It’s time for #6degrees. Join in and thrill us with your clever links!
Given that we’ve recently marked 200 years since Jane Austen’s death, it seemed fitting to begin this month’s chain with the universally loved Pride and Prejudice.
You may be wondering how I skip from Pride to the Sweet Valley High series by Francine Pascal… It’s via these:
Yes, I have both Jane Austen and Sweet Valley High board games.
Sweet Valley High is set in California, which brings to mind California by Edan Lepucki. I was completely seduced by the cover of this book and paid no regard to what it was actually about before requesting an ARC… which was silly because apocalyptic fiction is really not my thing.
Should have learnt a lesson but did the same with The First Rule of Swimming by Courtney Brkic – loved the cover, obtained an ARC, but still haven’t read it…
Which brings me to Swimming Lessons by Claire Fuller – a gorgeous story in which both swimming and books feature (my favourite things!).
I have a swimming story in my TBR stack that has received lots of positive reviews – The Last Wave by Gillian Best.
The Last Wave seems to be a strong contender for the Not the Booker Prize. I’m using the Booker as my final link to Swing Time by Zadie Smith, which is on this year’s Booker longlist.
From a British classic and a teen classic to cover design, swimming and potential prize winners, that’s #6degrees for another month.
I wonder where other chains will lead? Link up below (or add your link in the Comments section).
Next month (September 2, 2017), we’ll begin with a book that everyone was reading in the nineties, Wild Swans by Jung Chang.
I do love how your six degrees go in all different directions. I couldn’t help myself, I went from Pride and Prejudice to another Jane Austen novel, Sense and Sensibility. Then to The Hate Race by Maxine Beneba Clarke, followed by The Family Man by Catherine Harris. The final two: Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy; and The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne.
I was tempted to link to Curtis Sittenfeld’s Eligible which I just finished reading last week but figured when else would I ever get to show off the only two book-related board games I own?!
A Jane Austen board game! That sounds like fun – is it? Enjoyed your chain, and good to see Austen getting the top spot. 😀
It’s a lovely game (called The Jane Game) however is restricted to playing only with Austen fans (knowledge of her books is essential!).
I never played the board game, but I did devour the Sweet Valley High books as a teenager – I heard this week that they’re going to make a television show based on that series; do you know if that’s true? I also had a fairly random connection between two of my books. I like the sound of California (I quite like apocalyptic fiction), and all the swimming titles.
I’m almost certain the game wasn’t available in Australia because I would have had it for sure (I got mine on ebay from th US – my kids play it all the time!). They are making a movie (I included a link in my post Bookish Thoughts this week).
The cover of The First Rule of Swimming is gorgeous – I would have been sucked in by it too. Very jealous of your board games!
One day I’ll be able to tell you if the story lives up to the cover and one day, when you drop by Melbourne, we can have a g&t and play a round of the Jane Game.
Such a great link/leap to those board games!
My first and only opportunity to show-off the only book-related board games I have!
I love the variety of links you’ve used – and your inventiveness with the board games’ link. And still more books I haven’t read – apart from P & P!
No need to rush and read Sweet Valley High 😉
I enjoyed Swimming lessons so much. Lovely to see it here.Great starting link!
same. I think it will be in my list of favourites for the year.
OMG! A Jane Austen board game!
It was hard to focus on anything else after that!!
Is the aim of the game to get married?
My #6degrees is here – http://bronasbooks.blogspot.com.au/2017/08/6degrees-august.html
The aim of the game is to be ‘accomplished’, which includes good marriage, appropriate pursuits and yes, being proposed to 🙂
Do the standards meet Miss Bingley’s ?
“No one can be really esteemed accomplished who does not greatly surpass what is usually met with. A woman must have a thorough knowledge of music, singing, drawing, dancing, all the modern languages, to deserve the word; and besides all this, she must possess a certain something in her air and manner of walking, the tone of her voice, her address and expressions, or the word will be but half deserved.”
“All this she must possess,” added Darcy, “and to all this she must yet add something more substantial, in the improvement of her mind by extensive reading.”
“I am no longer surprised at your knowing only six accomplished women. I rather wonder now at your knowing any.”
This month’s pick is perfect for the Austen in August event!(https://roofbeamreader.com/2017/08/01/austen-in-august-year-5-austeninaugustrbr/)
I realised that I think too late (the sign-ups were in June??).
Sign-ups were June-July, but anyone can still participate-you’re just not eligible for giveaways if not signed up I believe.
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I had to join in with this one, as Jane Austen is one of my favourite authors. I am very, very envious of your board game…
I’m afraid I went rather dark in my associations, don’t know what came over me!
https://findingtimetowrite.wordpress.com/2017/08/05/6-degrees-of-separation-august-2017/
The Jane Game can be found here: http://www.thejanegame.com/ Of course, it’s not a game that everyone can play (pretty much restricted to Jane fans!).
For once I had read the starting book. The board game sounds fun, especially if you can dress up while playing it
Never thought to host a Jane Game dress-up party! *puts it on the to-do list*
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Interesting chain of books. I’ll be checking into a couple. Swing Time was quite a read! I reviewed it earlier this year.
I was a bit mixed about Swing Time – loved the early bits when the girls were young but it lost me a bit when they went to Africa.
Wait–there’s a Jane Austen board game? Love it!
Yes indeed! http://www.thejanegame.com/
Brilliant! I love this meme and will be linking my post up soon 🙂
Look forward to seeing your links!
Here’s mine https://thesecretlibrarysite.wordpress.com/2017/08/08/six-degrees-of-separation-from-pride-and-prejudice-to/
Before I read yours, I’m just going to post mine so I don’t forget: https://whisperinggums.com/2017/08/05/six-degrees-of-separation-from-pride-and-prejudice-to-xxx/
Great links, Kate. Not surprisingly, I have the P&P boardgame too.
Wah, re Wild swans. Everyone was indeed reading it in the 90s, including my reading group, but I was living in the USA at the time, keeping in touch but reading other things. I bought the book but still haven’t read it.
And here I was thinking you would have read Wild Swans for sure 😉 Perhaps your first link can be to another book your group read while you were living in the US?!
Haha Kate. I’ve done my list already and that was my first thought in fact but then I changed tack. You’ll have to wait though to see what it is!
I LOVE that you have a SVH board game. Those books were such a big part of my life as a teenager- in retrospect they solidified my feelings of inadequacy and not-beautifulness. But I was addicted. (I was Elizabeth).
SVH was terrible and wonderful, as only true fans understand. I was Elizabeth as well, although wished I was a bit more Jessica.
I love that you went from P&P to Swing Time, and that you got there by swimming.
Wish I’d thought to describe it like that!
From a classic to a thoroughly modern book “Swing Time”, super! Here is Muse & Views Book Club links starting with “Pride & Prejudice and ending with a Canadian Political Classic, “Two Solitudes”
https://bookclub9.blogspot.ca/2017/08/six-degrees-of-separation-from-pride.html
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I joined in this month! Hope I’m able to contribute to this meme in future months – it always looks like such fun when I see it around the blog-o-sphere. I think I had that Sweet Valley High board game! What a flashback! 🙂 Here’s my link: https://luvtoread.com/2017/08/06/six-degrees-pride-and-prejudice/
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I love this meme! I loved the SVH books (I was definitely more an Elizabeth than a Jessica!)
My link is here; http://hairpastafreckle72.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/six-degrees-of-separation-august-2017.html
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Finally, finally, finally got round to playing along ….
https://lizzysiddal.wordpress.com/2017/08/09/six-degrees-of-separation-august-2017-from-pride-and-prejudice-to-new-boy/
This is awesome! I love this meme (it’s so hilarious) and you always have such entertaining connections!
I finally got my list together. Thanks for hosting. Here is my My 6-Degrees of Separation
Pingback: 6 Degrees of Separation – Pride and Prejudice | Perfectly Tolerable
I went from Pride and Prejudice to The Hobbit! Thanks so much for doing this, it is awesome! This is my first time, but I definitely want to do it again!
https://perfectlytolerable.com/2017/08/16/6-degrees-of-separation-pride-and-prejudice/
Love this meme (although I’m very late)! My last book is Benjamin Black’s Silver Swan, strangely enough.
Here’s my take on it: https://smithereens.wordpress.com/2017/08/24/six-degrees-of-separation-august/
Never too late to join in!
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