Six Degrees of Separation: Passages to Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus

 

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 book called Passages by Gail Sheehy. Apparently this was a very popular self help book in the 1970s.

My first link is using the word passages. Great Passages by Shion Miura is about the creation of a dictionary, and is set in Japan.

I thought about choosing a book with great in the title, but instead chose Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi  which is also set in Japan, this time in a cafe in Tokyo.

I did think about trying to do a whole chain set in Japan, but decided against it. Instead I am choosing another book set in a cafe - Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe by Heather Webber

I have no shortage of books that feature cafes or restaurants, but instead I am chose to link using the word birds. The book I chose is Mateship with Birds by Carrie Tiffany.

One thing that Aussies pride themselves on, rightly or wrongly,  is the idea of mateship. Much of the ideal of this comes from the Australian campaign at Gallipolli in WWI. Thomas Keneally's book, The Daughters of Mars tells the story of a nurse during that campaign.

I don't often try to go full circle with Six Degrees, but this time I think I have managed it. We started with a self help books from the 70s. Let's finish with another one, this time from the 90's. Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus by John Gray was everywhere back in the day.

I found the starting point this month quite easy and had done a couple of other full chains before deciding on this one.

Next month's starting point is an autobiography, Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen. 

Where did your chain take you this month?

Six Degrees of Separation: From Rules of Civility to Venetia

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 Rules of Civility by Amor Towles. When this was announced as the starting point I boldly declared that my starting point would likely be a different author that I know I should have read but haven't. Except...it's not.

Instead, my starting point is Everyman's Rules for Scientific Thinking by Carrie Tiffany because...rules. 

My next choice is a different kind of science - cryptology - which is the science of making and breaking codes. The breaking of enemy codes during  WWII is central to The Rose Code by Kate Quinn, one of my favourite reads of 2021.

Having pondered on the words rules and codes, I found myself thinking of the words of Captain Barbarosa from The Pirates of the Carribean

And when you start thinking along the lines of pirates, this leads me to Cinnamon and Gunpowder by Eli Brown, which I have been reading recently. This book features a lady pirate who is sailing the seas, intent on revenge against those who done her wrong.

Bear with me while I do a litte hop and a skip to get to my next link! I was thinking about lady pirates and the scene that came to mind was from that iconic, so bad it's good, early 1980's movie, The Pirate Movie. This was based on the musical The Pirates of Penzance, and Penzance is in Cornwall

Now there are a number of choices that could be made for books set in Cornwall. Daphne du Maurier for is an obvious choice for starters, but instead I am going to choose Ross Poldark by Winston Graham. This is the first book in the Poldark series which was adapted for TV a while ago.

My next choice is also a period drama TV adaptation - North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell. Now I could share a book cover, but instead I bring you a gratuitous picture of Richard Armitage as Mr Thornton.

It's funny how often my direction changes while I am writing these posts. I start out mapping out the links nd then as I am writing the words around it, the choices change. Instead of going to a book with East in the title, I am instead going to choose Venetia by Georgette Heyer. Why, you ask? Because the abridged audiobook is one of my favourite audiobook experiences of all time. I have listened to it multiple times and still love it. And who is the narrator? Why it is Richard Armitage, which equals aural bliss!

Next month the starting point is No One Is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood. Heaven only knows where I will end up!

Australian Historical Fiction

It would appear that the state of historical fiction is pretty good here in Australia. Today the five nominations for The Miles Franklin Award 2006 were announced and all five of them are historical fiction.

The nominations are:

The Secret River by Kate Grenville

Historical novel set in the early years of the settlement of NSW, and follows the life and times of William Thornhill, who was sentenced in 1806 to be transported to NSW for the term of his natural life. With his wife and children, he eventually takes up land on the Hawkesbury River, and it’s this phrase, ‘takes up land’, that Kate Grenville examines, because it’s a phrase that doesn’t instantly invoke the risk and bloodshed that actually happened.

The Wing of the Night by Brenda Walker

The novel is mainly set in the farming communities of the south west of Western Australia where women were left to run farms. They formed strong bonds with their neighbours which transcended class divisions.

The book also explores what it was like for the men who survived the war and returned home.


Everyman's Rules for Scientific Living by Carrie Tiffany

Living off the land must be scientifically based. If you don’t do it properly, you fail. In the old days you’d starve. In the 1930s, a train carrying experts travelled across the countryside dispensing knowledge in the confident expectation that crop yields could be increased. This is the setting for an extraordinary novel by Carrie Tiffany, just published here and abroad.

The Ballad of Desmond Kale by Roger McDonald

Roger's latest novel delves into the tough and vibrant landscape that was the setting for the colony of New South Wales' emerging wool industry. In 'The Ballad Of Desmond Kale' two tough men - Kale, an Irish political prisoner and Parson/Magistrate Matthew Stanton become arch rivals as they both endeavour to produce the finest wool ever produced in New South Wales.


The Garden Book by Brian Castro

Brian Castro's new novel is set in the Dandenong Ranges in the years between the Depression and the Second World War. The story revolves around Swan hay, born Shuang He, daughter of a country schoolteacher, her marriage to the passionate and brutal Darcy Damon, and her love affair with the aviator and architect Jasper Zenlin. Fifty years after her disappearance, Norman Shih, a rare book librarian, pieces together Swan's chaotic life from clues found in guest house libraries, antiquarian bookshops and her own elusive writings. But what exactly is he hoping to find?


Of these the only one I have read is The Secret River and it was quite a good read. As for the others...well, I have added another four items to my TBR list! I'm excited at the prospect of discovering four new authors as well.

Previous winners of the award include Patrick White, Andrew McGahan, Thomas Kenneally and Tim Winton.