Six Degrees of Separation: Sandwich to Agnes and the Hitman

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 Sandwich by Catherine Newman.

I thought I would do things a little bit differently this month. Whereas normally this is an exercise in word and thought association. This time, I am going to make....a sandwich

When you are making a sandwich you need to start with bread. In this case, I am choosing a collection of short stories called Bread and Chocolate by Philippa Gregory. I had completely forgotten about this book until I recently revisited the first few book reviews I ever wrote and this was one of them.

Next, I am going to add Butter by Asako Yuzuki

I then need to decide what protein. Will it be ham, or turkey or something else. Maybe chicken, using the book Mr Chicken Goes to Paris by Leigh Hobbs. I read this book many years ago to my nephews  when we were visiting the State Library and I have never forgotten it.

Next up tomatoes. I am choosing Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe by Fannie Flagg, although I probably wouldn't normally fry them!

The next filling was a little trickier. In the end I have chosen a book about Lettice Knollys, cousin and rival to Queen Elizabeth I. I first read about her in high school in a book called My Enemy, the Queen by Victoria Holt, which is a pseudonym of the prolific author Jean Plaidy.

The final link was even trickier. If I was making a chicken, lettuce and tomato sandwich I would want to add mayonaisse, but there aren't many books where this fits. I am therefore choose a book that was co-written by Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer (Mayer/mayo is close right?) called Agnes and the Hitman.

So there you have it, my chicken, lettuce and tomato sandwich!

Next month, which will also be next year (!!!) the starting point is Orbital by Samantha Harvey, which is a new book to me.

Another contest

This time from Dee and Dee Dish...About Books



The details are as follows:

Want the book? Blog for it! Copy/paste the cover .jpg and the highlighted Cover Copy onto your own blog, and link back here, or post me a comment. I'll list your blogs over on our sidebar. Next Wednesday, the night before I head out to Ohio, I'll have the oldest girl child pick a winner. You'll get my (slightly read) copy of AATHM. To make up for it being slightly read, I'll ask Jenny and Bob to sign it, just for YOU, when I see them on Thursday. NOW BLOG THIS BOOK ALREADY!

I am looking forward to reading this book! And to have a signed copy would be even better!

Don't Look Down by Jennifer Cruisie and Bob Mayer

This is my read for the June TBR challenge, which for this month was to read a book from your TBR pile that was recommended by someone you “know” (another blogger, author, friend, family member) or got a lot of buzz and that’s why you bought it but it’s still on your TBR pile. This book had a LOT of prerelease buzz on the internet.

New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Crusie teams up with USA Today bestselling author Bob Mayer to write a sizzling, high-octane romantic adventure about a straight-talking woman and a straight-shooting man…

Lucy Armstrong is a director of television commercials who's just been recruited to finish a four-day action movie shoot. But she arrives on the set to discover that the directing staff has quit, the make-up artist is suicidal, the stars are egomaniacs, the stunt director is her ex-husband, and the lead actor has just acquired as an advisor a Green Beret who has the aggravating habit of always being right.

Green Beret Captain JT Wilder had thought that hiring on as a military consultant for a movie star was a good deal: easy money and easier starlets. Instead he has to babysit a bumbling comedian, dodge low-flying helicopters, and resist his attraction to a director who bears a distracting resemblance to Wonder Woman. Then the CIA calls and he realizes that somebody is taking “shooting a movie” much too literally.

Full of suspense and humor, non-stop action and fast-paced dialogue, Don't Look Down is the perfect blend of male and female, adventure and romance, Mayer and Crusie.

Title: Don't Look Down

Author: Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer

Year published: 2006

Why did you get this book? Crusie is a relatively new author to me, and I have been glomming her books this year. Given the prerelease hype there was no way I was not going to get hold of this book eventually.

Do you like the cover? Yes. I did lose the ta-da effect of the camouflage cover under the jacket because this was a library book and therefore had been covered for it's protection.

Did you enjoy the book? Mostly. It wasn't exceptional, but it wasn't terrible either.

Was the author new to you and would you read something by this author again? I've read Jenny Crusie before, but I have not read any Bob Mayer (or any of his alter-egos) books previously.

Are you keeping it or passing it on? It's a library book so keeping it isn't really a consideration, but if it wasn't I would probably pass on it.

Anything else?I do enjoy reading the He Wrote She Wrote blog most of the time. It is often hysterically funny..something that didn't happen all that much in the book. Will I read the next book collaboration between these two...absolutely. The basis is there for an excellent story. Just need to work through a few of the kinks - like a four day story where they are going to have a HEA!

Rating: 3.5/5