Tag: memes

#6Degrees of Separation – A book chain from All Day at the Movies to The Name of the Rose

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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.

All Day at the MoviesFor this month’s starting book we’re given the choice of either the book we finished on in January or the last book we read. I’ve chosen to start with the last book I read – All Day at the Movies by Fiona Kidman. I haven’t got around to writing my review yet so the link from the title is to the book description on Goodreads.

This Mortal Boy was the first book I read by Fiona Kidman. An account of a real life case, it depicts the events leading up to one of the last executions in New Zealand. In a possible miscarriage of justice, twenty-year-old Albert Black was convicted of murdering another young man in Auckland in 1955.

The Fortune Men by Nadifa Mohamed depicts another real life miscarriage of justice, this time in the Tiger Bay area of Cardiff in 1952. Mahmood Mattan, a recent immigrant from Somalia, was hanged for the brutal murder of a shopkeeper despite the eyewitness evidence being shaky at best. To quote from my review, ‘the final chapter of The Fortune Men made me cry; the epilogue made me angry’.

From one brutal murder to three brutal murders, this time in the Scottish Highlands in 1869. His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnet comprises a collection of documents including witness statements, medical reports and a trial transcript. But the key document is a detailed memoir written from his jail cell by Roderick Macrae, the young man who admits to committing the murder. But should we believe all the evidence presented to us?

So far, we’ve focused on the victim but in Those Who Know by Alis Hawkins it’s the investigator who takes centre stage. The third book in the Teifi Valley Coroner series sees Harry Probert-Lloyd and his assistant, John, investigate the death of a pioneering schoolteacher whose death may not be the accident it first appeared.

The death of a former schoolmaster also features in The Teacher by Tim Sullivan, the latest book in his crime series featuring DS George Cross.

The previous book in the series was titled The Monk which leads me to book which features a monk turned detective, namely Brother William of Baskerville in Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose, memorably portrayed in the film version by Sean Connery.

My chain has taken me from a book referencing the movies to a book made into a movie. #6Degrees of Separation December (2)Where did your chain take you this month?

#WWWWednesday – 31st January 2024

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WWWWednesdays

Hosted by Taking on a World of Words, this meme is all about the three Ws:

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

Why not join in too?  Leave a comment with your link at Taking on a World of Words and then go blog hopping!

Currently reading

A book for my personal Backlist Burrow reading challenge (that I hoped to complete by the end of 2023, but didn’t) and two NetGalley ARCs.

All Day at the MoviesAll Day at the Movies by Fiona Kidman (Gallic Books)

When war widow Irene Sandle goes to work in New Zealand’s tobacco fields in 1952, she hopes to start a new, independent life for herself and her daughter – but the tragic repercussions of her decision will resonate long after Irene has gone.

Each of Irene’s children carries the events of their childhood throughout their lives, played out against a backdrop of great change – new opportunities emerge for women, but social problems continue to hold many back. Headstrong Belinda becomes a successful filmmaker, but struggles to deal with her own family drama as her younger siblings are haunted by the past.

SufferanceSufferance by Charles Palliser (eARC, Guernica Editions via NetGalley)

When his nation is invaded and occupied by a brutal enemy, a well-intentioned man persuades his wife that they should give temporary shelter to a young girl who is at school with their daughter. He has no idea that the girl belongs to a community against whom the invader intends to commit genocide.

Days stretch into weeks and then months while the enemy’s pitiless hatred of the girl’s community puts all of the family in danger. Nobody outside the family can be trusted with the dangerous secret and the threat from outside unlocks a darkness that threatens to derail them all. 

Where the Wind Calls HomeWhere the Winds Calls Home by Samar Yazbek, trans. by Leri Price (eARC, World Editions via NetGalley)

Ali, a nineteen-year-old soldier in the Syrian army, lies on the ground beneath a tree. He sees a body being lowered into a hole—is this his funeral? There was that sudden explosion, wasn’t there …

While trying to understand the extend of the damage, Ali works his way closer to the tree. His ultimate desire is to fly up to one of its branches, to safety.

Through rich vignettes of Ali’s memories, we uncover the hardships of his traditional Syrian Alawite village, but also the richness and beauty of its cultural and religious heritage. 

Recently finished

How to be Brave by Louise Beech (Orenda)

Other Worlds Were Possible by Joss Sheldon (Rebel Books)

 

What Cathy Will Read Next

The Shadow NetworkThe Shadow Network (Devlin & Dempsey #5) by Tony Kent (ARC, Elliott & Thompson)

How do you take down an enemy when no one believes they exist? 

When the lawyers of alleged war criminal Hannibal Strauss are caught up in a terror attack in The Hague, barrister Michael Devlin immediately suspects all is not what it seems. Teaming up once more with Agent Joe Dempsey, they must find who’s behind it all before any more innocent lives are lost.

With their key witness on the run and assassins on their tail, their only lead is a the Monk, a legendary and mysterious foreign agent with a fearsome reputation. But what is his stake in this dangerous game? And just who is part of his shadowy network of spies? Caught in a complicated web of lies, secrets and double agents, there’s no one Dempsey and Devlin can trust but themselves.