Welcome to this month's edition of Six Degrees of Separation, which is a monthly meme hosted by Kate from Books Are My Favourite and Best. The idea is to start with a specific book and make a series of links from one book to the next using whatever link you can find and see where you end up after six links. I am also linking this post up with The Sunday Salon, hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz.
I haven't always read the books that we start off with but I did just finish listen to Normal People this week which is the starting book for this month's edition of Six Degrees of Separation. I think I got it either as a freebie or cheap daily deal from Audible a while ago. When I finished my last audiobook I looked at the books I had available in my account. There was one that was more than 32 hours, and a couple of others that were more than 25 hours, and I just wasn't ready to commit to an audiobook that long. At just under 8 hours, Normal People was an ideal choice. and the narration by Aiofe McMahon was really good.
The reason I specifically mentioned Aiofe McMahon as the narrator is that she was also the narrator for The Good Turn by Dervla McTiernan, which was the audiobook that I finished before Normal People. The Good Turn is a very different book to Normal People so it was a bit of a shock to hear the same narrator but you get used to it pretty quickly. I have had that happen to me before too! The Good Turn was an excellent entry in the Cormac Reilly series, and I can't wait to read more.
Another Irish really good crime series is Tana French's Dublin Murder Squad. I read the early books in this series years ago (before it was even really considered a series. I do have a couple of books left to read at some point too. The first book of this series is In the Woods.
Woods play an important role in many books, and particularly in fairy tales and fantasy. For my next book I have chosen Stardust by Neil Gaiman. I love this book but it is one of the few examples where the movie is better than the book - marginally - mainly thanks to Robert De Niro as Captain Shakespeare!
I can't really remember if the movie of The Fault in Our Stars by John Green was better than the book but it was enjoyable. Good job then that isn't the link that I am using. Rather it is the word star that is the link. I did a conversational review about this book and the first question I asked was Did you cry? to which my answer was yet.
However, it wasn't ugly, sobbing crying which is what I have felt all three times I have read Me Before You by Jojo Moyes which is my next choice. This book ripped my heart out, stomped on it a couple of times and then stuffed it back in upside down. There are two other books in this series which are good but didn't get me in the same way. As an aside, if you are a fan of the Lou Clark trilogy which this is the first book for, check out the COVID-10/Isolation short story which you can read here.
I have loved several of Jojo Moyes' books so I thought that I would make the last choice for this month the first book I read by her, The Ship of Brides. The book is about four Australian war brides who board a ship to England to meet up with their husbands heading into a life full of unknowns. I can't believe I read this book more than 13 years ago (way before the current historical fiction fascination for WWII kicked in) and I still think about it some times. Our four brides were normal people who uprooted their whole lives in the name of love.
The starting point for next month is What I Loved by Siri Hustvedt which I haven't heard of before let alone read.
Great job! I love JoJo though I'm boycotting her newest for my own reasons, lol. I loved Ship of Brides and even asked for a sequel to see how one couple turned out. Of course, it isn't on par with the emotion of Me Before You, but still! And Fault in My Stars--oh my! Great selections!
ReplyDeleteI haven't read her newest one. I kind of want to, because it is Jojo, but then I don't want to either.
DeleteYes, well... I know why Lisa is boycotting Moyes' recent book. I'm reading The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson right now, and loving it. I did a "look inside" of Giver of Stars and right there, in the beginning, was a scene almost exactly like one I had just read in Richardson's book.
DeleteI've read two of your books, In the Woods and Stardust. In the Woods was absolutely superb, I wasn't as keen on Stardust and fancy you may be right that the movie was better.
ReplyDeleteIt's not often that you get to say that is it Cath?
DeleteNo, the only other instance that springs immediately to mind is The Last of the Mohicans. The film is lush and gorgeous and one of my favourite movies ever. The book... is unreadable. LOL
DeleteI have Normal People in my audiobook queue and will give it a listen later this summer. I loved The Fault in My Stars and Me Before You, both of which made me cry uncontrollably. If you haven't read Eleanor & Park, I highly recommend that based on your opinion of these two books. I also loved In the Woods and most of Tana French's earlier works. The Likeness is probably my favorite.
ReplyDeleteEleanor & Park was so good Les! It's still my favourite Rainbow Rowell book!
DeleteI tried to watch Dublin Murder Squad but found it too slow. I did shed a tear both reading and watching Me Before You too though,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your chain.
I thought about watching Dublin Murder Squad but haven't go there yet!
DeleteI wanted to participate in 6 degrees of separation, but the week got too busy to prepare. Nice list! I have to look into Stardust.
ReplyDeleteYou can join in at any point in the month Emma,so there's still time if you are so inclined!
DeleteThis is completely bizarre: not one of the chains I've visited so far has any books that I've read. I reckon it's the way Normal People has made everyone branch out in different directions.
ReplyDeleteThat's one of the good things about this meme isn't it Lisa!
DeleteOh my what a challenging meeme. I really enjoyed Me Before You and liked it better than the following two in the trilogy. Ship of Brides I read just last year - very educational as part of history. Brave women.
ReplyDeleteI don't think the next two books were ever going to live up to Me Before You. In reality, I am not sure that we really needed the two follow up books, but I enjoyed them when I read them
DeleteThe meme is actually a lot of fun to do Kathryn, and you always manage to find some connection or another.
Interesting chain! I like how you used the narrator to connect the first two books.
ReplyDeleteIt seemed like an obvious link seeing as it shocked me so much a few days before Davida!
DeleteI've read Normal People, Into the Woods, The Fault of Our Stars (such a sad one) and, Me Before You (another good but sad one).
ReplyDeleteThis seems like a fun meme.
It is a lot of fun Diane, and because it is monthly it doens't feel like it is too difficult to do.
DeleteTana French is one of my favorite authors, loved the books but never watched the show. I preorder anything by her or Jane Harper.
ReplyDeleteI love Jane Harper books too Tina!
DeleteThis is a fun list. I like the serendipity in the connections between the books. I've read Me Before You and Fault in Our Stars, and I loved both stories.
ReplyDeleteSerendipity is a great word to use in relation to this. Really it is just how do you connect the books together in your own mind, and the fun thing is that everyone's mind works differently and so, despite the fact that we all start with the same book, we all end in very different places.
DeleteI didn't enjoy Normal People but Tana French is a huge favourite of mine.
ReplyDeleteShe is a good author! I need to go back and read her later books.
DeleteNice list of books! I've heard a lot about Normal People. It looks good. I hope you have a great week.
ReplyDeleteMy Sunday post is here.
Thanks Yvonne!
DeleteFinally a book I've read, I may have to attempt a list for Degrees of Separation this month. It is always odd where we end up, huh? It's been a hard week but there is a lot of cause for hope for the future. Stay well. Stay safe. Please visit my Sunday Salon post. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThere is definitely lots going on in the world that challenges us at the moment Anne.
DeleteThanks for stopping by.
Interesting what you say about audio narrators and hearing them do very different books. There's an Au narrator that I always enjoy, so much so that I've 'read' some books that I otherwise wouldn't have, but for her narration. That said, the books are all the same genre so not sure how I'd go if I suddenly heard her reading crime!
ReplyDeleteI am curious who that narrator might be Kate?
DeleteA very entertaining chain Marg. I haven't read JoJo Moyes, but I did love this "This book ripped my heart out, stomped on it a couple of times and then stuffed it back in upside down." Wow.
ReplyDeleteOne of the few books I have given 5/5 to on multiple rereads Sue
DeleteI've been debating reading Normal People but haven't made the time yet. It keeps popping up in my radar and I do like the sound of the book. Enjoyed your chain and you have me wanting to read more Jojo Moyes.
ReplyDeleteJojo Moyes is a good author Athira!
Delete