Given my reading obsession, a good book giveaway always gets me going. Gratitude 4 You is a simple enough giveaway with a shot at the 260 USD Amazon Gift Card prize. If you love books and Amazon Gift cards, this is a win-win–follow a bunch of authors on bookbub, including yours truly, and hopefully, snag that prize right before Black Friday!
CLICK HERE FOR THE GIVEAWAY LINK
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This week, I’m participating again in the #6degrees of Separation Meme.
WHAT IS THE #6DEGREES READING MEME ? (Novels and all things reading, of course. )
The idea is to start with a book, at the same place as other wonderful readers, add six novels through a variety of connections, and see where you end up.
The pick for this installment is What Are You Going Through by Sigrid Nunez.
I’ve not read this one by Nunez, but read and loved The Friend.
It is a moving story of love, friendship, grief, healing, and the magical bond between a woman and her dog. When a woman unexpectedly loses her lifelong best friend and mentor, she finds herself burdened with the unwanted dog he has left behind.
The dog connection led me to the tear-jerker I’d read and blubbered over during a long-haul flight: The Art of Racing in The Rain by Garth Stein.
Enzo knows he is different from other dogs: a philosopher with a nearly human soul (and an obsession with opposable thumbs), he has educated himself by watching television extensively, and by listening very closely to the words of his master, Denny Swift, an up-and-coming race car driver.
The race-car driving connection took me to Driving with the Devil by Neal Thompson.
Driving with the Devil uncovers for the first time the true story behind NASCAR’s distant, moonshine-fueled origins and paints a rich portrait of the colorful men who created it. Long before the sport of stock-car racing even existed, young men in the rural, Depression-wracked South had figured out that cars and speed were tickets to a better life.
Racing and Nascar made me think of cars, and one of Stephen King’s tones I read and loved: Mr. Mercedes.
Many jobless people are standing in line for a job fair, but then a Mercedes plows into the crowd, killing eight and severely injuring many. Bill Hodges, a recently retired detective from the local police department living the life of a retiree, receives a letter from an individual claiming to be the person responsible for the job fair incident, referring to himself as “Mr. Mercedes”.
The name Bill Hodges took me to an old thriller Two Dollar Bill by Stuart Woods
In this one, Manhattan cop-turned-lawyer Stone Barrington is back on his home turf caught between a filthy rich conman and a beautiful prosecutor. Not long after Stone and his ex-partner Dino make the acquaintance of Billy Bob—a smooth-talkin’ Texan packing a wad of rare two-dollar bills—someone takes a shot at them. Against his better judgment, Stone offers Billy Bob a safe haven for the night but almost immediately regrets it.
The prosecutor in Two Dollar Bill made me think of law and lawyers, and a suspense I read some time ago: Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson
Gripping, tragic, and densely atmospheric—a masterpiece of suspense San Piedro Island, north of Puget Sound, is a place so isolated that no one who lives there can afford to make enemies. But in 1954 a local fisherman is found suspiciously drowned, and a Japanese American named Kabuo Miyamoto is charged with his murder.
Have you read any of these? What great novels have you read lately? Would you like to try the #6degrees meme? Are you signing up for the Gratitude 4 You Giveaway?
My debut literary crime novel,”You Beneath Your Skin,” published by the fab team at Simon and Schuster IN is optioned to be a TV series by Endemol Shine.
It is available in India here.
Worldwide, here.
Reviews are appreciated–please get in touch if you’d like a review copy.
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Thank you for sharing!!.. haven’t read any of those books as of yet, been reading Agatha Christie at the moment, will venture into holiday books during the holidays… 🙂
Until we meet again…
May love and laughter light your days,
and warm your heart and home.
May good and faithful friends be yours,
wherever you may roam.
May peace and plenty bless your world
with joy that long endures.
May all life’s passing seasons
bring the best to you and yours!
(Irish Saying)
Hmm. Two out of six. Pathetic in once sense and amazing in another. I’ll go for amazing every time. 😃
Hi Damyanti – I haven’t read any of these – but have noted them. At the moment I picked up Orwell’s Roses by Rebecca Solnit – sheds interesting light on his life and love of roses and gardens … I also picked up Bernardine Evaristo’s ‘Girl, Woman, Other’ having heard her read about it on our BBC Radio 4 – and have plenty of others to read. Excellent to see your book selections here – take care and all the best – Hilary
I’ve read three of these and agree that they are great emotional reads. Guess I’ll have to get busy and read the others now. Thanks, Damyanti.
That’s a fun meme. And cool about the contest for book lovers!
I’ve read Snow Falling on Cedars and The Friend. Once-upon-a-time I used to read everything Stephen King wrote but I probably haven’t read anything by him in 25 years! Mr Mercedes sounds intriguing…
This may be a record for me: I’ve read 3 of your choices–Racing in the Rain, Snow Falling, and Mr. Mercedes. And loved them all, I might add.
Well, that chain took an interesting turn… I think I started to read Snow Falling on Cedars but couldn’t get into it. No matter.
Enjoyed your chain from friends to dogs to cars…
I’ve only read one of your books and I did enjoy it a lot, Snow falling on cedars. But that was long before blogging.
Bibliotherapy is what I hold onto whenever in despair.
Books are an IMMENSE source of gratitude for me. Always. And I extend that gratitude to the authors…