It’s the first Saturday of the month so that means it’s #6degrees of separation time! This month’s starting book is Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid.
You can find the details and rules of the #6degrees meme at booksaremyfavouriteandbest, but in a nutshell, on the first Saturday of every month, everyone has the same starting book and from there, you connect in a variety of ways to other books. Some of the connections made are so impressive, it’s a lot of fun to follow.
I’m aiming to read each month’s title and so far, I’m off to a good start. This book was never on my radar when it first released so I did need to read it specially for this, but it’s doubled up as my local book club pick for this month as well. I do like a book that can be read for multiple challenges/purposes.
Daisy Jones and The Six uses a different format for its narrative, and it’s on this basis that I’m making my first leap. Half Wild by Pip Smith played around with format too, offering it’s narrative in a variety of ways, from newspaper articles through to court transcripts, and this one is probably my favourite novel to date for utilising alternate formats to tell its story. From here, I’m leaping across via surname to Dominic Smith, one of my favourite authors. He’s written several books, each of which that I’ve read coming up five stars. But, one of his has been on my #tbr for ages, The Mercury Visions of Louis Daguerre, and I intend on reading that one this year. Another book which is clamouring to get off my #tbr is Life After Life by Kate Atkinson, which I can’t believe I’ve never read. Speaking of Kates, Kate’s ‘Ten years, ten top books’ post
alerted me to a few other titles I needed to pull off of my shelves. In particular, Foal’s Bread by Gillian Mears, The Glorious Heresies by Lisa McInerney and Commonwealth by Ann Patchett.
Oh, that’s six books already! See you next month…
Oh I’ve had Life After Life on my watch pile for years. I look forward to hearing what you think when you read it. Maybe you’ll inspire me to read it.
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It’s in a place where I see it everyday. It will get read!
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Haha, that was quickly done, Theresa. I included Dominic Smith in my chain too.
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I noticed that and it gave me a chuckle! Honestly, I was so underwhelmed by Daisy Jones and The Six that it affected my ability to concentrate on connections. I kept getting stuck on ‘books that bored me’ but that seemed mean. Sometimes it’s better to have not read a book than have read it and been underwhelmed, I think. For activities like this anyway!
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Hmm… Then maybe I won’t feel badly about not planning to read the starting books!
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Oops, and I meant to say I’m impressed by your resolve to read all the starting books this year.
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I say things like that, but…
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I don’t even say them!
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I like your leap to Half Wild, that was a very impressive book.
Here’s my chain:
https://anzlitlovers.com/2020/01/04/six-degrees-of-separation-daisy-jones-and-the-six-to/
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I agree, very impressive. A lot more so than Daisy Jones and The Six!
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Oh, good for you for starting with the format of Daisy Jones. That Half Wild sounds very interesting! Mine is here. https://tcl-bookreviews.com/2020/01/04/6degrees-of-separation-for-january-4-2020/
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It’s funny sometimes, these chains. I can see many that went with the artistic angle, and yet, that never occured to me until seeing other people’s posts! That’s why I love this meme – so many different directions taken for each book!
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Precisely!
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Very ambitious aiming to read each month’s title! Did you enjoy Daisy Jones? I have seen so many raving reviews, that I’ve lost count, but I’m still not sure it is for me. Oh, and I haven’t read Atkinson’s Life After Life, so you are not alone.
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No, I was really underwhelmed by Daisy Jones and The Six. The transcript style just didn’t grab me and the story itself only got remotely interesting in the last 30 pages.
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Sry to hear that. Most people seem to love it, but my gut feeling is, I would feel like you about it.
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It’s very much not my usual read. However, I do think I would have enjoyed it more if it had been written just as a novel. It was all tell and no show.
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I can’t wait to read your thoughts on Life After Life, I found it to be thought-provoking and clever. Loved it so much.
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There’s so much love out there for that book.
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Obviously I highly approve of your EXCELLENT chain 😀 (and you’re in for a treat with Commonwealth, Foal’s and Glorious in your reading future [see if you can get your hands on the Glorious audio, for extra enjoyment]).
Given that you’re planning on reading all the starting books, feel free to email me some starter suggestions – katrina[dot]w[at]ozemail[dot]com[dot]au
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Oooh, now you’ve given me something to think on…
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I only got round to reading Life after Life last month, so the fact you haven’t read it yet makes me feel a bit better. I hope you get a chance to read it soon, as it is definitely worth it.
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I’m hoping to squeeze it in over this summer break!
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Enjoyed your chain, Theresa. I hope you enjoy the next starting book better than Daisy Jones.
My chain:
https://adarngoodread.blogspot.com/2020/01/six-degrees-of-separation-from-daisy-and-the-six-to-shepherd.html
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I read the blurb for the next one and it seems quite interesting.
I love your chain, that first leap! And then from gardens to hauntings…so clever!
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I really liked LIFE AND LIFE and COMMONWEALTH. I know you will find a lot to like in them, too, but both are a bit confusing, so don’t get frustrated. Daisy Jones and the Six in 6 degrees
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Thanks for the heads up!
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What a fun chain! I like how you connected each of the books. Life After Life is on my TBR pile too. Commonwealh is new to me, but it does sound good, and I like Ann Patchett. Thank you for sharing!
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Thank you! 😊
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This is so fun. I love how you’ve made the connections.
I’ve only read one of the books you mention – Life After Life. I absolutely loved it.
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Thank you! It is such a fun meme to do each month.
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I have read Life After Life but I do think I have a couple of other Kate Atkinson books to read!
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Did you like it?
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