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Book 2 (Category is: 17th-18th century)

I was worried at first that this would be a sad read, but it was truly fascinating. A Dutch sea captain brought a tame Indian rhino named Clara to Europe, and toured the entire continent with her for 20 years. She didn't only become the first well-known example of her species - but also the subject of the first viral marketing campaign in history.

Cover of the book titled "Clara's Grand Tour: Travels with a rhinoceros in eighteenth-century Europe" by Glynis Ridley. Cover features a drawing of a wooden cart carrying a rhinoceros.

I've had the pleasure of being a judge in the SPSFC this year, and my team was given 31 books to try. I gave 26 of them a chance and wrote down my thoughts on each of those 26. (Why not the remaining 5? I ran out of time, sorry!)

My thoughts on every book I "taste-tested": https://www.skaeth.com/spsfc-reading-first-taste-mini-reviews/

It's been amazing to go through these books, and my hope is to shine a light on them for more readers to discover them!

@spsfc @bookstodon @sciencefiction

How many deaths to end a war? ‘Eyes Turned Skywards’ is a fast-paced thriller set mainly in northern Scotland during World War Two. It uses many real settings, transported eight decades back in time.

At the heart of the novel is a fictional investigation into the crash of a Short Sunderland flying boat in Caithness in 1942. This amazing model of the aircraft that crashed can be seen at the Oban War & Peace Museum.

Find out more on our website:
https://www.arachnid.scot/book-ets/index.html

This image is looking up at a large model of an aircraft hanging from a white ceiling with panels. We are looking from the left side of the aircraft, which is a white flying boat with four engines and lots of circular windows in the fuselage. It has an RAF roundel on the rear fuselage with a large letter M behind it. The front cover of ‘Eyes Turned Skywards’ is shown in the top right corner.

It's Shameless Promo Thursday, and up today is the self-help book I wrote because I dislike self-help books.

* For real people with little time and energy
* Do what you can, when you can
* Healing and wellness as a sacred journey, not a competition
* Plant partners, wellness rituals, natural healthcare
* You don't have to be Wiccan to use the book

Details: https://www.lauraperryauthor.com/wiccan-wellness

Book cover of The Wiccan Wellness Book: Natural Healthcare for Mind, Body, and Spirit by Laura Perry. The cover shows a pair of light-skinned hands holding a lit candle. Behind the cover is a faded photo of a wooden deck covered with leaves.

The siege is over but the war goes on. ‘The Eye of Horus’ is an atmospheric World War Two thriller with settings that move from the Highlands of Scotland via Gibraltar to Malta.

This modern image shows a street in Senglea, Malta. Senglea stands on a narrow peninsula projecting into the Grand Harbour and during the war it was heavily bombed. It is visited by the central characters as the book reaches its climax.

Find out more on my website:
http://www.kenlussey.com/eoh/index.html

This modern image shows a view along a street in Senglea, Malta. Three-storey houses built of a light honey-coloured stone line both sides of the street, which is paved. There are balconies protruding from many upper floor rooms and the right side of the street is in shadow. The street continues into the frame past a mass of plants in pots and then descends steeply, out of sight. The sky is blue. The front cover of ‘The Eye of Horus’ is shown in the bottom right corner.

I love sharing some of my author friends with y'all. Check out Sacchi Green

Fantasy

Sacchi Green is a Lambda award-winning writer and editor of erotica and other stimulating genres. She lives in western Massachusetts, with occasional forays into the real world. Sacchi (or sometimes her alter-ego Connie Wilkins) has edited eighteen anthologies, many with a lesbian erotica theme, but fantasy and science fiction were ...

https://www.limfic.com/mbm-book-author/sacchi-green/

@bookstodon

Have not fact-checked:

"Just a heads up for peeps, if you bought a Neil Gaiman audiobook from Audible, they are allowing refunds for them with no questions asked and no matter how long ago you bought them. I don’t even have an active subscription and they gave me credits back for two titles purchased in 2020."

One broch, two millennia, three murders. ‘Thicker Than Water’ is a compelling new murder mystery set in northern Scotland.

The fictional Sarclet Broch on the east coast of Caithness south of Wick is the hub around which much of the story revolves and it is where all three of the murders in the book take place. It is closely based on the Broch of Gurness in Orkney, shown in this image.

Find out more on our website:
https://www.arachnid.scot/book-ttw/index.html

The image shows an enormous curving structure formed from unmortared walls of nearly white stone. There’s a ditch in the foreground with a massive, curved wall on its far side. Beyond that are numerous low stone structures with a higher circular stone wall beyond them. On the right is blue sea, with an island beyond it. The scene is in sunlight. The front cover of ‘Thicker Than Water’ is shown in the bottom left corner.