A new month and time for another Six Degrees! Six Degrees of Separation is a meme hosted by Kate at booksaremyfavouriteandbest in where she challenges bloggers to start with one title, and link six other titles together. The connection can be anything – cover, title, author, topic, character, setting, etc. I’m always intrigued by this meme as the “rabbit hole” effect is one of the things I love about reading!
***this post contains affiliate links. The links to Amazon are affiliate links which means that if you click the link and make a purchase, then I receive a small commission.***
This month’s Six Degrees is a wild card of sorts. We’re to start with the book we left off of from last month, and last month I ended with Laini Taylor’s beautiful Strange the Dreamer.
Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
Official Synopsis From Goodreads: The dream chooses the dreamer, not the other way around—and Lazlo Strange, war orphan and junior librarian, has always feared that his dream chose poorly. Since he was five years old he’s been obsessed with the mythic lost city of Weep, but it would take someone bolder than he to cross half the world in search of it. Then a stunning opportunity presents itself, in the person of a hero called the Godslayer and a band of legendary warriors, and he has to seize his chance or lose his dream forever.
What happened in Weep two hundred years ago to cut it off from the rest of the world? What exactly did the Godslayer slay that went by the name of god? And what is the mysterious problem he now seeks help in solving?
The answers await in Weep, but so do more mysteries—including the blue-skinned goddess who appears in Lazlo’s dreams. How did he dream her before he knew she existed? And if all the gods are dead, why does she seem so real?
Welcome to Weep.
Links: Amazon | Goodreads | My Review
Strange the Dreamer was my favorite read of 2017, and this month we’re going to stay along the themes of fantasy and mythology. With the thought of goddesses especially, we’ll head to the exquisite:
Circe by Madeline Miller
Links: Amazon | Goodreads | My Review
I adored this book. Circe is one of the most compelling characters I’ve ever read, and I loved this book. One of the characters mentioned in Circe is Odysseus, who plays a role in:
The Iliad by Homer
Links: Amazon | Goodreads | My Review
Telling the story of the Trojan War, we’ve got gods and goddesses, and many famous characters: Odysseus, Patroclus, Hector, Helen of Troy, and Achilles, which brings me to my next link:
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
Links: Amazon | Goodreads | My Review
Another Madeline Miller book! This one tells the story of Achilles and Patroclus. Miller has them as lovers here, and this book also ventures into the Trojan War. This was a book I enjoyed, and Madeline Miller has definitely become an auto-buy author for me! At one point in this book Achilles and Patroclus are trained by the centaur Chiron, and centaurs are our link to the next read:
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
Okay, this read is my favorite Harry Potter of the series due in part to one of the best villains ever, Dolores Umbridge, who meets her match in the centaurs in the forest towards the end of the book. Oh dear, now that I’m thinking of Harry Potter, is a re-read in order? After Umbridge is dealt with by the centaurs, the students fly off to the Ministry of Magic, where Ron battles literal brains in one of my favorite scenes of the series. Don’t ask me why I love it so, I really have no idea! Anyways, brains is a link to the next read:
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
Links: Amazon | Goodreads | My Review
Sing it with me now! If I only had a brain da-doo-da-doo-da-doo. The Scarecrow journeys with Dorothy to the Wizard of Oz in order to get a brain. He feels that he is lacking one, even though time and again Baum shows us that the Scarecrow is extremely clever. Perhaps this was Baum’s statement towards higher learning? The author, L. Frank Baum, is the link to my next read:
Finding Dorothy by Elizabeth Letts
Links: Amazon | Goodreads | My Review
This is a lovely read that tells the story of L. Frank Baum’s wife, Maud. Finding Dorothy tells how Frank and Maud met, their love story, and Frank’s inspiration behind The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Also in the story is Maud on the set of the movie The Wizard of Oz and her friendship with a young Judy Garland. A wonderful read!
So there’s this month’s Six Degrees of Separation! I wonder where we will head off to next month?
luvtoread 
I loved “Finding Dorothy”! Couldn’t put it down. It was a real insight into life in the burgeoning US. And into the cleverness of L Frank Baum as he strung so many parts of their life and his amazing stories for their kids into the iconic book. Oddly, after so many viewings of the movie, I have never read “The Wizard of Oz”.
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It was such a lovely book! I really enjoyed it, and it holds up to a re-read too 🙂 I was fascinated by the scenes set in the Dakotas. Such a harsh environment and way of life! Reminded me of the great book The Homesman.
I loved seeing how Baum wove his story and his families stories into his book! I finally read The Wizard of Oz not too long ago, and it’s quite different from the movie – there’s much more to the book – the plot isn’t so much Dorothy vs the Witch like the movie is.
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A lovely chain. As a child watching The Wizard of Oz was an annual tradition, but it never occurred to me to read the book it’s based on.
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Thank you! What a fun tradition! The book is different than the movie – the same themes are there, but there’s a bit more to the book than just Dorothy vs the witch
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Great chain! No, don’t even mention re-reading Harry Potter – now you’ve put me in the mood too!
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Thanks! Ha ha – for some reason I always have the urge to re-read that series! I have to keep hiding the books & making them difficult to get to so I don’t pull them out when I’m not sure what to read. 🙂
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