Six Degrees of Separation, from Time Shelter to The Girl, the Dog, and the Writer in Provence

Six Degrees of Separation is a monthly meme, now hosted by Kate @ books are my favorite and best.

On the first Saturday of every month, a book is chosen as a starting point and linked to six other books to form a chain. Readers and bloggers are invited to join in by creating their own ‘chain’ leading from the selected book.

This month we start from:

0. Time Shelter by Georgi Gospodinov

"In Time Shelter, an enigmatic flâneur named Gaustine opens a “clinic for the past” that offers a promising treatment for Alzheimer’s sufferers: each floor reproduces a decade in minute detail, transporting patients back in time. As Gaustine’s assistant, the unnamed narrator is tasked with collecting the flotsam and jetsam of the past, from 1960s furniture and 1940s shirt buttons to scents and even afternoon light. But as the rooms become more convincing, an increasing number of healthy people seek out the clinic as a “time shelter”—a development that results in an unexpected conundrum when the past begins to invade the present. Intricately crafted, and eloquently translated by Angela Rodel, Time Shelter announces Gospodinov to American readers as an essential voice in international literature." - Goodreads

As was with most of Six Degree Separation I've worked so far, this is a book I have not read, and not of my cup of tea either. For this chain I'll go the easy way by choosing the word from the title: Time, and my first chain is a book I have read so long ago...

1. A Time to Kill by John Grisham

"The life of a ten-year-old girl is shattered by two drunken and remorseless young men. The mostly white town reacts with shock and horror at the inhuman crime. That is, until her black father acquires an assault rifle and takes matters into his hands. For ten days, as burning crosses and the crack of sniper fire spread through the streets of Clanton, the nation sits spellbound as young defense attorney Jake Brigance struggles to save his client's life, and then his own." - Goodreads

It was Grisham during his most glorious days - more than thirty years ago (how time flew by!) Twenty four years after, Grisham published its sequel:

2. Sycamore Row by John Grisham

"Seth Hubbard is a wealthy man dying of lung cancer. He trusts no one. Before he hangs himself from a sycamore tree, Hubbard leaves a new, handwritten, will. It is an act that drags his adult children, his black maid, and Jake into a conflict as riveting and dramatic as the murder trial that made Brigance one of Ford County's most notorious citizens, just three years earlier. The second will raises far more questions than it answers. Why would Hubbard leave nearly all of his fortune to his maid? Had chemotherapy and painkillers affected his ability to think clearly? And what does it all have to do with a piece of land once known as Sycamore Row?" - Goodreads

I forgot the story, but it's not nearly as good as the first book. For my next chain, I will use the word Row from the title, which links to...

3. Cannery Row by John Steinbeck

"So Cannery Row is about a few blocks of fish canneries in the harbour city of Monterey, California, drawn from Steinbeck's memories when he stayed there. This is a tale about its remarkable inhabitants. Who are they? Mostly, a bunch of good-for-nothings." - my review

As I have linked words from title in the first two, in this one, a phrase from my review of the previous book (in red bold letters) links to another review of another book (in blue bold letters):

4. Why didn't they ask Evans by Agatha Christie

"This is one of Christie's amateur detectives collection. Bobby Jones and Lady Frances "Frankie" Derwent remind me so much of Tommy and Tuppence, but they are more amateurish, more foolish than T&T, which make the story much lighter and more entertaining than thrilling. Bobby Jones is the fourth son of a conservative Vicar - by fourth means least expectation has ever been put on him by his father, who thinks he's lazy and good-for-nothing." – my review

Don't amateur detective partners add a sweet touch of romance in crime stories? My new favorite  is from this cozy mystery:

5. The Bookshop Murder by Merryn Allingham

“The start of a brand-new murder mystery series featuring bookshop owner Flora Steele and crime writer Jack Carrington.” – Goodreads - You can also check my review.

For the last chain, I pick another book I loved which has a lovely writer character in it:

6. The Girl, the Dog, and the Writer in Provence by Katrina Nannestad

"HE'S A VAGUE NOVELIST. SHE'S A SHY AND UNUSUAL CHILD. TOGETHER, THEY'RE TRAVELLING THE WORLD, ONE BOOK AT A TIME. Freja, Tobias and Finnegan are back for an all-new adventure through the countryside of Provence." - Goodreads


Does this chain seem too easy for you? I think so too. But I'm not in the right place at this moment for any complicated things, so I made it light and fun... compiling books I've loved to read.

Have you read those books? If you do #sixdegree, how it worked out for you this time?