It’s the first Saturday of the month so that means it’s #6degrees of separation time! This month’s starting book is a wild card – start with the book you’ve ended a previous chain with, and continue from there.
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’ve participated in eight six degrees meme’s this year and looking back at what each end title was, I decided on going with Gulliver’s Wife by Lauren Chater, which was my ending book for August. When I type the word ‘wife’ into the search bar of my e-reader, I got, in this order:
Gulliver’s Wife by Lauren Chater (entirely by coincidence my starting book came up first!)
1. Shakespeare’s Wife by Germaine Greer
2. Runaway Wife by Rowan Coleman
3. The Pharmacist’s Wife by Vanessa Tait
4. The Paris Wife by Paula McLain
5. American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld
6. The Railwayman’s Wife by Ashley Hay
Obviously a popular way to title a book! Funnily enough, it doesn’t irritate me as much as the overuse of ‘girl’.
That’s my six degrees for this month. 📚
Theresa Smith Writes 
Excellent chain! The cover for American Wife is so odd. The bike is the right time period for the “event” but it doesn’t go with the story. I love seeing how books get rebranded in other countries. I loved both the American Wife and the Paris Wife.
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Isn’t that funny! And it’s not until you’ve read it you would look back at the cover and think, ‘what’s with the bike?’ 😁
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I read the book Bookshop in Berlin. The bookshop was little more than a footnote!
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That’s so ridiculous! You would think from that title the book was all about the bookshop!
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I loved Shakespeare’s Wife, trust Greer to come up with it!!
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I’m certain I bought it on your recommendation.
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Good!
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You certainly made that look easy 😀
I’ve read American Wife and Paris Wife – loved American but found Paris didn’t quite live up to the hype (as is often the case when so many other readers build it up for you!).
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I’m glad it looked easy! I actually sat staring at my screen going back and forth between ending titles from my previous 6 degrees and then once I settled on Gulliver’s Wife I had to figure out what I was going to do with it
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Haha, yes, those famous wives. I can think of a similar one on famous daughters. Wonder why we rarely have book titles about somebody’s husband or son… Gulliver’s wife looks really interesting (and has a great cover too).
Happy #6Degrees. My own post went up here: https://lexlingua.co/six-degrees-sleepy-hollow-deadly-secrets/
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Daughters! Yes, that’s another one overused.
Gulliver’s Wife is a good book. Highly recommend it!
Off to check out your chain. Happy 6 degrees!
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HA! Quick and easy! Good for you! But you know, I actually do get sick and tired of wife in the title. I also get sick of daughter in titles. What? They aren’t something in their own right? Grrr! As for Girl, I don’t mind as much although I’d prefer woman, unless the age of the female is young. Girl and woman are just descriptions of their gender, but wife or daughter make me think that the author doesn’t respect who these women actually are. I know that’s not true, but still…
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I know what you mean. All of those are depersonalised tags and I also think they’re rather unimaginative in terms of titling a book.
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Having recently read Hamnet, I really must read Shakespeare’s Wife. Of your selection, I’ve only read the Sittenfeld, though I remember much enjoying it, as I do all her books (though I haven’t read her latest yet)
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I’m thinking the same, for the exact same reason. Hamnet was brilliant.
I want to read the Sittenfeld too, I always enjoy her books.
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So many wives, who would have thought, and I’ve not read any though have been wanting to read Hay’s for a long time.
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I’ve had Hay’s for ages on my shelf! As usual!
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I started to do mine all with “Girl” but it got hijacked halfway through! http://perfectretort.blogspot.com/2020/11/six-degrees-of-separation-from-good.html
I like the cover for The Pharmacist’s Wife. I haven’t read any of these but I do own The Paris Wife. I sometimes have a pile of books for trips that I know I could discard en route. Alas, no traveling for a while.
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I love it when the chain gets highjacked! I’ve had that happen before, part of the fun with this meme really, how it can lead you in its own direction.
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I can recommend The Paris Wife and The Railwayman’s Wife. One about the abominable Ernest Hemingway and how he treated his wife and one about grief and loss.
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Both have been on my radar for ages! I watched the Nicole Kidman film about Martha Gellhorn and Hemingway and that inspired more interest in reading further. He was so awful to his first wife and then to Martha as well!
And as to The Railwayman’s Wife, I just really like Ashley Hay.
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