Six Degrees of Separation is a meme hosted by Kate over at Books Are My Favourite and Best. It works like this: each month a book is chosen as a starting point and linked to six others to form a chain. A book doesn’t need to be connected to all the titles on the list, only to the one next to it in the chain.
This month we’re starting with Sigrid Nunez’s What Are You Going Through in which one friend diagnosed with terminal cancer asks another to help her end her life.
Steven Amsterdam’s sharp, funny The Easy Way Out explores the tricky question of assisted suicide through a nurse whose mother has recently been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
One of my favourite cities, Amsterdam provided the backdrop to Jessie Burton’s The Miniaturist, set in the seventeenth century.
The titular character of Burton’s novel makes furniture for dolls’ houses leading me to Elizabeth MacNeal’s The Doll Factory which I’ve yet to read.
I have read Ian Banks’ cult classic The Wasp Factory. Not my favourite Banks but it was an impressive start to a brilliant career.
Ian Banks died far too young as did Andrea Levy author of Small Island which follows three members of the Windrush Generation as they negotiate the challenges of building a new life in Britain.
Bill Bryson’s Notes from a Small Island is a love letter to the country from which Levy’s characters received such a mixed welcome.
This month’s Six Degrees has taken me from a novel by a palliative nurse about assisted suicide to an affectionate travelogue about my own country by an American. Part of the fun of this meme is comparing the very different routes other bloggers take from each month’s starting point. If you’re interested, you can follow it on Twitter with the hashtag #6Degrees, check out the links over at Kate’s blog or perhaps even join in.
I want to reread Small Island, thanks for the reminder!
You’re welcome! Perhaps I should reread it, too. It might make me feel better about our small island.
On hearing of her sad passing I decided to read Andrea Levy’s book Every Light in the House Burnin’ and loved that one too.
That’s the first one of hers I read. She was sadly overlooked for many years but I’m so glad she finally got the recognition she deserved.
Love your Amsterdam and factory links
Thank you!
Nice links, and great covers! I loved Small Island.
Thank you. Me, too. There was a great TV adaptation of it.
Great links. I enjoyed The Miniaturist and am looking forward to the sequel which is coming next year!
Thank you. I spotted that in the publishing schedules. A treat look out for!
Love your link to The Miniaturist. I’ve not read The Doll Factory either – it fell into the category of books i didn’t want to read because I saw them everywhere. Silly really, I might have been denying myself an enjoyable experience.
Thank you! I know exactly what you mean about the effects of over exposure. Not sure I’ll get around to reading it, now.
Ah… another chain that isn’t filled with gloom! Lovely. I always like a freestyle chain like this – author’s name is Amsterdam, connecting to a book that takes place in Amsterdam! Lovely!
Thank you! Such an unusual surname, the city immediately sprang to mind.
Astonishingly, there’s only one book in this chain that I haven’t read – The Easy Way Out. Best TBR it then!
I’d count that as a win, then! Highly recommend The Easy Way Out. A difficult subject treated with compassion and humour.
Right. I’ll hunt it out – thanks.
Neat! I tried The Miniaturist in audio, it didn’t work, I have to try it again in print.
You can find my quirky chain here: https://wordsandpeace.com/2021/11/06/six-degrees-of-separation-from-asking-to-spelling/
Thanks for the link. It might have been my love of Amsterdam that me so keen on The Miniaturist.
I’ll have to find The Easy Way Out — the only one from your chain I haven’t read!
It would suit your interests very well!
The Amsterdam link–clever, clever! (In the very best way). Great work.
Thank you!
Clever linking with Amsterdam. I’ve yet to read The Miniaturist, but I may have spoiled it for myself by seeing the TV series before reading the book. Interesting news that there is to be a sequel.
Thank you! I remember enjoying that series. Very atmospheric.
Great links! The Levy/Bryson is interesting – two sides of the same coin. Thanks for the reminder of The Doll Factory – one I also meant to read but it had slipped off my radar…
Exactly that! Thank you and you’re welcome.
I do admire the unuusal ways in which you have linked your books!
The only one I have read is Bill Bryson’s Notes from a Small Island, which I remember loving.I once had to ask him for permission to quote from the book for a newsletter I used to edit. and I was so thrilled when he sent back a card with a personal note, saying it was fine. What a nice man – and his writing is so entertaining.
Thank you! I remember Bill Bryson visiting the shop when I was a bookseller years ago. Such an affable man
I loved The Miniaturist too…a slow and atmospheric story. I’ve been tempted by the miniseries, as I heard it was quite satisfying too.
It would make excellent Christams viewing if you have access to it.