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.
The starting point for this month is Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton. I really struggled to get started last month. This month I had the opposite problem. I had several ideas of where to start.
I did think about going using novels with a name for a title as one of my options, but I kept it a bit simpler in the end.
I haven't read Ethan Frome although when I was looking on Goodreads I was surprised to see that it is a very short book, so maybe I should try reading it. The only book I have read by Edith Wharton is Age of Innocence, which is a book I read many years ago as part of the Barnes and Noble University.
When I was thinking about Age of Innocence I was thinking of the Gilded Age/era which lead me to thinking about The Gilded Hour by Sara Donati, which coincidentally is also set in New York.
My next choice, City of Dreams by Beverly Swerling is also set in New York, or rather in Nieuw Amsterdam back when the city was under Dutch control.
Taking inspirations from the word dream, my next choice is Dream Angus: The Celtic God of Dreams by Alexander McCall Smith. This book was part of the Canongate myths series
Also part of the same series is Lion's Honey by David Grossman, which retells the story of Samson from the Old Testament.
My final choice is another Old Testament story, The Red Tent by Anita Diamant. If I had to pick one book as the book that got me over the line from thinking about writing reviews for a blog to actually starting a blog, this is the book.
Next month the starting point is Rules of Civility by Amor Towles. This is an author that I have been meaning to read for the longest time. That might even be my starting point but there's only a couple of thousand books that are on that list so it doesn't really narrow it down.
Yes, well... trying to pick the next book from thousands on our lists isn't easy. I've been intrigued by Towles, but like you, I've never read anything by him. While I've read Grossman (to my great shame, only one recently) and Diamant, I've read neither of these. I read Diamant's "The Boston Girl" and to be honest, I wasn't overly impressed. But I know that The Red Tent is supposed to be a classic of sorts. Maybe I should try it.
ReplyDeleteIt has been 16 years since I read The Red Tent Davida. I wonder if it will hold up to a reread
DeleteI'm curious: what is the Barnes and Noble University?
ReplyDeleteIt was a fourm type setting where there were expert led discussions about books and topics. If I remember correctly.
DeleteI've heard so much about The Red Tent - you might be nudging me in the direction of reading it. And I had to laugh at your last comment, about the starting point being an author you've been meaning to read for the longest time... I can SO sympathise with that!
ReplyDeleteSo many books in that category for me Marina. I know I am not really alone
DeleteI remember reading The Red Tent with a group long, long ago. What a fabulous discussion we had.
ReplyDeleteI've read three of Amor Towles' books. All three were beautifully written historical fiction.
The Red Tent would be a good discussion book Deb
DeleteI have not read Ethan Frome either and was surprised by how short it is. I enjoyed your selections, many were new to me.
ReplyDeleteHave a good week!
Thanks for commenting Gretchen.
DeleteI am fairly sure Barnes & Noble (my former client) University is just a classics imprint the bookstore chain started so it could make more money than from the publishers' editions. Having worked for Penguin, I know that negatively impacted our sales of Penguin and Signet classics.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great chain, Marg - I have read all of these except Dream Argus and Lion's Honey. I liked Rules of Civility enough to give it to my sister but I think his second book, A Gentleman in Moscow, is much better so I would keep that in mind as one always has so many books to read and so little time!
I was a little disappointed in The Gilded Hour. I liked Donati's first book so much but I felt this one meandered and I didn't care enough to continue with the series.
In the early 2000s there was BNU which was in effect forums to discuss set topics.
DeleteI haven't read The Gilded Hour yet. I have lots of her other books though.
I've read Ethan Frome a few times over the years and liked it, but not nearly as much as The Age of Innocence. The Red Tent was a favorite years ago... tried to get my sister to read it, but she was never able to get into it.
ReplyDeleteI loved both Rules of Civility and Gentleman in Moscow. Hope to read The Lincoln Highway in early 2022.
I really need to read one of the Amor Towles books next year JoAnn.
DeleteWhat a fun meme and what a great list!
ReplyDeleteThanks Yvonne.
DeleteNice connections! I'm familiar with many of these books, but haven't actually read any!
ReplyDeleteThe Red Tent is on my TBR and I really, really need to get to it. Lion's Honey caught my attention now as well, will take a look.
ReplyDeleteI've only read A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles and I loved it!
Elza Reads
I enjoyed The Gilded Hour and its sequel. I have all four books of Beverly Swerling's New York series. Just have to find the time to read them. Great chain!
ReplyDeletethe red tent is such a marvellous book. really loved it.
ReplyDelete