Picture found at: https://www.melindatognini.com.au
#6Degrees
Six degrees of separation:
from New England to Paris
Time for another quirky variation on this meme. I started in New England and ended up in Paris!
I was shocked to realize that usually when doing 6 degrees of separation, you end up with 7 books, not 6. I guess I learned something new today!! How come no one ever asked me why I only played with 6 books!
Using my own rules for this fun meme hosted by Kate at Booksaremyfavouriteandbest (see there the origin of the meme and how it works – posted the first Saturday of every month).
Here are my own quirky rules:
1. Use your list of books on Goodreads
2. Take the first word of the title (or in the subtitle) offered and find another title with that word in it – see the titles below the images to fully understand, as often the word could be in the second part of the title
3. Then use the first word of THAT title to find your text title
4. Or the second if the title starts with the same word, or you are stuck
Click on the covers
links will send you to my review or to the relevant Goodreads page
This is the book we are supposed to start from.
I haven’t read it and probably will not.
“The classic novel of despair, forbidden emotions, and sexual undercurrents set against the austere New England countryside.
Ethan Frome works his unproductive farm and struggles to maintain a bearable existence with his difficult, suspicious and hypochondriac wife, Zeena. But when Zeena’s vivacious cousin enters their household as a hired girl, Ethan finds himself obsessed with her and with the possibilities for happiness she comes to represent.
In one of American fiction’s finest and most intense narratives, Edith Wharton moves this ill-starred trio toward their tragic destinies. Different in both tone and theme from Wharton’s other works, Ethan Frome has become perhaps her most enduring and most widely read book.”
1. The Touchstone, by Edith Wharton
I did read this novella by Wharton, and so decided to go with this easy link.
Click on the cover to read my review and synopsis.
2. The Moonstone, by Wilkie Collins
I liked it, though I thought The Woman in White was much better.
“The Moonstone is a page-turner”, writes Carolyn Heilbrun. “It catches one up and unfolds its amazing story through the recountings of its several narrators, all of them enticing and singular.” Wilkie Collins’s spellbinding tale of romance, theft, and murder inspired a hugely popular genre–the detective mystery. Hinging on the theft of an enormous diamond originally stolen from an Indian shrine, this riveting novel features the innovative Sergeant Cuff, the hilarious house steward Gabriel Betteridge, a lovesick housemaid, and a mysterious band of Indian jugglers.”
3. Moon in a Dead Eye, by Pascal Garnier
VERDICT: If you enjoy noir literature, why not expand your horizon and try this short mystery, with a tight plot and great writing.
4. Living With a Dead Language: My Romance with Latin, by Ann Patty
A fabulous memoir!
“An entertaining exploration of the richness and relevance of the Latin language and literature, and an inspiring account of finding renewed purpose through learning something new and challenging.
After thirty-five years of living in New York City, Ann Patty stopped working and moved to the country upstate. She was soon bored, aimless, and lost in the woods. Hoping to challenge her restless, word-loving brain, and to find a new engagement with life, she began a serious study of Latin as an auditor at local colleges.
In Living with a Dead Language, Patty weaves elements of her personal life into the confounding grammar and syntax of Latin as she chronicles not only the daily slog but also the deep pleasures of trying to master an inflected language. Courses in Roman history and epigraphy give her new insight into her tragic, long-deceased mother; Horace into the loss of a brilliant friend;, Lucretius into her tenacious drivenness and attraction to Buddhism. Catullus calls up her early days in 1970s New York while Ovid adds a delightful dimension to the flora and fauna that surround her. Finally, Virgil reconciles her to her new life—no longer an urban exile but a scholar, writer, and teacher. Along the way, she meets an intriguing, impassioned cast of characters: professors, students, and classicists outside of academia who become her new colleagues and who keep Latin very much alive.
Written with humor, candor, and an infectious enthusiasm for words and grammar, Patty’s book is a celebration of how learning and literature can transform the past and lead to a new, unexpected future.”
5. Pancakes in Paris: Living the American Dream in France, by Craig Carlson
VERDICT: Eye-opening memoir of an American living his dream to open a restaurant in Paris. Meet the real France.
6. Three Hours in Paris, by Cara Black
VERDICT: Multi-layered fascinating historical spy thriller, enriched by Cara Black’s intimate knowledge of Paris!
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Words And Peace 