Six Degrees of Separation ~ Land

Marrie O'Farrell 

"Land"

#6Degrees of Separation:

from Land (Goodreads) to A Promised Land

#6Degrees is a monthly link-up hosted by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best. I love the idea. Thank you, Kate. See more about this challenge, its history, further books and how I found this here. 

I read "Hamnet" by Maggie O'Farrell a while ago but hadn't heard of this one. It only just appeared in paperback and I have made myself promise not to buy too many expensive books in the near future, I have too many on my TBR pile already. Which means, as so often, I have not read this book.

So, here is the description:

"'You will never understand how the land remembers, how deep the roots grow'

A spellbinding story of separation, longing, recovery and survival as a family makes a new home in the aftermath of tragedy.

On a windswept peninsula stretching out into the Atlantic, Tomás and his reluctant son, Liam, are working for the great Ordnance Survey project to map the whole of Ireland. The year is 1865, and in a country not long since ravaged and emptied by the Great Hunger, the task is not an easy one. Tomás, however, is determined that his maps will be a record of the disaster.

The British soldiers in charge are due to arrive any day, expecting the work to be completed, but Tomás is sent off course by an unsettling encounter in a copse. His life, and those of his family, will never be the same again. Liam is terrified by the sudden change in his taciturn father. What was it that caused such cracks to open in Tomás and how is Liam, aged only ten, going to finish the mapping, and get them both home?

Land is a story of buried treasure, overlapping lives, ancient woodland, persistent ghosts, a particularly loyal dog, and how, when it comes to both land and history, nothing ever goes away."

I decided to go with the title but not move to another word but look for books that I read that have the word Land in its title.

Agus, Milena "From the Land of the Moon" (IT: Mal di Pietre) - 2006

Grossman, David "To the End of the Land" (Hebr.: אשה בורחת מבשורה/Isha Nimletet Mi'Bshora) - 2008 

Pears, Tim "In a Land of Plenty" - 1977

Carter, Jimmy "We Can Have Peace In The Holy Land. A Plan That Will Work" - 2008

Hochschild, Arlie Russell "Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right" - 2016

Obama, Barack "A Promised Land" - 2020

The connection between the first and the last book? Easy again, the titles all contain the word LAND.

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Six Degrees of Separation ~ Yesteryear

 Caro Claire Burke

"Yesteryear" - 2026

#6Degrees of Separation:

from Yesteryear (Goodreads) to The Year of Living Danishly

#6Degrees is a monthly link-up hosted by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best. I love the idea. Thank you, Kate. See more about this challenge, its history, further books and how I found this here. 

I have heard of the book, it seems to be one of the books that everyone is supposed to read this year. I doubt that will be the fact in my case, I don't think this is my kind of literature.

So, here is the description:

"A traditional American woman, a 'tradwife' influencer, suddenly awakens in the brutal reality of 1855—where she must unravel whether this living nightmare is an elaborate hoax, a twisted reality show, or something far more sinister in this sensational debut novel.

My name was Natalie Heller Mills, and I was perfect at being alive.

Natalie lives a traditional lifestyle. Her charming farmhouse is rustic, her husband a handsome cowboy, her six children each more delightful than the last. So what if there are nannies and producers behind the scenes, her kitchen hiding industrial-grade fridges and ovens, her husband the heir to a political dynasty? What Natalie’s followers—all 8 million of them—don’t know won’t hurt them. And The Angry Women? The privileged, Ivy League, coastal elite haters who call her an antifeminist iconoclast? They’re sick with jealousy. Because Natalie isn’t simply living the good life, she’s living the ideal—and just so happens to be building an empire from it.

Until one morning she wakes up in a life that isn’t hers. Her home, her husband, her children—they’re all familiar, but something’s off. Her kitchen is warmed by a sputtering fire rather than electricity, her children are dirty and strange, and her soft-handed husband is suddenly a competent farmer. Just yesterday Natalie was curating photos of homemade jam for her Instagram, and now she’s expected to haul firewood and handwash clothes until her fingers bleed. Has she become the unwitting star of a ruthless reality show? Could it really be time travel? Is she being tested by God? By Satan? When Natalie suffers a brutal injury in the woods, she realizes two things: This is not her beautiful life, and she must escape by any means possible.

A gripping, electrifying novel that is as darkly funny as it is frightening, Yesteryear is a gimlet-eyed look at tradition, fame, faith, and the grand performance of womanhood."

As I mentioned, this is not my genre. So, I decided to go with my usual, mark the words in red and then find another word ... well, I discovered that I read a lot of books with the word Year in its title, so that's the way I went this month.

Brooks, Geraldine "Year of Wonders" - 2001

Fo, Dario "My First Seven Years (Plus a Few More)" (I: Il Paese dei Mezaràt: I miei primi sette anni (e qualcuno in più) - 2004

García Márquez, Gabriel "One Hundred Years of Solitude" (E: Cien años de soledad) - 1967 

Geti, Monica "The Year of Sunshine" - 2004

Irving, John "A Widow for One Year" - 1998

Russell, Helen "The Year of Living Danishly: My Twelve Months Unearthing the Secrets of the World's Happiest Country" - 2015

The connection between the first and the last book? Easy this time, the titles all contain the word YEAR.

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Six Degrees of Separation ~ The Post Office Girl

Zweig, Stefan 

"The Post Office Girl" ~1930/1982 
(GE: Rausch der Verwandlung) 

#6Degrees of Separation:
from The Post Office Girl to A Change of Regime

#6Degrees is a monthly link-up hosted by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best. I love the idea. Thank you, Kate. See more about this challenge, its history, further books and how I found this here. 

It doesn't happen often that I have heard of a starter book or the author before it comes up as a starter book (only read 13 of them).

And because I always wanted to read another book by Stefan Zweig, I ordered this straight away and read it. So, this month, you can see the description on my post.

I just had to start with the other book I read by Stefan Zweig and then I'll carry on with the words in the titles.

Zweig, Stefan "The World of Yesterday" (GE: Die Welt von Gestern. Erinnerungen eines Europäers) - 1942

Coates, Ta-Nehisi "Between the World and Me" - 2015

Abulhawa, Susan "The Blue Between Sky and Water" - 2015

Lamb, Wally "We are Water" - 2013

Dionne jr. E.J.; Reid, Joy-Ann "We are the Change We Seek. The Speeches of Barack Obama" - 2017

Stroyar, J.N. "A Change of Regime" (The Children's War #2) - 2004

The connection between the first and the last book? They both have to do with a fascist regime.

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Six Degrees of Separation ~ Wild Dark Shore

Charlotte McConaghy
"Wild Dark Shore" - 2025

#6Degrees of Separation:

from Wild Dark Shore (Goodreads) to The Rider on the White Horse 

#6Degrees is a monthly link-up hosted by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best. I love the idea. Thank you, Kate. See more about this challenge, its history, further books and how I found this here. 

I have never heard of this book, or even this author. So, no surprise that I haven't read the starter book. But, here is the description:

"A family on a remote island. A mysterious woman washed ashore. A rising storm on the horizon.

Dominic Salt and his three children are caretakers of Shearwater, a tiny island not far from Antarctica. Home to the world’s largest seed bank, Shearwater was once full of researchers. But with sea levels rising, the Salts are now its final inhabitants, packing up the seeds before they are transported to safer ground. Despite the wild beauty of life here, isolation has taken its toll on the Salts. Raff, eighteen and suffering his first heartbreak, can only find relief at his punching bag; Fen, seventeen, has started spending her nights on the beach among the seals; nine-year-old Orly, obsessed with botany, fears the loss of his beloved natural world; and Dominic can’t stop turning back toward the past, and the loss that drove the family to Shearwater in the first place.

Then, during the worst storm the island has ever seen, a woman washes up on shore. As the Salts nurse the woman, Rowan, back to life, their suspicion gives way to affection, and they finally begin to feel like a family again. Rowan, long accustomed to protecting her heart, begins to fall for the Salts, too. But Rowan isn’t telling the whole truth about why she set out for Shearwater. And when she discovers the sabotaged radios and a freshly dug grave, she realizes Dominic is keeping his own dark secrets. As the storms on Shearwater gather force, the characters must decide if they can trust each other enough to protect the precious seeds in their care before it’s too late—and if they can finally put the tragedies of the past behind them to create something new, together."

Since today we have a word that leads me to another book, I shall go back to the good old system of using words (which I haven't been able to do since November 2025). I like it because I can come up with lots of different topics.

So, we'll start with the word "Wild".

Sendak, Maurice "Where The Wild Things Are" - 1963

Civardi, Anne; Cartwright, Stephen "Things People Do" - 1986

Brooks, Geraldine "People of the Book" - 2008

Pamuk, Orhan "The Black Book" (TR: Kara Kitap) - 1990

Oates, Joyce Carol "Black Girl/White Girl" - 2006

Storm, Theodor "The Rider on the White Horse" (aka The Dikegrave/The Dykemaster) (GE: Der Schimmelreiter) - 1888

The connection between the first and the last book? They both take place at the seashore, there is rough weather, a storm and secrets.

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Six Degrees of Separation ~ The Correspondent

 Virginia Evans
"The Correspondent" - 2025

#6Degrees of Separation:
from The Correspondent (Goodreads) to Letters Back to Ancient China 

#6Degrees is a monthly link-up hosted by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best. I love the idea. Thank you, Kate. See more about this challenge, its history, further books and how I found this here. 

This book is on my wishlist but it's not out in paperback, yet, so I won't get to it until later.

Description:

"Filled with knowledge that only comes from a life fully lived, The Correspondent is a gem of a novel about the power of finding solace in literature and connection with people we might never meet in person. It is about the hubris of youth and the wisdom of old age, and the mistakes and acts of kindness that occur during a lifetime.

Sybil Van Antwerp has throughout her life used letters to make sense of the world and her place in it. Most mornings, around half past ten, Sybil sits down to write letters—to her brother, to her best friend, to the president of the university who will not allow her to audit a class she desperately wants to take, to Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry to tell them what she thinks of their latest books, and to one person to whom she writes often yet never sends the letter.

Sybil expects her world to go on as it always has—a mother, grandmother, wife, divorcee, distinguished lawyer, she has lived a very full life. But when letters from someone in her past force her to examine one of the most painful periods of her life, she realizes that the letter she has been writing over the years needs to be read and that she cannot move forward until she finds it in her heart to offer forgiveness.

Sybil Van Antwerp’s life of letters might be 'a very small thing,' but she also might be one of the most memorable characters you will ever read."

Brooks, Geraldine "Foreign Correspondence: A Pen Pal's Journey from Down Under to All Over" - 1997

Hanff, Helene "84 Charing Cross Road" - 1970

Hesse, Karen "Letters From Rifka" - 1992

Austen, Jane "Selected Letters. 1796-1817" - 1796-1817

Ivey, Eowyn "To The Bright Edge of the World" - 2016

Rosendorfer, Herbert "Letters Back to Ancient China" (GE: Briefe in die chinesische Vergangenheit) - 1983

This month, my books are all about letters and correspondence, one of my favourite subjects since I have always been an avid letter writer.

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Six Degrees of Separation ~ Wuthering Heights

 Emily Brontë 
"Wuthering Heights" - 1847

#6Degrees of Separation:
from Wuthering Heights to Villette 

#6Degrees is a monthly link-up hosted by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best. I love the idea. Thank you, Kate. See more about this challenge, its history, further books and how I found this here. 

This is an exceptional month as I have indeed read the starter book. However, it is by far not my favourite Brontë book. I love those by her sisters a lot more. Therefore, I decided to present them here this month. I'm sure most people and all readers know about Jane Eyre. But do you know all the other novels by this talented family?

Before I go into them, here is the description to our book of the month:

"Lockwood, the new tenant of Thrushcross Grange, situated on the bleak Yorkshire moors, is forced to seek shelter one night at Wuthering Heights, the home of his landlord. There he discovers the history of the tempestuous events that took place years before; of the intense relationship between the gypsy foundling Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw; and how Catherine, forced to choose between passionate, tortured Heathcliff and gentle, well-bred Edgar Linton, surrendered to the expectations of her class. As Heathcliff's bitterness and vengeance at his betrayal is visited upon the next generation, their innocent heirs must struggle to escape the legacy of the past.

Emily Brontë's only novel, a work of tremendous and far-reaching influence, the Penguin Classics edition of Wuthering Heights is the definitive edition of the text, edited with an introduction by Pauline Nestor. In this edition, a new preface by Lucasta Miller, author of The Brontë Myth, looks at the ways in which the novel has been interpreted, from Charlotte Brontë onwards. This complements Pauline Nestor's introduction, which discusses changing critical receptions of the novel, as well as Emily Brontë's influences and background.

Emily Brontë (1818-48), along with her sisters, Charlotte and Anne, was one of the most significant literary figures of the 19th century. She wrote just one strikingly innovative novel, Wuthering Heights, but was also a gifted and intense poet."

Brontë, Anne "Agnes Grey" - 1847

Agnes Grey is partly autobiographical, Anne Brontë added a lot of her own life here.

We learn about the hard life of a governess. If parents don't really want to be involved, want to discipline their children but also don't want others to discipline them but want those others to teach their children, you are always the piggy in the middle. How is the poor governess to instill the love of learning in children who are not told to follow the teacher? I know that teachers have a similar problem nowadays with parents who think their kids are little angels and little Einsteins at the same time while at the same time … well, let's not go there.

Brontë, Anne "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" - 1848

Of all the Brontë novels, this is my favourite. It reminds me of Jane Austen, though in a different direction.

The novel is exciting from the beginning. The description of the mysterious woman moving into Wildfell Hall, the suspicious neighbours, the generous landlord ... everything is quite interesting already. Then she disappears and the mystery gets even bigger.

Brontë, Charlotte "Jane Eyre" - 1847

If you are a fan of English classics (like me), Jane Eyre is a definitive must.

Charlotte Brontë has created a wonderful, strong young woman. If she had lived today, she certainly would have gone exploring and conquering the world. But she doesn’t live now. She is an orphan in Victorian England who lives with an aunt who doesn’t like her. After attending a school, she has to work as a governess.

Brontë, Charlotte "The Professor" - 1857

I have yet to find a book by any of the Brontë sisters that I don't like at all, they are all fascinating and gripping (except for Wuthering Heights, maybe. I must admit, I might like it even more because it takes place in Brussels but it would have been just as interesting had the protagonist lived elsewhere.

Brontë, Charlotte "Shirley" - 1849

Shirley and her friend Caroline show us the situation of women in the 19th century just as well as Jane Eyre. The story might not be as dramatic but it certainly is interesting. Charlotte Brontë shows quite a bit of humour in her narrative.

Brontë, Charlotte "Villette" - 1853

This novel is not just about a young girl who lost her family and has to look after herself, not easy at a time where the only decent way for women to keep alive is to get married. But Lucy is not someone who gives up easily, who gives in to her despair. She goes abroad and hopes to find something. And she gets rewarded for her courage. Her life still isn't easy but at least she knows she will not starve. And she finds some wonderful friends who stand by her.

* * *

This one is easy, the connection between the first and the last novel (as well as all the others) is, that it was written by sisters.

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Six Degrees of Separation ~ Flashlight

Susan Choi
"Flashlight" - 2025

#6Degrees of Separation:
from Flashlight (Goodreads) to Things Fall Apart 

#6Degrees is a monthly link-up hosted by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best. I love the idea. Thank you, Kate. See more about this challenge, its history, further books and how I found this here. 

As most months, I have not read the starter book. It is too new and, therefore, only available in hardback. Here is the description:
"One summer night, Louisa and her father take a walk on the breakwater. Her father is carrying a flashlight. He cannot swim. Later, Louisa is found on the beach, soaked to the skin, barely alive. Her father is gone. She is ten years old.

Louisa is an only child of parents who have severed themselves from the past. Her father, Serk, is Korean, but was born and raised in Japan; he lost touch with his family when they bought into the promises of postwar Pyongyang and relocated to North Korea. Her American mother, Anne, is estranged from her Midwestern family after a reckless adventure in her youth. And then there is Tobias, Anne’s illegitimate son, whose reappearance in their lives will have astonishing consequences.

But now it is just Anne and Louisa, Louisa and Anne, adrift and facing the challenges of ordinary life in the wake of great loss. United, separated, and also repelled by their mutual grief, they attempt to move on. But they cannot escape the echoes of that night. What really happened to Louisa’s father?

Shifting perspectives across time and character and turning back again and again to that night by the sea, Flashlight chases the shock waves of one family’s catastrophe, even as they are swept up in the invisible currents of history."

The description sounds good but I also have not made the best experiences with Booker prize novels, they often don't keep what they promise and are a lot more shallow and superficial for me to like them. So, I will give this a miss and start with a book I read about.

My first book is, like the starter, about Koreans abroad.
Lee, Min Jin "Pachinko" - 2017

Then, I go with a family who adopts a Korean baby.

Tyler, Anne "Digging to America" - 2006

The adoption reminds me of another story:

Mankell, Henning "Daniel" (SW: Vindens son) - 2000

The Swedish title to this is Vinden's Son, the Son of the Wind which leads me to another book that talks about the differences in cultures.

Buck, Pearl S. "East Wind: West Wind" - 1930

Pearl S. Buck has written many books about the differences between east and west. And this leads me to a story between North and South, black and white, written by another female Nobel Prize winner:

Gordimer, Nadine "Burger's Daughter" - 1979

From here, I go to another African country where we learn about the influence of the colonists.

Achebe, Chinua "Things Fall Apart" - 1958

* * *

We have travelled the world now, from Korea to America, to Sweden, die Africa, back to Asia, then to Africa again. And everywhere we have learned about the difference in cultures and what the influence of one country over the others does. I.e. what we have done to them all. Mostly, nothing good.

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Six Degrees of Separation ~ Wide Sargasso Sea

 Rhys, Jean
"Wide Sargasso Sea" - 2025

#6Degrees of Separation:
from Wide Sargasso Sea to The Thirteenth Tale 

#6Degrees is a monthly link-up hosted by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best. I love the idea. Thank you, Kate. See more about this challenge, its history, further books and how I found this here. 

The starter book this month is a wildcard. We have to start with the book we finished our December chain with. That was "Wide Sargasso Sea" for me.

That was a lovely book to start with as it is a prequel to Jane Eyre who is a governess. The book was written by Charlotte Brontë whose sister Anne was also an author and who wrote a book about another governess, Agnes Grey. In the novel Emma by Jane Austen, there is the question of Jane Fairfax becoming a governess. The main character in Little Dorrit works as a seamstress to support her family but there is the governess, Mrs. General who is hired by her father after he becomes wealthy. The protagonist in Vanity Fair, Becky Sharp, however, is a governess. In the Thirteenth Tale, the main characters Adeline and Emmeline have a governess again.

Brontë, Charlotte "Jane Eyre" - 1847 

Brontë, Anne "Agnes Grey" - 1847
Austen, Jane "Emma" - 1816 (The Motherhood and Jane Austen)

Dickens, Charles "Little Dorrit" - 1857
Thackeray, William Makepeace "Vanity Fair, or, A Novel Without a Hero" - 1848

Setterfield, Diane "The Thirteenth Tale" - 2006

* * *

Easy to get the connection this time, right? They are all about governesses.

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Six Degrees of Separation ~ Seascraper

Wood, Benjamin
"Seascraper" - 2025

#6Degrees of Separation:
from Seascraper (Goodreads) to Wide Sargasso Sea

#6Degrees is a monthly link-up hosted by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best. I love the idea. Thank you, Kate. See more about this challenge, its history, further books and how I found this here. 

The starter book this month is "Seascraper" by Benjamin Wood. As usual, I haven't read it. But it sounds interesting, and I might read it at a later time. 

This is the description of the novel:

"Seascraper is a mesmerising portrait of a young man hemmed in by his class and the ghosts of his family's past, dreaming of artistic fulfilment. It confirms Benjamin Wood as an exceptional talent in British literature.

Thomas lives a slow, deliberate life with his mother in Longferry, working his grandpa’s trade as a shanker. He rises early to take his horse and cart to the grey, gloomy beach and scrape for shrimp, spending the afternoon selling his wares, trying to wash away the salt and scum, pining for Joan Wyeth down the street, and rehearsing songs on his guitar. At heart, he is a folk musician, but it remains a private dream.

When a striking visitor turns up, bringing the promise of Hollywood glamour, Thomas is shaken from the drudgery of his days and begins to see a different future. But how much of what the American claims is true, and how far can his inspiration carry Thomas?

Haunting and timeless, this is the story of a young man hemmed in by his circumstances, striving to achieve fulfilment far beyond the world he knows.​​​​"

I love the sea, so I had to go this way: Books with SEA in the title.

Allende, Isabel "Island Beneath the Sea" (E: La isla bajo el mar) - 2010

Benali, Abdelkader "Wedding by the Sea" (NL: Bruiloft aan zee) - 1996

Falcones, Ildefonso "Cathedral of the Sea" (E: La catedral del mar) - 2008 

Ghosh, Amitav "Sea of Poppies" (Ibis Trilogy #1) - 2008

Hemingway, Ernest "The Old Man and the Sea" - 1952

Rhys, Jean "Wide Sargasso Sea" - 1966

* * *

Well, the obvious connection would be the word "sea" in the title. But I think there is a connection between Thomas Flett from the starter book and Edward Rochester in Wide Sargasso Sea. Both are young British men who seek a future abroad.

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Six Degrees of Separation ~ We Have Always Lived in the Castle

Jackson, Shirley 
"We Have Always Lived in the Castle" - 1962

#6Degrees of Separation:

from We Have Always Lived in the Castle (Goodreads) to Carry On, Jeeves

#6Degrees is a monthly link-up hosted by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best. I love the idea. Thank you, Kate. See more about this challenge, its history, further books and how I found this here. 

The starter book this month is "We Have Always Lived in the Castle" by Shirley Jackson. As usual, I haven't read the starter book. But I have read another book by her, "The Lottery". One of the scariest books I have ever read.

This is the description of the novel:

"Shirley Jackson's beloved gothic tale of a peculiar girl named Merricat and her family's dark secret.

Taking readers deep into a labyrinth of dark neurosis, We Have Always Lived in the Castle is a deliciously unsettling novel about a perverse, isolated, and possibly murderous family and the struggle that ensues when a cousin arrives at their estate."

This was a nice title to find connections through words. I like that because it usually gives us a lot of different topics rather than all the same books. And I often get books I don't use so often otherwise. So we start with: The White Castle

Pamuk, Orhan "The White Castle" (TR: Beyaz Kale) - 1985
The author transports us back into the Venice and Istanbul/Constantinople of the 17th century. His tale is about two men who are as different and yet as similar as possible to each other who come from the two different parts of the world. We learn about the differences between the Orient and the Occident.

Aicher-Scholl, Inge "The White Rose" (GE: Die weiße Rose) - 1952

Inge Scholl was the sister of Hans and Sophie Scholl and is writing this book about her siblings and the Munich resistance group.

If there are any books that everyone should read, the story of the White Rose is definitely one of them. It shows that even in deepest Nazi Germany there were people who resisted, who paid for it with their lives, but who should be a great role model for all of us.

Eco, Umberto "The Name of the Rose" (I: Il Nome de la Rosa) - 1980 
A murder mystery. A monastery in the 14th century. One death occurs after the other, some of them seem very suspect, but for most of them it is very clear that another person caused the death. In other words, there is a mass murderer at large. Two visiting monks start to investigate and find a lot of links, some of them correct, others definitely false.

Osorio, Elsa "My Name is Light" (E: A veinte años, Luz) - 1998
A highly interesting novel about something that didn’t happen that long ago, yet is not so widely published. Of course, everyone knows there were a lot of problems in Argentina but I have not read a novel where it was described this well.

Obama, Michelle "The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times" - 2022

Such a wonderful woman, such a strong personality. We need more women like her who tell us how they lead their successful lives without pointing a finger, without letting the book be a "self-help book".

It's a huge privilege to be let into the thoughts of Michelle Obama, she shares so much that can be helpful to all of us. We can always learn from each other but especially from successful people.

Wodehouse, P.G."The World of Jeeves" (Jeeves #2-4: The Inimitable Jeeves #2, Carry On, Jeeves #3, Very Good, Jeeves! #4) - 1923/1925/1930

I had a lot of fun reading this over several months, the two helped me through some awful Corona months.

There isn't much more to say about these books other than how wonderful they are. I mentioned before that they aren't just funny but that the language is superb.

* * *

I couldn't find a connection between the first and the last one. The first was written by an American, the last by a Brit, the first one by a woman, the last by a man, the first is scary, the last funny. But both covers are quite monochrome. So, that's my conclusion and I stand by it. 😉 

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Six Degrees of Separation ~ I Want Everything

Dominic Amerena

"I Want Everything" - 2024

#6Degrees of Separation:
from I Want Everything (Goodreads) to Do Android's Dream of Electric Sheep? 

#6Degrees is a monthly link-up hosted by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best. I love the idea. Thank you, Kate. See more about this challenge, its history, further books and how I found this here. 

The starter book this month is "I Want Everything" by Dominic Amerena. As usual, I haven't read the starter book. This is the description of the novel:

"You all know this, of course, but years and years ago, acclaimed Australian novelist Brenda Shales went missing. After two explosive, controversial books that would shape the literary canon of the country for decades to come — and that terrible legal scandal about plagiarism, of course — she was simply gone. 

That was, right up until a frustrated young writer sees an elderly woman swimming at his local pool in Melbourne. She looks familiar…very familiar in fact. No. It couldn’t be. Stunned, he returns home to confirm the impossible truth; it’s Brenda Shales, now in her old age and stranded in a retirement home. He’s determined to pursue her, to discover what happened to her all those years ago, and to possibly fulfil his dreams of literary stardom through a tell-all biography. But when he finds her, a case of mistaken identity and Brenda’s own terrible secrets begin to derail his ambitions, and ultimately, his entire life.

From brilliant debut novelist Dominic Amerena, I Want Everything is a wickedly sharp story of desire and deception, authorship and authenticity, and the devastating costs of creative ambition."

This was a nice title to find connections through words. I like that because it usually gives us a lot of different topics rather than all the same books. And I often get books I don't use so often otherwise. So we start with: I Want Everything

Bryson, Bill "A Short History of Nearly Everything" - 2003
The title is so true. There is so much information in this book, I wish my science teachers would have been half as informative and concise as he is, I learned more from this book than I did in years of trying to learn just a little about this subject.

Tartt, Donna "The Secret History" - 1992

A very impressive story hat will probably stay with me forever. A group of students does something really bad and can only get out of it by doing something even worse. The characters are not really likeable but they get under your skin.

Grenville, Kate "The Secret River" - 2005
The story of William Thornhill, whose main crime was to be born into absolute poverty in a time where there was no way out of it, where people were forced to become criminals in order to feed their families and, when caught, sent to a foreign country, a country so remote that the voyage there was one of no return. 

Tademy, Lalita "Red River" - 2007
The author tells the story of her father's ancestors that came all the way from Egypt as free men only to be turned into slaves in the States. The story begins after the Civil War when the slaves have officially been freed but white supremacists don't want to accept that, so there is still a long struggle ahead of them.

Xueqin, Cao (Cáo Xuěqín) "Dream of the Red Chamber/The Story of the Stone" (CHN: 红楼梦/Hung lou meng) - 1717-63

This novel has semi-autobiographical sides, it is said that it shows not just the rise and fall of the author's family but also that of the Qing Dynasty. It teaches us a lot not just about everyday Chinese life in the 18th century, but also their culture, religion, science, art and literature. Really captivating. Certainly one of the most informative books I have read about Ancient China, and I have read quite a few.

Dick, Philip K. "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" - 1968

I always wondered about this weird title. The story is primarily about a bounty hunter in a dystopian world. After a nuclear global war damaged the earth tremendously, there are hardly any animals left. Or humans. So, the survivors have to create a new world.
The film "Blade Runner" is based on this novel.

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Is there a connection between the starter book and the last one? Maybe this: The Androids dream of everything, they want everything. That's about the closest I can get.

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Six Degrees of Separation ~ Ghost Cities

Siang Lu
"Ghost Cities" - 2024
 
#6Degrees of Separation:
from Ghost Cities (Goodreads) to Syria's Secret Library 

#6Degrees is a monthly link-up hosted by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best. I love the idea. Thank you, Kate. See more about this challenge, its history, further books and how I found this here.

The starter book this month is "Ghost Cities" by Siang Lu. Again, I have not read the starter book. This is the description of the novel:

"Ghost Cities – inspired by the vacant, uninhabited megacities of China – follows multiple narratives, including one in which a young man named Xiang is fired from his job as a translator at Sydney's Chinese Consulate after it is discovered he doesn' t speak a word of Chinese and has been relying entirely on Google Translate for his work. How is his relocation to one such ghost city connected to a parallel odyssey in which an ancient Emperor creates a thousand doubles of Himself? Or where a horny mountain gains sentience? Where a chess-playing automaton hides a deadly secret? Or a tale in which every book in the known Empire is destroyed – then re-created, page by page and book by book, all in the name of love and art? Allegorical and imaginative, Ghost Cities will appeal to readers of Haruki Murakami and Italo Calvino."

Other than many of the books from this challenge, I might quite like this one. But there is no way I can get it within a month for a reasonable price.

The name or title doesn't do much for me, either. I only have two books with the word Ghost in the title. Of course, there would have been a few with City in it. But they didn't inspire me to go further, either. And I have only read one other book that was awarded the Miles Franklin Award, Oscar and Lucinda. However, there are a few on my wishlist.

In the end, I went with the title. I have read another book that takes place in China and is all about languages, and that's how I started:

Xu, Ruiyan "The Lost and Forgotten Languages of Shanghai" - 2010
After an accident, a man loses part of his brain and can only speak the language he grew up with but does not reign that of his wife and child. A problem that is rare but can happen.

Sanders, Ella Frances "Lost in Translation. An Illustrated Compendium of Untranslatable Words from Around the World" - 2014
A linguaphile is a person who loves language and words. They can be interested in many different things such as learning to speak several different languages or simply nerding out about words in general. The author has put together many interesting words and illustrated them with her beautiful drawings. A great book for any language nerd.

Croker, Charlie "Løst in Tränšlatioπ. Misadventures in English Abroad" - 2006
This is one of those humorous books about language and how it can be understood and expressed quite differently in different countries. This edition collects all those funny little signs and descriptions we find all over the world - not without telling us that we shouldn’t judge-

Fox, Kate "Watching the English: the hidden rules of English behaviour" - 2004
An anthropology about a nation dear to my heart - the English. This book is quite funny at times and I am sure all the English people will love it and just nod their heads all the time - well, most of the others will do the same. 

Piercy, Joseph "The Story of English: How an Obscure Dialect became the World's Most-Spoken Language" - 2012
This book reads like a novel about some people who inhabited a small island, were invaded and then started to invade others, as well. 

Thomson, Mike "Syria's Secret Library: The true story of how a besieged Syrian town found hope" - 2018
In the midst of one of the worst civil wars in history, some young men build a library in order to feed their souls and learn for the future "when all this is over". They are an inspiration to us all.

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So, what does the last book have to do with the starter one? Languages and Books. What better topic for a book blog.

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