#6degrees of separation: from Rodham to Pride and Prejudice
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It’s the first Saturday of the month so that means it’s #6degrees of separation time! This month’s starting book is Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld.
You can find the details and rules of the #6degrees meme at booksaremyfavouriteandbest, but in a nutshell, on the first Saturday of every month, everyone has the same starting book and from there, you connect in a variety of ways to other books. Some of the connections made are so impressive, it’s a lot of fun to follow.
I had every intention of reading Rodham this last month, I already had it bought long before it popped up as the September six degrees title, but things are crazy at present and time is slipping by. I was so ready to read it though that it’s been sitting on my second dining table for the last ten days. I only keep the books I’m actually presently reading there or the one or two that are next up. So, Rodham is there, and so is A Lonely Girl is a Dangerous Thing, and that’s my first link.
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I wasn’t all that interested in A Lonely Girl is a Dangerous Thing when I first heard of it. I didn’t request it for review either because it didn’t appeal. But then I attended Jessie Tu’s session at this year’s Melbourne Writer’s Festival and she was so utterly fantastic I knew I had to read this book at some time.
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MWF introduced me to quite a few books I now need to read that might have otherwise not been on my radar at all, such as The Fire Starters by Jan Carson. It’s YA and got a speculative angle to the story, both of which are normally low on my wish list, but I like Irish political fiction and again, listening to Jan speak at MWF sealed the deal.
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I should probably be less judgemental about YA, but all too often it seems to disappoint me. However, last night I finished a novel that was offered to me for review and the themes were appealing enough to outweigh the YA tag. I’m so glad I read it because Winter of the Wolf turned out to be quite excellent.
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I love it when expectations are exceeded with a new read. This happened again recently with The Yield by Tara June Winch. My expectations had led me to procrastinate with this one, feeling daunted and worried it would be too literary, or too spiritual. I was so wrong. It was brilliant and incredibly easy to read. I love it when a book proves me wrong.
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I will definitely read Rodham soon because I like Hilary Clinton and the form of this novel intrigues me greatly. Also, I read Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld a few years ago when it first came out and really enjoyed it, so I’m keen to read more of her work. I hadn’t even heard of her at that point, but it came up for discussion in a Facebook book club I’m a member of, not as a book club title, but as an ‘anyone going to read this’ type of chat on account of its Pride and Prejudice link. And that concludes what is possibly the most waffling chain I’ve ever written.
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Next month’s book is The Turn of the Screw by Henry James.
