Six Degrees Of Separation (All The Light We Cannot See; Anthony Doerr)

This month's post is a little late (not my fault, the hosts posted late and I had no idea what the book was until they'd done it!). Despite this, I'm still excited to be doing it and seeing what I come up with.

So this month's book is Anthony Doerr's 'All The Light We Cannot See' and I can already tell you this is going to be a hard one because I've thought of so many books for it and I've used them all before. I'm determined never to use the same book twice so I'll just have to put my thinking cap on.

My first choice is Jane Elson's 'How To Fly With Broken Wings', a book I read earlier this year and in truth, didn't enjoy a whole lot. The reason I linked it is because of the slightly tentative similarity in terms of two children, one boy and one girl, with very different upbringings meeting and becoming friends. There are links in Elson's book to their neighbour's WWII past also, which is when 'All The Light We Cannot See' is set. This choice feels a little bit desperate but the links are there.

Elson's novel is very much a coming of age novel set around three children and their decision to band together. I thought I'd pick a much better one with a similar idea: Patrick Ness' 'More Than This'. A little philosophical in nature, the three children that are forced to help each other also come from very different upbringing's but find they share similarities that make them inseparable. Both stories are very much coming-of-age stories though I connected a whole lot more with Ness' characters than with Elson's.

'More Than This' is a slightly bizarre read because it's genre is not easily defined. What seems to start off as a Literary Fiction, philosophical read quickly twists into a Sci-Fi, Dystopian thriller and it's done masterfully. 'Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children' by Ransom Riggs also did something of the sort. It started out as a Horror with great atmosphere and creepy happenings, and then without warning seemed to turn into a Middle Grade Fantasy. Not only that, but these are the first books I've read by both retrospective Male authors.

I have to say, the first thing that caught my eye about Ferrett Steinmetz's 'Flex' was it's similar front cover to Riggs' book. Weird, creepy little girls: one floating and one burning. My thoughts on both of these books were a little mixed too and I have to say that in both cases I started off liking it, but didn't enjoy the second half of each novel quite so much. There are characters in each book that have strange powers too, though the plot-lines are very different.

The main character Paul in 'Flex' is definitely a Detective type (though that isn't technically his job, he used to work for the force. Peter Grant in 'Rivers Of London' (Ben Aaronovitch) also works for the police force, though in a very special department that hunts supernatural disturbances rather than creatures. I like that both main characters are diverse: one with an artificial leg and the other an ethnic minority. It certainly makes a change from the stereotypical raincoat wearing, cigar smoking Caucasians I'm used to seeing in Thrillers. Both characters certainly have the tragic past/women and booze thing going though!

'Moon Over Soho' by the same Author has a pretty obvious link. Same characters, same setting and same Supernatural problems. I liked this second installment better though and thought the 'villains' of the story were really interestingly portrayed, unlike the disaster of a bad guy in 'Rivers Of London'. I have high hopes for the rest of this series!

I ended up going in a bit of a crazy direction with this week's picks, because I seriously struggled to think of really good links. I will do better next time!

Six Degrees Of Separation (A Little Life; Hanya Yanagihara)

It's that time of the month again. Almost didn't do this because I couldn't find this month's host post, but it does exist and I'm looking forward to getting involved again!

This month's chosen book in Hanya Yanagihara's 'A Little Life', which has recently been selected for the Shortlist of the Man Booker Prize. It looks pretty darn good and I would love to get round to reading it at some point!

My first pick, Emily St. John Mandel's 'Station Eleven' is a recent read of mine and possibly one of my favourite books that I've delved into this year! It's link to this month's chosen read is not only that they both contain elements of Literary Fiction, but that they were both finalists for the National Book Award's Fiction category. That's a very commendable achievement and a strong link all in one!

'Etta & Otto & Russell & James' is also a recent read of mine, and though I didn't rate it as highly, still enjoyable. They both have animals on their covers of course and very similar colour schemes too! One of he biggest links, I found, was the fact that both Emma Hooper & Emily St. John Mandel are Canadian! Both books jump around in time a lot too and focus on human behaviour in different situations and how horrific experiences can affect behaviour and relationships.

Kate Atkinson's 'Life After Life' shares a lot of similarities with 'Etta & Otto & Russell & James'. War is a very prominent theme in both and they are both set in the same sort of era. They both jump about quite a bit in time (as I previously mentioned for the last link) and share similar cover ideas (also previously mentioned). In fact I think the last few books should come as a threesome as I read them all last month!

Now here's the leap you've all been waiting for: 'Harry Potter & The Prisoner Of Azkaban' by J.K. Rowling! How on Earth are these two linked? Well as I said, 'Life After Life jumps around a whole lot and includes a bunch of Time Travelling scenarios in the plot. It's in 'The Prisoner Of Azkaban' that we see Harry, Ron & Hermione make use of the Time Turner; a magical artefact that can send a person back and forth in time.

Lazy, lazy, lazy! But also: it had to be done. Next in J.K. Rowling's 'Harry Potter' series is 'Harry Potter & The Goblet Of Fire' and it's one of my favourites. The connections are obvious: same characters, same plot, same world, same everything! This set of stories is brilliant and iconic in every way.

I'm afraid I'm ending on a bit of a low with Mercedes Lackey's 'Hunter', as I didn't really enjoy this book at all. Some of the plot moments in this book really reminded me of the Triwizard Tournament in 'Harry Potter & The Goblet Of Fire'. Joy battles a ton of monsters while competing with fellow Hunters (Harry vs. the Dragon?) and late in the book she faces a series of trials which is basically the entire point of the Tournament too.

I started with a lot of similar reads this month before jumping into a whole new territory. I can't wait for next month!

Six Degrees Of Separation (Reasons To Stay Alive; Matt Haig)

The first Saturday of September meant time to play Six Degrees Of Separation again! I really love the week where I move from one month into another, purely because it means I get to post a lot of stuff.

This month's book is 'Reasons To Stay Alive' by Matt Haig, an author I've been interested in reading for a while. This book is part-memoir, and focuses mostly on the subject of depression and suicide. It certainly promises to be an interesting read, and I would love to get round to it at some point!

Like I said, 'Reasons To Stay Alive' focuses on the topic of Depression and how it can horrifically affect the lives of those who suffer with it. In Gabrielle Zevin's masterpiece, 'The Storied Life Of A.J. Fikry', A.J. is also suffering with depression after the recent death of his wife. It takes some big changes in his life and his beloved books to pull him out of a very dark place. My limited knowledge of 'Reasons To Stay Alive' told me that Matt Haig also puts great stock in the power of words when it comes to healing and appreciating life.

On the subject of Mental Health, Susan Nussbaum's 'Good Kings, Bad Kings' was a fantastic read on the subject. It featured many voices and a diverse range of characters (just like 'The Storied Life Of A.J. Fikry') that are each trying to find their own way to happiness. Both books were truly impressive works of fiction too, and they actually have quite similar covers. I mean, just look at all that yellow!

'Carnival Of Shadows' by R.J. Ellory may at first glance look like a huge leap from 'Good Kings, Bad Kings'. In fact...it is. But I won both books in a Goodreads 'First Reads' Giveaway, and for me that is as good a reason as any to link the two. I guess they both managed to take me out of my comfort zone a bit too: Nussbaum's work because of the subject and Ellory's because of the genre.

The first book that pops into my mind to link to 'Carnival Of Shadows' is 'Child 44' by Tom Rob Smith. My flat mate suggested this one to me and I really ended up enjoying it. The similarities are clear in that both are Crime Thrillers in which there is a murder to be solved. They both feature a Government Agent (FBI in 'Carnival Of Shadows', MGB in 'Child 44') who blindly follows the ideals of their superiors until they figure that something is very wrong with the system. Both of our heroes have a very shady childhood too, and a much deeper personal connection with the mysterious murders than they realise.

Ryan Graudin's 'The Walled City' has very few things in common with 'Child 44' in terms of plot-line. But both contained that level of thrill and suspense that rendered me unable to put the book down. There are some similarities in terms of lives being at stake, secrets being kept and criminal activity, but really for me, it's the adrenaline levels I had while reading the books, and the atmosphere that the authors mastered that links these two. I love that they are both based on very real events too, that taught me a few things about History that I had no idea about, and made it very hard to believe that I wasn't reading Dystopia rather than factual situations.

I've read very little Asian Literature, but both 'The Walled City' and 'Under Fishbone Clouds' by Sam Meekings are very much grounded in Chinese society and history. They both took a completely different approach but they both show tough times, a love story of sorts and taught me a whole bunch about the culture that I know so little about.

I've really enjoyed writing today's connections! I certainly feel that the list went down quite an interesting path this month. I look forward to October's pick!

Six Degrees Of Separation (The Paying Guests; Sarah Waters)

Oh my goodness, it's the beginning of the month AND a Saturday! That means not only a lot of posts today, but one of them is my favourite, most challenging Meme: Six Degrees Of Separation!

This month's chosen book is Sarah Water's novel 'The Paying Guest'. I have just about heard of this book in fact (literally a couple of weeks before writing this post) and I have to say that the cover doesn't give much away. Time to delve into the synopsis!

The first thing that I decided to look at (after reading the synopsis) was the reviews that this book had received. They were pretty mixed but the general sense that I got was that most people found this book quite difficult to trawl through and doesn't meet up to people's expectations in terms of content, which is exactly how I felt while reading Eleanor Catton's 'The Luminaries'. Both books are pretty long and when comparing this with a not too impressive subject matter, sound like a trek. Plus they both have mostly hidden women on their cover.

Speaking of long books, my longest read so far this year was George R.R. Martin's 'A Storm Of Swords: Steel & Snow' with an impressive 625 pages ('The Luminaries' had 834!!). The length thing is really all I can relate with these two, other than the impressive cast of characters, each with their own secrets, ambitions and desires to sort through. I feel like George R.R. Martin's series does it a little better however.

This might be a tad lazy on my part, but I may as well throw in 'A Storm Of Swords: Blood & Gold' while I'm at it because they are in essence two parts of the same book. The similarities are obvious here: same author, same series, same characters, same setting etc. Like I said, they are actually technically meant to be read together as one book, but the set I received for my birthday split them up. I'm glad it did though, there's a lot that happens!

'The Queen Of The Tearling' by Erika Johansen was a book that I liked but didn't love. The setting was a little unclear, the young queen's obsession with what beauty truly is irritated me and I felt like the first book in the series didn't bring a whole lot to the table. Like George R.R. Martin's spectacular series however, it was overflowing with political intrigue and worked with multiple POVs to keep the reader guessing as to what would happen next.

In some ways, 'The Hobbit' by J.R.R. Tolkien reminded me a lot of the aforementioned book. For the most part both books involve a journey involving a large group that had an absolute ton of enemies to fight or outwit. That group all had very distinct personalities and were journeying to help one member reclaim their birthright and face a great evil.

The similarities between Christopher Paolini's Inheritance Trilogy, of which 'Eldest' is the second book, and J.R.R. Tolkien's books set in middle Earth are often pointed out. There are lots of different races in both (Elves, Dwarves, Humans, even Urguls sound a little like Orcs...) and the lore behind it all is very similar. Galbatorix is comparable with Sauron too and let's not forget that both books include Dragons (though Smaug is considerably more evil than Saphira).

This one mostly ended up delving into my beloved High Fantasy/Epic Fantasy genres but I'm quite pleased with how this list turned out!

Six Degrees Of Separation (The Signature Of All Things; Elizabeth Gilbert)

I always love the beginning of the month for a variety of reasons, one of them being this challenge! It can be quite hard to think of the chain at times, but that's part of the fun!

Despite the fact that I'm not all that interested in reading the famous 'Eat, Pray, Love' by this Author, I have to say this one looks quite good! And it's also this month's chosen book! Once again I haven't actually read the book (a common theme in these posts) but I am going to pop this one onto the TBR immediately.

So my first link to the chosen book is a recent read: 'A Natural History Of Dragons' by Marie Brennan. There are a lot of key differences between the two, obviously, but I think the fact that the two books centre around a woman with a passion is too big a link to ignore. Alma in 'A Signature Of All Things' is a Botanist with a scientific mind. Isabella Camherst is also scientifically minded, but directs her love towards Dragons instead. Judging by the synopsis in the former, there appears to be a huge amount of travelling in both books also.

This is a little more of a tenuous link, but I felt like being a bit different today. 'The Rosie Project' by Graeme Simsion would appear, at first glance, to have no link whatsoever with 'A Natural History Of Dragons'. But both were (in 2013) Goodreads Choice Awards nominees! See? Tenuous! Also the two main characters do not adhere to society's norms, and yet still manage to find love and friends who appreciate them for who they are.

My next choice is more to do with the authors than the books themselves. Both Graeme Simsion and Ilka Tampke (who wrote 'Skin') are from Australia! That really is the only real link I can think of. I could say something like 'both main characters embark upon a quest: one to find the perfect wife, one to find their true heritage' but I feel like I could say that about a lot of books.

Next up? 'The Witch Of Salt & Storm' by Kendall Kulper. I would describe this and 'Skin' as YA Historical fiction with a dash of Fantasy added for good measure. Both heroines are strong, fall in love with a young boy who wants to aid them and is in need of help himself, and are at odds with a mother figure trying to protect them when all they want to do is embrace their heritage.

The link between 'A Discovery Of Witches' by Deborah Harkness and 'The Witch Of Salt And Storm' is of course the fact that both books are about witches! Both books do take a very different approach on the subject, but the link still remains. I love the fact that both do a great job with the world-building too!

My final choice was a very difficult one to make, but eventually I decided upon 'Midnight Crossroad' for a number of reasons. Firstly for me, both books did not live up to 'the hype'. I had heard so many great things about 'A Discovery Of Witches' but felt like it was a little chaotic in it's structure and too much happened. Charlaine Harris herself has a huge hype surrounding her, and this first book that I read by her is one of my most disappointing reads of the year. As well: the covers are similar and they both involve a lot of supernatural events and creatures (especially vampires and witches).

This month I covered a huge range of genres (a lot of the time I end up going down a one way path) and I'm quite proud of myself for that. It's always fun to find new ways of linking things!

Six Degrees Of Separation (The Casual Vacancy; J.K. Rowling)

It's the beginning of June AND Saturday. That means it's time to do this meme again, which is something I always look forward to doing!

So this month's pick is J.K. Rowling's 'The Casual Vacancy' and though it is yet another book I've not read (it really doesn't look like my kind of thing, and it has mixed reviews) I'm looking forward to creating a chain for this one.

I just want to say that I really didn't want to go down the obvious route here, but I couldn't resist! Despite my disinterest in reading J.K. Rowling's other work I still adore her 'Harry Potter' series. I chose 'Harry Potter & The Chamber Of Secrets' because I've used the first book in the series for a previous one of these. The second book was fantastic though and I adore the series as a whole!

'The Iron Trial' is a duel-written book by Cassandra Clare and Holly Black, and though there are a lot of differences in plot, there are a lot of similarities too. A group of three friends? A school of magic? A dark wizard with a mysterious name out for revenge? I didn't find this read as intriguing as the 'Harry Potter' series but it did have some originality and a couple of unexpected twists.

Holly Black is another favourite author of mine and as well as writing 'The Iron Trial' she wrote this lovely collection of short stories, 'The Poison Eaters & Other Short Stories' that I really enjoyed. There aren't any real similarities between the books other than the author, as 'The Iron Trial' is about a magic school, while the short stories focus more on magical creatures.

This is a bit of a loose connection, but in 'The Poison Eaters & Other Short Stories' there is one story that is set in the same world as 'The Coldest Girl In Coldtown', her well known Vampire series. Bram Stoker's 'Dracula' is obviously the original vampire book that inspired a fair amount of the stories that focus on the mythology surrounding the creatures.

Seeing as 'Dracula' is a book about vampires, I really had to include another one that has a different take on the subject. 'Vampire Blood' is the first three books in a twelve book series, and I really enjoyed reading it when I was younger.

This really is a bit of a lazy connection, but Darren Shan also wrote a smashing demon based series, starting with 'Lord Loss'. I remembering devouring all of the books in this series when I was younger, just as I did with 'The Saga Of Darren Shan', the previously mentioned series.

This week I have traversed the Paranormal genre in my choices (which is quite funny, considering 'The Casual Vacancy' actually isn't really a supernatural book). 

Six Degrees Of Separation (Elizabeth Is Missing; Emma Healey)

Well I'm off on holiday soon but I just about have time to do this challenge this month, so here we go! As usual, it's hosted by Emma Chapman and Annabel Smith.

This month's chosen book is 'Elizabeth Is Missing' by Emma Healey. I have had my eye on this book for quite a while but haven't got round to buying it yet! It looks really good though and comes highly recommended.

My first pick that I have linked to 'Elizabeth Is Missing' is Diana Wynne Jones' 'Howl's Moving Castle'. These two books seem very different, but they actually both focus on an elderly heroine trying to solve a mystery. That is the main link that I think these two books have. As well as that,both women are each technically suffering the consequences of some kind of curse. A literal magic one in Sophie from 'Howl's Moving Castle' as she is trapped in an aging body, and a figurative one for Maud who has Alzheimers disease.

I chose Cornelia Funke's 'Inkheart' next because both books are roughly aimed at the same age and contain similar story elements. Magical lands, strange creatures, and interesting characters are rife and I really enjoyed both books. Both books were also made into pretty good movies!

Obviously I chose 'Inkspell' as my next link because Cornelia Funke wrote both books. As they are part of the same series the rest of the similarities between these two books will be pretty clear. I thoroughly enjoyed both books in the series, the world-building, plot and characters are really nicely written.

Next on the list is Christopher Paolini's 'Eragon'. The reason why is because in the cases of both books, I didn't finish the last in the series. 'Inkdeath' was going to be a great read and I distinctly remember starting it but not ever finishing it. I also remember running to the shop to grab my pre-ordered copy of 'Inheritance' only to never actually read it. I really ought to go and revisit these series because they are both so good, but I haven't got round to it yet!

'Dragon's Curse' by H.L. Burke was my next choice for one obvious reason. Like 'Eragon', it contains Dragons! The plot-lines vary quite a lot other than that, as 'Dragon's Curse' is a very Beauty And The Beast-esque story, while 'Eragon' is more of an adventure story about a boy's relationship with his Dragon and their adventures together. I really liked both books though, and their respective plots are well-written.

I chose my final pick, Steven Savile's 'Moonlands' because it did a really good job of picking out fairy-tale elements in a story without it being a well-known retelling. I mentioned the similarities to Beauty And The Beast and there is a romance of this nature found in Savile's book (though I didn't find the pacing quite as believable). 

I found this month's list especially difficult to write, especially as I am trying very hard not to use books that I have already used. Hopefully, next month's pick won't be so difficult for me!