From “Hydra” by Adriane Howell to “Ever Rest” by Roz Morris.

This is a monthly link-up hosted by KateW at Books Are My Favourite and Best. Each month a book is chosen as a starting point and linked to six other books to form a chain. A book doesn’t need to be connected to all the other books on the list, only to the one next to it in the chain. The rules are:

• Link the books together in any way you like.
• Provide a link in your post to the meme at Books are My Favourite and Best.
• Share these rules in your post.
• Paste the link to your post in the comments on Kate’s post and/or the Linky Tool on that post.
• Invite your blog readers to join in and paste their links in the comments and/or the Linky Tool.
• Share you post on Twitter using the #6Degrees hash tag.
• Be nice! Visit and comment on other posts and/or retweet other #6Degrees posts.

THANKS FOR PLAYING!

This month we start with “Hydra” by Adriane Howell.

This month (May 6, 2023), the chain begins with “Hydra” by Adriane Howell, which has been shortlisted for the Australian 2023 Stella Prize. According to Goodreads: “Anja is a young, ambitious antiquarian, passionate for the clean and balanced lines of mid-century furniture. She is intent on classifying objects based on emotional response and when her career goes awry, Anja finds herself adrift. Like a close friend, she confesses her intimacies and rage to us with candour, tenderness, and humour. Cast out from the world of antiques, she stumbles upon a beachside cottage that the neighbouring naval base is offering for a 100-year lease. The property is derelict, isolated, and surrounded by scrub. Despite of, or because of, its wildness and solitude, Anja uses the last of the inheritance from her mother to lease the property. Yet a presence – human, ghost, other – seemingly inhabits the grounds.”  Oh… yeah… um, no I don’t think this one is for me at all. It sounds very dark. But good for Howell for having a debut novel get nominated for this prize. I’m sure it is very special, and I wish her luck.

First Degree. 

I’m proud of myself for this one, because I thought of this book without even taking a look at my list of reviews! I’m going on the “presence” for my first link, and I’m thinking of “My Lover’s Lover” by Maggie O’Farrell. In this book, Lily moves into a room in an apartment because the previous tenant, Sinead, is – according to Marcus – “no longer with us.” That means that her room in Marcus’ flat is now vacant. Things get strange when Lily starts to find traces of Sinead all around her. But Lily doesn’t want to ask too many questions, and his other flatmates and friends aren’t any more forthcoming than Marcus. No surprise I gave this 5/5 stars if I can remember so much about it to this day, including the very unique ending!

Second Degree.

Another book that’s also a bit creepy, which has a version of the word “love” in the title is “Lovely Bones” by Alice Sebold. This book was very popular when it came out, and it was also adapted into a movie. I did watch a bit of the film, but I wasn’t thrilled with it, so I didn’t watch it all the way through. That’s a bit surprising for me because a first-person omnipresent narrative, with the dead Suzie speaking to us from the afterlife isn’t something I generally go for. In fact, I usually avoid these kinds of stories altogether. But for some reason, I liked the book a whole lot, despite everything. In fact… I loved it, and actually gave it a full 5/5 stars!

Third Degree.

The unfortunate way that Suzie died is my connection to my next book, which is “Beartown” by Fredrik Backman. Thankfully, the woman in this book who is raped isn’t murdered by her rapist, so that’s something a bit more positive than in my previous link. However, here too is a subject which I usually wouldn’t pick up a book about, and that being the sport of Hockey. I am NOT a sports person, and I usually avoid books that center around sports. But the truth is, this isn’t a sports book. It is a book about the human condition, and how passion for something sometimes leads you towards greatness, while other times it can be your downfall.

Fourth Degree.

Another book that makes something good out of a tragedy, is “Smash All the Windows” by Jane Davis. In this case, there’s no rape, but rather an accident on the London Underground escalators that leaves the survivors to try to, well… pick up the pieces after the deaths of their loved ones shattered their lives, through an art installation at the Tate Modern in London. Aside from this book having a truly amazingly beautiful cover, the story is also one that is both surprising and inspiring. This is the main reason why I think it links so well with my previous book, and this is a novel that I think will appeal to many readers – especially those who have similar tastes to mine, and who appreciate a story that is both strongly character driven, but with a fascinating and unique plot as well.

Fifth Degree.

Windows are made of glass, and that’s my connection to my next link, “The Color of Ice” by Barbara Linn Probst. In this book, Cathryn, who is a photographer, goes to Iceland to take some publicity pictures of the artwork done by Mack, a glass blower. Cathryn has suffered some tragedy in her own life, when her husband dies in a car accident, just after she finds out he’s been cheating on her. There are some pretty cathartic bits in this story, where her photography and Mack’s glass blowing end up being ways that creative people can find healing through their own art. This is also another connection to the previous novel, which both use art as a type of therapy.

Sixth Degree. 

This last link is a book that I actually used as a type of therapy when I suffered a tragedy in my own life. It was fairly serendipitous that I just happened to be reading “Ever Rest” by Roz Morris at a very difficult time in my life, but it did help me. I mean, the blurb of this book it says “Ever Rest asks how we carry on after catastrophic loss.” Whoa boy – there’s a bullseye for you! This also connects with the “ice” in the title of the previous book, because it is about Hugo, a musician who left his rock band with his best friend Ash, and moves to Nepal only to die while climbing the Everest (hence the title, also, obviously)! Part of the story includes trying to retrieve Hugo’s body from the… you got it… ICE!

There you have it – my chain of books for this month. So… the question is, does this last book connect in any way back to our starting novel?

Well, aside from the fact that hydra is only one letter away from hydro, which means water, and frozen water is ice, probably not.

However, did you notice that all these books have about the same colors on the covers? (Yeah, that was on purpose!)

If you don’t know these books, I hope you’ll click on the links to my reviews and check them out!

If you decide to join in on this meme, I hope you’ll give me the link to your post in the comments below, and/or put your link on the linky page that Kate has on her blog for this meme.

Next month (June 3, 2023), we will start with Friendaholic by Elizabeth Day.