We’re more than halfway through the year and Six in Six, hosted by Jo of The Book Jotter, is back again! I love taking part in this as I think it’s the perfect way to look back at our reading over the first six months of the year.
The idea of Six in Six is that we choose six categories (Jo has provided a list of suggestions or you can come up with new topics of your own if you prefer) and then fit six of the books or authors we’ve read this year into each category. It’s more difficult than it sounds, especially as I try not to use the same book in more than one category, but it’s always fun to do – and always a bit different as my reading tastes and patterns seem to change slightly each year.
Here is my 2023 Six in Six, with links to my reviews where available:
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Six books set in a country other than my own:
1. Prize Women by Caroline Lea (Canada)
2. The Orange Girl by Jostein Gaarder (Norway)
3. Homecoming by Kate Morton (Australia)
4. Music in the Dark by Sally Magnusson (Scotland)
5. These Days by Lucy Caldwell (Ireland)
6. My Father’s House by Joseph O’Connor (Italy)
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Six authors I’ve read for the first time this year:
1. Edgar Rice Burroughs (The Efficiency Expert)
2. Helen Scarlett (The Lodger)
3. Fiona McFarlane (The Sun Walks Down)
4. Geoffrey Household (Rogue Male)
5. Lucy Barker (The Other Side of Mrs Wood)
6. Isabelle Schuler (Lady MacBethad)
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Six authors I had read before this year:
1. Georgette Heyer (The Spanish Bride)
2. RF Delderfield (Farewell, the Tranquil Mind)
3. Hilary Mantel (The Giant, O’Brien)
4. Thomas Hardy (A Laodicean)
5. Dorothy B. Hughes (The So Blue Marble)
6. Joan Aiken (The Embroidered Sunset)
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Six classic mysteries:
1. The Inugami Curse by Seishi Yokomizo
2. The Black Spectacles by John Dickson Carr
3. Inquest by Henrietta Clandon
4. The Cat Saw Murder by Dolores Hitchens
5. Hickory Dickory Dock by Agatha Christie
6. Death of an Author by ECR Lorac
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Six books with a touch of myth or magic:
1. Savage Beasts by Rani Selvarajah
2. Clytemnestra by Costanza Casati
3. Atalanta by Jennifer Saint
4. Once a Monster by Robert Dinsdale (review to follow)
5. Assassin’s Fate by Robin Hobb
6. The Summer Tree by Guy Gavriel Kay (review to follow)
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Six books I loved and haven’t mentioned yet:
1. The Bird in the Tree by Elizabeth Goudge
2. The Square of Sevens by Laura Shepherd-Robinson
3. Random Harvest by James Hilton
4. The Scapegoat by Daphne du Maurier
5. The New Magdalen by Wilkie Collins
6. The Empty World by D.E. Stevenson
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Have you read any of these books or authors this year? Will you be taking part in Six in Six?
She Reads Novels 
What a fun challenge. Once I get home,I think I’ll join in. A few books you mention here may get into my post too.
It’s always fun to do, although not very easy as some books fit into more than one category.
Nice six in six. I’d still like to read These days, Atalanta, Clytemnestra, the square of sevens and prize women.
Thanks! I enjoyed all of those books, particularly The Square of Sevens and Prize Women.
I love this and your categories. I had got my six in six sort of ready but haven’t got around to posting it yet.
Thank you! I’ll look forward to seeing yours.
Finally got my post finished https://witchyreading.wordpress.com/2023/07/10/six-in-six-2023/
I just recently posted my review of Homecoming. I have read both The Black Spectacles and Death of an Author this year, and I have The Sun Walks Down on my desk from the library after waiting for it for two months. This always looks fun but seems exhausting.
It does usually take a long time to put these lists together, but it’s fun to do. I hope you like The Sun Walks Down.
Me too!
I loved two of your last group (the Goudge and du Maurier) and should check out the others! The Empty World sounds very different from any DE Stevenson I have read, I would certainly not expect a post-apocalyptic novel from her.
I loved The Empty World but it definitely wasn’t what I had expected from Stevenson!
You always manage to come up with such fun categories for this post. 😀
Thanks! It’s not easy to do, but always fun!
That is a fun way to organize reading and books. I see you have a D.E. Stevenson book on your post, I reviewed and recommended her Bel Lamington novel in a post earlier this month.
Yes, it’s a good way to look back at the first six months of reading. I love D.E. Stevenson, but haven’t read Bel Lamington yet so I’ll look forward to it. The Empty World is a very different, unusual one – not what I had expected from her at all!
Nice work! My Father’s House has popped up a lot–I read it and really enjoyed it. I wonder if we were all inspired by the same post? Those nice Persephone and Dean Street books!
Thanks! Yes, I think a lot of us have read and enjoyed My Father’s House this year.
Hi Helen, another great six months of reading for you, I particularly love your classic mysteries and a touch of myth and magic categories. Many books I want to read here!
Love & Blessings, Jessica 💌
Thank you! I tried to use some different categories this year. I’m glad there are some books here that you want to read!