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 Life of M by Rachel Cusk.
The last line of Life of M Last stunned me. Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell also had a memorable last line – the frustration I felt reading it!
I first read Gone With the Wind when I was in high school, and watched the movie version a dozen times – I was obsessed with actress Vivien Leigh. Leigh was also in a movie version of Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina.
When I think Anna Karenina, my mind goes to a contemporary take on the story, the Australian mini series The Beautiful Lie (starring Sarah Snook – it’s outstanding), which in turn leads me to think about a movie I couldn’t fit into my Melbourne International Film Festival line-up this year, Clarissa. Clarissa is a contemporary version of Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf.
Phew. That was a long link… My next is to Happiness and Love by Zoe Dubno, simply because it was the last post in which I mentioned Virginia Woolf.
Happiness and Love is written in a striking stream-of-consciousness style, as is Emma Cline’s Switzy.
The main character in Switzy is on a plane headed for Zurich. I flew to Zurich this year (brag!), and on the way I read Madeline Cash’s hilarious Lost Lambs.
I went from last lines and classics to some tenuous links – where will other chains go? Link up below or post your link in the comments section.
In recognition of Novellas in November (which I know lots of us participate in), next month (November 7, 2026) start with a novella that’s on your reading list.
