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 Stefan Zweig’s The Post-Office Girl. I picked it for self-indulgent reasons – Zweig was Austrian and I’ve just returned from Austria.
The week I came back, I went to the German Film Festival. The first film I saw was, unbeknownst to me initially, based on a memoir by an Austrian author – Vier Minus Drei by Barbara Pachl-Eberhart. Unfortunately the book hasn’t been translated into English (hopefully it will be now that the film is out).
The second film I saw at the GFF was also based on a book, and one that I have in my reading stack (again, it’s only in German) – 22 Bahnen by Caroline Wahl.
Pools are a central motif in the story, as they are in another book that has caught my eye – The Body Builders by Albertine Clarke.
Unusual experiences had at pools is also the focus of Katherine Brabon’s novel, Body Friend. It’s a book that I’ve thought about more frequently than I expected, and the same goes for her following novel, Cure.
Cure focuses on bloggers and the wellness industry – there are lots of books I could link to but the one that comes immediately to mind (because the story is astounding) is The Woman Who Fooled the World by Beau Donelly and Nick Toscano, which tracks the rise and fall of wellness blogger/ fraudster, Belle Gibson.
From Austria to pools – where will other chains go? Link up below or post your link in the comments section.
Next month (July 4, 2026), we’ll start with a book that everyone’s talking about – Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke.
Austria, pools…I really expected sandwiches or singing contests to feature in the rest of your links this month 🙂
You know me so well 😁 I could have worked in some books about Eurovision but sandwiches might have been a stretch!
I’m sure I remember your tasty food pic for Catherine Newman’s Sandwich 😀
Love these Kate … Austria and pools do not seem a logical fit but I believe you! Your book for next month makes me laugh. Not everyone is talking about it, because I hadn’t heard of it. That probably says more about where my head is though (all over the place, in fact) than about the book’s popularity itself.
Anyhow, here is my link: https://whisperinggums.com/2026/06/06/six-degrees-of-separation-from-the-post-office-girl-to/
Well maybe not everyone but I am quite sure that any bookshop you walk into at the moment will have a stack of copies. And because of the plot twist, people on social media are talking about it in veiled terms, because the issues it raises are provocative – but as always, you can do Six Degreed without having read the book!
Indeed as I mostly do … I was in a bookshop this week but it didn’t pop out. Then again you tend to only notice what grabs your attention. As for social media … clearly the discussions aren’t happening on tune social media channels I’m on! I admit to not being as engrossed in general book talk as I used to be.
I had fun with a different translation of the original German title.
https://anzlitlovers.com/2026/06/06/six-degrees-of-separation-from-the-post-office-girl-to/
Hope you enjoyed your trip to Austria. I grew up in Vienna and still love the place, despite its flaws. Will take part in this tomorrow, since I love Zweig.
It’s such fun seeing where all our chains lead us. Mine could hardly be more different from your well-travelled one: https://margaret21.com/2026/06/06/six-degrees-of-separation-from-the-post-office-girl-to-the-kings-mother/
My link is too long for the Linky thing!
Here’s mine for this month: https://portobellobookblog.com/2026/06/06/6degrees-of-separation-for-june-2026-from-the-post-office-girl-to-summer-skies-booksky-%f0%9f%92%99%f0%9f%93%9a/
Excellent. Here’s mine https://tcl-bookreviews.com/2026/06/06/tcls-6degrees-of-separation-for-june-6-2026/ (Yesteryear? Really? )
Zweig and Vienna are both absolute destinations for me! I’ve just watched AppleCiderVinegar I think that’s based on Belle Gibson’s book?
Yes, the show is about Gibson. Such a wild story, isn’t it?!
I just noticed… your last book on this chain links to our starter novel next month! Cool…
Well spotted! (It wasn’t deliberate though)
Great chain and interesting starting point for next month!
I haven’t read any of these but I did start reading Yesteryear. I was number 500 or so on the reserve list so actually bought a copy but I did not like it so gave it to my sister. We’ll see if I resume before July. Here is my chain: https://perfectretort.blogspot.com/2026/06/six-degrees-of-separation-from-post.html
I would like to go to Austria, and I hope you had fun. However, my next trip will be to Ireland for a wedding next month.
Yesteryear was mostly good. I wasnt big on the ending
You certainly don’t have to push through Yesteryear to participate in Six Degrees! Link to another book you abandoned!
Lucky you going to Ireland – I visited there many years ago and it remains one of my favourite holidays.
Good chain! Mine is up https://hopewellslibraryoflife.wordpress.com/2026/06/06/june-6-six-degrees-of-separation-the-post-office-girl-by-stefan-zweig-translated-by-joel-rotenberg/
Fun movie-books chain!
https://wordsandpeace.com/2026/06/06/six-degrees-of-separation-girls/
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I do love going to the film festivals. We went to see a Mexican movie this week and I am going to see a Spanish one later this week.
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First things first: Here is my six degrees post:
https://momobookblog.blogspot.com/2026/06/six-degrees-of-separation-post-office.html
It always takes ages until foreign books are translated into English. Best example. One of my favourite books (Nowhere in Africa) was written in 1995, made into a film in 2001 and received the Oscar for best foreign movie. The English edition appeared in 2007. See here:
https://momobookblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/zweig-stefanie-nowhere-in-africa-and.html
22 Bahnen was awarded the winner of the Favourite (German) Independent Books in 2023, so let’s not give up hope. Here is my German review, if you are interested, I can translate this for you:
https://derbuecherwurm.blogspot.com/2024/06/wahl-caroline-22-bahnen.html
I never heard of Barbara Pachl-Eberhart but since I just lost my brother, I will try to read this soon.
So, thanks, very interesting list.
I’ve scraped in with a post right at the end of the month – will try and organise myself better in July. It looks like this challenge has taken people around the world and back again. Here’s mine: https://maamej.wordpress.com/2026/06/30/six-degrees-of-separation-from-the-post-office-girl-to/