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.
This month's starting point is Theory & Practice by Michelle DeKretser, winner of the 2025 Stella Prize.
I have only ever read one book by Michelle DeKretser and that was The Lost Dog which I read back in 2008.
I could have picked one of many books with the word lost in the title. However, I decided to stick with the dog theme so my next link is to To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis. This is a book that I did a buddy read/joint review with Aarti from Booklust many, many years ago and it was a 5/5 read for me. (Part 1 post and then final post)
The most recent book that I did a joint review of was The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak which was with Bree from All the Books I Can Read but I have already used that book a couple of times, which is my limit, and so I am going to go even further back and use another joint review that we did as my next connection. We read and discussed The Dressmaker of Yarrandarah Prison by Meredith Jaffe. I gave this book a 5/5 rating back when I read it in 2021 and still think that the cover of this one is stunning! Here is the first part of our conversation and here is the second.
When I checked my spreadsheet where I record all my reads, I noticed that right before I read that book I had another 5/5 read and that was The Warsaw Orphan by Kelly Rimmer.
Kelly Rimmer has a new book coming out soon which is called The Midnight Estate. I am therefore going to use this as my link to The Tolstoy Estate by Steven Conte which is a book I gave a 5/5 rating to back in 2020.
I saw Steven Conte at the Williamstown Literary Festival back in 2022. In the same post where I talked briefly about that, I mentioned that I was reading Sisters of the Resistance by Christine Wells. This week I won a mug from Christine in a Facebook group I am in!
So there we have it. A couple of joint reviews, some 5/5 reads, and some WWII novels.
Next month, the starting point is 2025 Women’s Prize winner, The Safekeep by Yael Van Der Wouden.
Will you be joining us?
Nice links!
ReplyDeleteI'd love to read To Say Nothing of the Dog.
https://wordsandpeace.com/2025/07/05/six-degrees-of-separation-this-and-that/
To Say Nothing of the Dog is so much fun! There is another connected book as well and that is good too!
DeleteI like your chain. The Dressmakers of Yarrandarah Prison was a good read, I need to revisit that one. I think I've read that Kelly Rimmer novel, I'm looking forward to her new one.
ReplyDeleteDressmakers was so good. I've been afraid to read Joffe ever since as I am not sure anything will live up to that book for me!
DeleteLovely chain here. I really enjoyed The Resistance Sisters.
ReplyDeleteI started it years ago but never finished it. I will go back to it soon I think!
DeleteI remember loving To Say Nothing of the Dog. I tried a couple more of Connie Willis books after that, but I did not enjoy them nearly as much as I did the first one. I wonder if it would be a good book to reread.
ReplyDeleteI read the two connected to To Say Nothing of the Dog but haven't tried anything else by Connie Willis
DeleteTo Say Nothing of the Dog sounds like a good one. Adding it!
ReplyDeleteIt was a lot of fun!
DeleteI also enjoyed To Say Nothing of the Dog although I don't remember it at all. I got the French Revolution into my chain (Bastille Day is celebrated in downtown Boston - once I volunteered and still have a pretty apron I received that day).
ReplyDeleteThere is a Bastille Day market here which I am thinking about attending. Not that I have told my husband that we are going yet.
DeleteLots of interest here, particularly your WWII choices - thanks!
ReplyDeleteLoved several of them Margaret!
DeleteYour selections all sound so compelling I want to read them all!
ReplyDeleteThere's some good ones there for sure Anne!
DeleteI like the way you've written your Six Degrees post! I must try it sometime. I haven't read any of your books but several of them appeal to me, especially The Tolstoy Estate.
ReplyDeleteI hope you do join us at some point! It's fun to do and just follow your brain as it makes the connection! I loved The Tolstoy Estate. Such a good book!
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