Six Degrees of Separation — January 2015

It’s time for another Six Degrees of Separation, the first one of 2015! Six Degrees of Separation is a monthly meme, hosted by Annabel Smith and Emma Chapman, which normally runs on the first Saturday of the month. The main idea of this meme is to form a chain of books by linking something they have in common, kind of like forming a word ladder with common letters, and everyone begins their chains with the same book. Other than that, there are no set rules. You get to make your own!

This month, we are starting with We Need To Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver. I haven’t read this one. It was getting a lot of buzz when it first came out, so I picked it up and started it, but just couldn’t connect. I gave up on it after only a few chapters.

Another book I started and gave up on is Eat, Love, Pray by Elizabeth Gilbert. This one was also getting a lot of buzz, so our book club chose to read it. This was well before the movie. I tried reading two different times, months apart, and both times I made it through about page 75 before putting it aside. I typically dislike memoirs, and this one in particular.

A similar book is Women Food and God by Geneen Roth. This is another memoir/self help book that my book club chose to read. And this is another book that I gave up on after only a few chapters. The book was a little too preachy for me.

Another preachy book that I put aside is Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. I don’t do well with memoirs and I really don’t do well with books that get preachy and try to tell me how and what I should be eating. And I really, REALLY don’t do well with books that misrepresent modern agricultural methods and GMO technology.

A book by Barbara Kingsolver that I did finish is The Bean Trees. This was a free download from Barnes and Noble and has the distinction of being the first ebook I read.

Another ebook I downloaded for free from Barnes and Noble when I got my first ereader is an obscure memoir about the 60s, The Life and Times of a Boomer Baby by L.K. Campbell. I thought being set in the 60s would be interesting, but this turned out to be a case of ‘you get what you pay for’.

That leads me to A Girl Named Zippy by Haven Kimmel, another memoir set in the 60s/70s time frame, and another book I had trouble making it through. Have I mentioned that memoirs are not for me?

So there it is...my chain. From We Need To Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver to A Girl Named Zippy by Haven Kimmel in six moves. It seems I had a theme this month; books I didn’t appreciate! Your turn! Want to play along? Just post your chain on your blog and then post a link on either Annabel’s or Emma’s monthly post. Or if you aren’t a blogger, just post your chain tin the comments section.  And if you post your link here, I’ll be sure to take a look!