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 The Safekeep by Yael Van Der Wouden.
There’s a good reason why my first link is to Adventures of a Young Naturalist by David Attenborough – I heard Van Der Wouden speak at the Melbourne Writers Festival this year, and she discussed her creative writing project called ‘Dear David‘.
I picked that particular Attenborough because I had the very good fortune of hearing him speak in Melbourne when the book was released, and I took two of my sons, one of whom requested the book for his birthday (despite it probably being challenging reading for him at the time).
The most recent book I bought that son was about the history of Nike – Shoe Dog by Phil Knight. I haven’t read it, but I have read the history of Reebok – Shoemaker by Joe Foster.
I only read Shoemaker to fulfill a category in last year’s What’s in a Name? reading challenge (that’s not to say it wasn’t interesting). Another I read for that challenge was The Joy of Wild Swimming by Lonely Planet.
I love books about swimming, and I’m engrossed in an excellent swimming memoir at the moment – The Chronology of Water by Lidia Yuknavitch.
The Chronology of Water has been made into a film that is featuring at the 2025 Melbourne International Film Festival. Another book-turned-into-film that debuted at MIFF (in 2016) was Joe Cinque’s Consolation by Helen Garner.
From David to Joe, with shoes and swimming in-between. Where will other chains go? Link up below or post your link in the comments section.
Next month (September 6, 2025), we’ll start with the winner of the 2025 Miles Franklin Literary Award, Ghost Cities by Siang Lu.
