Six Degrees of Separation is a monthly link-up hosted by Kate of Books Are My Favourite and Best. On the first Saturday of every month, a book is chosen as a starting point and linked to six other books to form a chain. Readers and bloggers are invited to join in by creating their own ‘chain’ leading from the selected book.
I’ve often seen this meme done over at Musings of a Bookish Kitty, and I’ve been really intrigued by the connections every time. She always seems to end up with a diverse list of books with interesting connections. I’ve been saying for a long time that I should join in, and this time, I decided to go for it!
The featured book is Daisy Jones & the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I’ve definitely seen this book around, but I didn’t know much about it except for the fact that it’s about an old rock band (I don’t even know if it’s a real one!)
Since I didn’t know much about the first book, the first association that came to mind was based on the title. I immediately thought back to The Six by Mark Alpert. This book is about a group of terminally ill teenagers who agree to give up their dying human bodies and have their brain activity moved into a machine so they can stop a rogue AI from destroying the human race.
A rogue AI immediately brought to mind AIDAN from The Illuminae Files by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff. AIDAN’s highest priority is protecting his fleet; however; his methods sometimes leave a bit to be desired, and the sacrifices he’s willing to make don’t always match up with the human’s desired outcomes.
The unique formatting of Illuminae is its defining trait, so that made me think about other books that are written in a non-standard format. The first one that came to mind is Mightier than the Sword by Drew Callander & Alana Harrison. This humorous series is incredibly interactive and allows the reader to fill in their own details, Mad-Libs style. They can also draw their own images of the things they’ve created and there are puzzles for them to solve as well.
Solving puzzles immediately brought Lexi Magill and the Teleportation Tournament by Kim Long to mind. This middle-grade novel is inspired by The Amazing Race (only with … teleportation), and the characters have to solve all sorts of puzzles to find their next clue. And, of course, the reader is invited to solve them too!
One of my favorite books involving a race is Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin. This is an alternate history that takes place during World War II where Hitler won and he and the Japanese emperor host an annual motorcycle race across their conjoined continents in celebration. The main character is a Jewish girl who can shapeshift (due to experimentation that was done on her), and the book is about her quest to win the race so she can get close enough to Hitler to kill him.
Shapeshifting brought me to one of my favorite adult series: The Others by Anne Bishop. This urban fantasy takes place in an alternate world where shapeshifters and humans live together in not-so-much harmony. The power dynamics in these books are incredibly intriguing!
And there you have it! I made my way from Daisy Jones & the Six to The Others Series, with some unexpected stops along the way. It’s interesting that I started and ended with an adult book, even though there were none in between.
I really enjoyed this little exercise, and I definitely think I’ll participate again (I just have to remember!!).
What book comes to your mind when you think of Daisy Jones & the Six? I want to know!
What a fun feature! The first book (Daisy Jones) and the last book (The Other series) are among my favorites. It’s so interesting to see how those ended up connecting! 🙂
Well, there you go then—I made this list just for you. 🙂
The Anne Bishop book is the only one I’ve heard of before. Interesting and fun post.
I’ve enjoyed seeing other people post these, even if I don’t know the books. It’s just interesting to see how people make connections between them.
Oh, welcome to the me, so glad you finally decided to do it! I love your connections, and I’m going to read your review of The Six right now!
I believe you are familiar with my mischievous way to do that meme: https://wordsandpeace.com/2020/01/04/six-degrees-of-separation-from-daisy-jones-to-japan/
Yes! I was trying to remember where else I’d seen this meme because I knew a few of my blogging friends do it, and it always looks so fun! I like your alternative method of making connections. 🙂
It is always fun to see what similarities different books have. I have only read a couple in this chain but it was fun to see how you decided on each book.
I agree that it’s fun to follow these lists even when I haven’t read the books.
what a fun meme. you did a great job and i do see a couple that are familiar to me.
Thanks! I enjoyed doing this!
I’ve been interested in reading the Others series for a while now, just haven’t picked it up yet. Glad to know you enjoyed it!
I also hadn’t read Daisy Jones when I wrote my post for this, so I linked my first book through the number in the title, also. 🙂
I highly recommend The Others Series!! So good!
Oh this is fun! Such a diverse set of books, and Mightier Than The Sword looks like awesome fun.
Mightier Than the Sword was great fun and very unique!
I love this meme, and your jumping off points were so varied and interesting. You had some fabulous books on the list too. Aiden ❤️
I love that this meme can bring you through so many different types of books!
Nicely done! I enjoy participating in this monthly meme, whether I’ve read the starting book or not
PS it’s not a ‘real’ band
I actually did a little research and found out that it’s a fictional band roughly based on Fleetwood Mac. Interesting…
I did this one and it was fun! I need to do it again one of these days. Maybe once I get all the WordPress stuff figured out. Fun post! Wolf by Wolf was one I had an ARC of, but never got around to reading it, so used it for a giveaway.
Now I’ll have to send you back Wolf by Wolf and force you to read it. 🙂
Oh wow – that’s a fun thing to figure out! Great job!
Karen @ For What It’s worth
Yes, this meme is great fun!
The Others series is a favorite of mine too! I was sad to see it end though I still need to read the final spin off. I love this meme, it’s so fun to think of different books and how they connected.
I haven’t read the last spinoff book either. I need to get to that!
I haven’t read it yet but I always think of the secret history by Donna Tartt? Maybe because adult fiction, close group of wayward friends, drugs taken involved…
I haven’t heard of that one, but it sounds like it would match up well with this.
Such a fun post. I’m always fascinated by the idea of six degrees of separation so seeing it done with books is right up my alley. Daisy Jones is one of my favorite books too so even better. 🙂
I agree that the concept of six degrees of separation is really fascinating.
Ooooh what a fun post, I love that idea so much. It’s funny, I never imagined Illuminae to be linked, in a way, to Daisy Jones and yet, there’s always a link! I loved Daisy Jones so much. Such a great read 🙂
Yes, it’s fun to see how varied the books are with this because there are so many links you could choose from!
I love the Others series so much! Of course, that’s where my attention goes first. LOL. I love the direction you’ve taken your chain, Nicole. I am so glad you took part in this! Isn’t it fun?
Yes, it’s so much fun! I definitely plan to do it again this month. (Just have to get my act together.)