is no rain in the forecast until at least next Tuesday. In addition there’s now a hosepipe ban in force in our area. Thank you, Thames Water. I’m sure I’m not the only one thinking about changes we might have to make if hot dry summers are here to stay.

On the bright side, our leaky old eyesore of a garage has finally been demolished and the space prepared so a lovely potting shed can take its place.

The garden is really suffering but I’ve managed to come up with these six:

One – I spotted this flower crab spider on the water mint in our pond doing horrible things to a bumble bee it had captured.

Two – The lower water level in the pond is revealing a large population of pond snails. I’m finding them surprisingly mesmerising to watch move around the pond. At the moment they’re mainly feeding on algae and other dead matter in the water although this one seems to have taken a liking to one of the pond plants.

Three – A lovely butter yellow nemesia standing up surprisingly well to the heat and smelling divine.

Four – Pennisetum doing its wavy thing.

Five – Herb fennel loving the sunny weather (unlike most other things in the garden)

Six – Another dahlia has started to flower despite the parched conditions in our south facing front garden. This one is ‘Bayou’.

Do check out the posts of other participants by following the links in the comments section of Jim’s post. If you fancy taking part yourself but don’t know where to start, here’s the participant’s guide.

It’s the first Saturday of the month which means it’s time for 6 Degrees of Separation.

Here’s how it works: a book is chosen as a starting point by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best and linked to six other books to form a chain. Readers and bloggers are invited to join in by creating their own ‘chain’ leading from the selected book.

Kate says: Books can be linked in obvious ways – for example, books by the same authors, from the same era or genre, or books with similar themes or settings. Or, you may choose to link them in more personal or esoteric ways: books you read on the same holiday, books given to you by a particular friend, books that remind you of a particular time in your life, or books you read for an online challenge. Join in by posting your own #6Degrees chain on your blog and adding the link in the comments section of each month’s post. You can also check out links to posts on X using the hashtag #6Degrees.

This month’s starting book is Land by Maggie O’Farrell. For once it’s a book I’ve read although not yet reviewed. Links from each title will take you to my review or the book description on Goodreads.

Land is set in 1865 and follows the struggles of a family in the years after the Great Hunger. Fair Play by Louise Hegarty is also set in Ireland and involves a family tragedy. It’s a real puzzle of a book, the plot of which is impossible to say more about without spoilers – so I won’t. What I can say is that part of it is set in a mansion called Yew Tree House, which takes me to my next link.

The Mystery of Yew Tree House by Lesley Thomson is the ninth book in the author’s ‘The Detective’s Daughter’ series. Soon after cleaner turned detective Stella Darnell begins her holiday at Yew Tree House, a skeleton is found in a pillbox at the bottom of the garden.

Another daughter in the detection line features in The War Widow by Tara Moss. It’s 1946 and former war correspondent Billie Walker is back home in Sydney with her husband missing, presumed dead. Unable to find employment, she reopens her late father’s private investigation agency.

Another war widow features in The Visitors by Caroline Scott. It’s seven years since Esme’s husband, a man she knew for only seven months, was killed in the First World War. Now she’s travelled to Cornwall, the place where he grew up, hoping to find out more about his early life.

When you think of books set in Cornwall your mind may turn to the novels of Daphne du Maurier, such as Jamaica Inn. The opening line of The Magpie Tree by Katherine Stansfield is ‘The day I went to Jamaica Inn was the day I saw a man hanged’. In the book Anna and Shilly, both with secrets in their past, form an unconventional crime detecting partnership.

More of the black and white bird in Magpie Murders by Anthony Quinn, a story within a story not unlike Fair Play the first book in my chain.

My chain has taken me from a Maggie to a magpie. Where did your chain take you?