Read – Page 578 – What Cathy Read Next…

On What Cathy Read Next last week

Monday – I published my review of The Manningtree Witches by A. K. Blakemore.

Tuesday – This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic was Books with Character Names in the Titles.

Wednesday – WWW Wednesday is my weekly opportunity to share what I’ve just read, what I’m currently reading and what I plan to read next… and to take a peek at what others are reading.

Thursday – I shared my publication day review of The Silver Wolf by J. C. Harvey.

Friday – I published my review of The Language of Food by Annabel Abbs as part of the blog tour.

Saturday – The first Saturday of the month means it’s time for 6 Degrees of Separation with my chain taking me from No One Is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood to The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon. I joined fellow gardeners for the Six On Saturday meme.

As always, thanks to everyone who has liked, commented on or shared my blog posts on social media.

New arrivals

A Night of Flames (A Time For Swords #2) by Matthew Harffy (eARC, Head of Zeus via NetGalley)

A wild land. A lethal fanatic. A violent revolt.

Northumbria, AD 794. Those who rule the seas, rule the land. None know the truth of this more than the Vikings. To compete with the seafaring raiders, the king of Northumbria orders the construction of his own longships under the command of oath-sworn Norseman, Runolf.

When the Vikings attack again, the king sends cleric turned warrior, Hunlaf, on a mission to persuade the king of Rogaland into an alliance. But Hunlaf and Runolf have other plans; kin to seek out, old scores to settle, and a heretical tome to find in the wild lands of the Norse.

Their voyage takes them into the centre of a violent uprising. A slave has broken free of his captors and, with religious fervour, is leading his fanatical followers on a rampage – burning all in his path. Hunlaf must brave the Norse wilderness, and overcome deadly foes, to stop this madman. Can he prevent a night of flames and slaughter?

Lean On Me by Serge Joncour, trans. by Jane Aitken (ARC, Gallic Books)

When a flock of crows invades their shared apartment block, farmer-turned-debt collector Ludovic and fashion designer Aurore speak for the first time. With nothing but the birds in common, the two are destined for separate lives, yet are drawn inexplicably together.

Though their story is set in Paris, the tale of Ludovic and Aurore is far from an idyllic romance. With one trapped in an unhappy marriage and the other lost in grief, the city of love has brought each of them only isolation and pain. As Aurore faces losing her business and Ludovic questions the ethics of his job, they begin a passionate affair. Love between such different people seems doomed to failure, but for these two unhappy souls trapped in ruthless worlds, perhaps loving one another is the greatest form of resistance.

On What Cathy Read Next this week

Currently reading

Planned posts

Blog Tour/Book Review: The Dust Bowl Orphans by Suzette D. Harrison
My Five Favourite January 2022 Reads
Blog Tour/Book Review: The City of Tears by Kate Mosse
Book Review: They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera
Book Review: The Reading Party by Fenella Gentleman

background book stack books close up — Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Pexels.com

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 six degrees 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 Twitter using the hashtag #6Degrees.

This month’s starting book is No One Is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood. As is often the case, it’s book I haven’t read but I know it was nominated for both the Booker Prize and the Women’s Prize for Fiction in 2021.

Thinking of authors named Patricia immediately brings to mind Patricia Highsmith and her fabulous book Carol (originally published as The Price of Salt) which I read in 2018. (I thought the film version was equally brilliant.)

A price of a different kind is the subject of The Bride Price by Buchi Emecheta in which a young Nigerian girl is grudgingly allowed to continue her schooling but only because she will fetch a higher bride price – the money a man’s family must pay to the family of his prospective wife. In 1983, Buchi Emecheta was listed as one of twenty ‘Best of Young British Writers’ by the Book Marketing Council.

Another author on the list that year was Rose Tremain whose latest book Lily was published in November 2021. It tells the story of Lily Mortimer, abandoned as a baby and taken to the London Foundling Hospital.

The Foundling by Stacey Halls also involves a baby left at the London Foundling Hospital and her mother’s search for her six years later.

Thomas Coram was the founder of the London Foundling Hospital and Coram Boy by Jamila Gavin, which won the Whitbread Children’s Book of the Year Award in 2000, is the story of two orphan boys, Toby and Aaron. Toby has been rescued from a life of slave labour in a faraway country whereas Aaron is the illegitimate son of the heir to a large country estate. The book was adapted for the stage and produced by the National Theatre in 2005.

The final link in my chain is another book that was adapted for the stage, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon. It was produced by the National Theatre in 2012, winning seven Olivier Awards in 2013.

My chain has taken me from page to stage. Where did your chain take you?