Six Degrees of Separation - February 2017

Six Degrees of Separation is a monthly meme that was started by Annabel Smith and Emma Chapman. It is currently hosted by Kate on her booksaremyfavouriteandbest blog, and 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 Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff. I haven’t read this one yet but it has been on my list for awhile. I first learned about it when it was introduced a an ‘up and coming’ book at a Stay Calm and Read On event hosted by Penguin Random House at our local library a couple of years ago.

Another book I was introduced to at a Stay Calm and Read On event is The Girl On The Train by Paula Hawkins. This is a psychological thriller that I really enjoyed. Psychological thrillers don’t always work for me, so I was pleased that this one did!

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn is a book that has been compared to The Girl On The Train, but I have to say that I did not enjoy it nearly as much. Both books have gone the ‘book to movie’ route.

A book that I’ve not yet read, but that has also gone the ‘book to movie’ route is Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly. I know you’ve heard of it because it is very big in the theaters right now. I need to read the book so that I can see the movie! This is a book about unappreciated contributions of women who were instrumental to the success of our U.S. space program.

Hidden Figures reminds me very much of a book I have read and that also tells the story of women whose contributions were unrecognized, The Girls Of Atomic City by Denise Kiernan. This is the story of the women who supported to war effort during WWII with their secret work on the Manhattan Project. These women took on unconventional roles that in normal times would have been filled by men, often resulting in risk to their safety and health.

This leads me to another book about women risking their safety to join the war effort, this time during the Civil War. The book is Gunpowder Girls by Tanya Anderson In This book we learn of the women and girls who worked in gunpowder factories during the war, and some of the tragedies they suffered.

The last book in my chain is also a book about women who worked in factories and became victims of workplace tragedies. Triangle by David von Drehle is about the the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire that killed 146 people in 1911. I’ve had this one on my list for a long, long time, but just haven’t made time to read it yet. I guess that takes me right back to where I started, with a book on my list that I haven’t’ yet read!

And there’s my chain; from Fates and Furies by to Triangle in six moves! Visit the current Six Degrees post on Kate’s blog to link up your chain and see what others have done with Fates and Furies. Next month we will start with Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby. I haven’t read it, but after reading the reviews, I think maybe I should! Come back next month to see what I do with it!