It’s time for #6degrees. Start at the same place as other wonderful readers, add six books, and see where you end up.
This month we begin with a work of autobiographical fiction, Postcards From the Edge by Carrie Fisher. I haven’t read it (yes, a big gap in my reading history), but I do remember my mum reading it. My mum was (and still is) an avid reader, and she particularly loved family sagas. Although we rarely read the same books, she did press another work of autobiographical fiction on me – The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan. I devoured it.
My most recent family saga was Pachinko by Min Jin Lee.
I finished Pachinko at the same time as Matt Haig’s The Comfort Book. I usually have three or four books on the go at once, and they often become linked in my memory for no other reason than that.
I paired The Comfort Book with a lemon drizzle cake. I love lemon cake, and happened to make a cherry and lemon cake this week from the only baking book I cook from – Luisa Weiss’s Classic German Baking.
I have long been a fan of Weiss’s recipes (and blog) but only recently acquired a copy of her memoir, My Berlin Kitchen.
Of course, the ultimate ‘kitchen story’ has to be Julie and Julia by Julie Powell, which chronicles Powell’s attempts to cook all 524 recipes from Julia Child’s classic cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking.
Where will other chains go? Link up below or post your link in the comments section.
Next month (September 4, 2021), we’ll start with 2021 Booker Prize nominee, Second Place by Rachel Cusk.
I didn’t engage with the August #6Degrees but I am glad you did!
So many “old friends here”! I loved Julia and Julia and My Berlin Kitchen. I also liked Pachinko! Joy Luck Club I read in college as an assignment–it helped open my eyes. Such great choices.
Very much looking forward to My Berlin Kitchen (and it’s close to the top of the reading pile).
I don’t see the linky. Here’s mine, I’ll check back later https://hopewellslibraryoflife.wordpress.com/2021/08/07/six-degrees-of-separation-post-cards-from-the-edge-by-carrie-fisher/
I forgot it! Added now 🙂 Thanks for the reminder.
Thanks, I never entered it because I hadn’t seen it before. Just put it in my post. I’ll know to look for it the next time.
How funny … Meg who commented on my post said she seems to remember that her mother talked her into reading Postcards from the edge! Anyhow, I like your first two links, partly because I’ve read them both. I reckon you should have ended with Amy Tan’s The kitchen god’s wife!!
Anyhow, here is my chain for this month: https://whisperinggums.com/2021/08/07/six-degrees-of-separation-from-postcards-from-the-edge-to/
I’m sure it was a book that ‘everyone’ was reading when it was released – my mum and her friends were always circulating paperbacks.
Yes, Tan would have been a fitting end – I didn’t think of it!
I loved Pachinko. By coincidence, just this morning I heard something on the radio about Koreans living in Japan. Anyway, here is my chain, which barely moves from Australia/New Zealand:
https://residentjudge.com/2021/08/07/six-degrees-of-separation-from-postcards-from-the-edge-to/
I didn’t have much knowledge of Koreans living in Japan before reading Pachinko, and it was certainly an interesting element of the book.
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I think I want to add every book in your chain to my TBR pile, especially Pachinko, as you are the second person to recommend that to me recently.
I travelled a fair bit in this month’s chain (although I didn’t set out to make that happen):
https://www.melindatognini.com.au/6-degrees-of-separation-from-postcards-from-the-edge-to-the-last-bookshop/
Achievement unlocked (love adding to other’s TBR stacks!).
I slacked off last month, but here’s this one: https://anzlitlovers.com/2021/08/07/six-degrees-of-separation-from-postcards-from-the-edge-to/
My chain went from a book by an actress to one about an actress – https://booksplease.org/2021/08/07/six-degrees-of-separation-from-postcards-from-the-edge-to-mrs-jordans-profession/
My sister was a devout follower of Julia Child – watched her TV show religiously when we were kids, and bought that cookbook and tried to make things from it – with varying successes. My chain is here, and it took a very different path. https://tcl-bookreviews.com/2021/08/07/tcls-6degrees-of-separation-for-august-7-2021/
Aha! There are a couple here that nearly made it into my chain, and may yet in the future. But here’s August’s one from me: https://margaret21.com/2021/08/07/its-time-for-six-degrees-of-separation-in-august/
It’a been so long since I read the Joy Luck Club but I renember loving it. Great chain!
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Always keen on a foodie chain! I’ve yet to read Pachinko but loved Free Food for Millionaires.
Your chain is very interesting and so diverse this month! Pachinko and The Joy Luck Club are both still on my TBR and Julie and Julia is a book a also still need to check out.
I also read more than one book at the same time and yes, they do tend to finish at the same time. I am there at the moment!
Have a good August!
Elza Reads
I’ve joined in for the first time in years, here’s my link: https://thesecretlibrarysite.wordpress.com/2021/08/07/six-degrees-of-separation-from-postcards-from-the-edge-to-the-secret-letters-sixdegreesofseparation-6degrees/
Brilliant. I read the first two books on your list, The Joy Luck Club was one of the first books I read with one of my book clubs about 20 years ago, Pachinko I read only this year. Both fantastic books.
My Six Degrees of Separation led me via a few other books about language to
Santa Lucia by Nobel Prize Winner Selma Lagerlöf.
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My comments always disappear when I click on the verification so I am trying again.
I remember The Joy Luck Club from when it was new. More recently I enjoyed Pachinko and My Berlin Kitchen. In fact, I was asked to review My Berlin Kitchen for someone who thought it was a romance. When I called my editor and said it was a food memoir she was very surprised – it had just been mislabeled.
Here is my link:
http://perfectretort.blogspot.com/2021/08/six-degrees-of-separation-postcards.html
I haven’t read any of the books in your chain, but I do like family sagas and have been meaning to read Pachinko. Here’s mine for this month:
https://shereadsnovels.com/2021/08/07/six-degrees-of-separation-from-postcards-from-the-edge-to-the-return-of-the-soldier/
This one brought back memories. My post is here: https://www.notesinthemargin.org/2021/08/07/6-degrees-of-separation-4/
I love The Joy Luck Club! Both the book and the movie made me cry buckets. I wish I had remembered that one for my list! Great chain!
Nice and yummy links! I have a hard time with sagas, but I have heard a lot of good things about Pachinko. I read anther book on Julia Child that I really enjoyed: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/46154.Appetite_for_Life
Hi Kate. I inadvertently linked to last month’s Six Degrees when I put up my Mr Linky link. I’ve tried to change it or delete it (because I added the correct one later) but when I click on it, it just goes to my incorrect link.
I don’t know if you, as owner, can disable the first ‘Janine’ link – if so, please feel free to do so. Sorry for mucking up your links.
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I loved The Joy Luck Club. It sits in my memory alongside Wild Swans. I loved Pachinko, too. Cherry and lemon cake sounds right up my culinary street. I haven’t heard of Luisa Weiss. I will have to google her, if only for a cake recipe that marries two of my favourite flavours.
My chain was a haphazard hop across stepping stones, and I only saw what it was about when I got to the end. https://thinkaboutreading.wordpress.com/2021/08/08/six-degrees-of-separation-from-postcards-from-the-edge-to-brooklyn/
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From Matt Haig to a German cook book – now that’s a very creative leap!
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