Six Degrees of Separation: The Arsonist to The Nest

Six Degrees of Separation is a monthly blog event hosted by Kate at booksaremyfavoriteandbest. It’s inspired by the 6 Degrees of Separation, a movie game where you attempt to connect actors in six movies or less. But we do it with books!

This month we’re starting with The Arsonist by Chloe Hooper.

---

I had never heard of The Arsonist before, probably because it’s an Australian true crime novel. It is, unsurprisingly, the story of the police trying to catch an arsonist. Go figure. True crime isn’t really my genre, but another novel I read and enjoyed set in Australia is…

Words in the Deep Blue by Cath Crowley. This is a lovely YA Contemporary about loss and grieving, about unrequited love, about moving on. It’s also about second-hand books. The bookstore owned by the family of the male protagonist includes something called the Letter Library, where people write notes in books, either to someone in particular or just to the void. It was a lovely idea. Another book about books is…

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde. Y’ALL. Okay, so in this book the heroine, Thursday Next, can like, GO INTO books and talk to the characters. She is trying to find an evil mastermind who is stealing characters out of original manuscripts, therefore changing all of the books. And who do you think he is after next, but JANE EYRE! This book is so quirky, and unique, and fun. I can’t wait to re-read it later this year! Another book that I haven’t re-read but that I quite want to is…

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon. I read this book for a literature class in high school and was enchanted by it. I remember my classmates actually created three red cars or five red cars or whatever it was out of butcher paper and hung them in the car so we could all have a good day each day. The main character, Christopher, is autistic, and sets out to solve the murder of his neighbor’s dog to disastrous consequences. Ever since I saw it featured on The Great American Read I’ve been itching to give it another go. Another book I re-read because of The Great American Read is…

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. I hated this book in high school. I don’t think I was mature enough for it yet, and I couldn’t relate to Holden’s struggles on any level. But after reading it last summer I appreciated it much, much more. While I still don’t know that I really got this book, I was thankful for the look into the brain of one suffering from depression. It really improved my ability to empathize with those in my life struggling with depression. The Catcher in the Rye famously takes place in New York City, which is now a staple of American literature. Another book that takes place in the Big Apple is…

The Nest by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney. I’ll be honest with y’all, I did not love this book. It kind of epitomized first world problems, and at the time I was reading it I had no sympathy for the spoiled rotten characters. Maybe I would like it better if I hadn’t been expecting something more laugh-out-loud funny, but it is what it is.

So, there you have it! The Arsonist to The Nest.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Thanks, as always, to Kate for hosting! I love the Six Degrees game, and this is always a fun post for me to write. I also look forward to seeing everyone else’s posts, something I can maybe actually get around to this month…