Six Degrees of Separation: Daisy Jones & The Six

Hosted by Kate at Booksaremyfavouriteandbest,  Six Degrees of Separation picks a starting book for participants to go wherever it takes them in six more steps.

Links in the titles will take you to my reviews where they exist. This month – the starting book is:

Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

How I loved this book! The story of an ultimately doomed collaboration between a rock band and a singer-songwriter in LA of the late 60s, early 70s was a nostalgic trip recalling the heydays of Fleetwood Mac and The Eagles, told in documentary style. The three main women characters were particularly strongly drawn, and I liked the keyboard player Karen in particular. My first link will be through girls in bands which leads to:

Different for Girls by Louise Wener

Wener was the singer / guitarist in Britpop band Sleeper and her witty memoir about the highs and lows of being a girl in a band was a fascinating read. I will link via the band’s name, Sleeper, to:

The Spy Game by Georgina Harding

A sleeper is what Peter worries that his mother was in this excellent, quiet novel set during the Cold War. She was a refugee from Eastern Europe and one day she disappears – she leaves in her car and they never see her again. Peter and his sister Anna, having heard stories on the news about ordinary people who turned out to be spies, can only speculate about their own mother. Ordinary people who are spies is thus my link to:

Red Joan by Jennie Rooney

Inspired by the true story of Melitta Norwood, the British civil servant who passed secrets to the KGB for thirty years, Rooney’s Joan is groomed and recruited by a charismatic Russian brother and sister. She works as a secretary in a government department in which she has easy access to nuclear secrets. You know the secret service will eventually catch up with her. My link this time is by the author’s surname

Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney

I enjoyed but didn’t love the other Rooney’s debut novel about modern relationships between four young people in Dublin. I may have questioned the motives of Melissa who sort of adopts Frances and Bobbi, but the punctuationless dialogue really does sparkle. Another Dublin author is my next link:

Lying in Wait by Liz Nugent

Liz Nugent has a great line in psychological dramas, and this one starts off with a killer first line, “My husband did not mean to kill Annie Doyle, but the lying tramp deserved it.”  Annie Doyle was a drug addict and prostitute. High court judge, Andrew Fitzsimmons murdered her, and his wife Lydia made him cover it up. He can’t cope with it. Lydia in particular is a superbly nasty character and this was a compelling read. My final link though is through Andrew’s profession as a judge to:

The Children Act by Ian McEwan

Fiona, aged 59, is a High Court judge in the Family Division. She is used to having to make the most difficult decisions and is renowned by her peers. Here she is forced to rule in the case of a 17-year-old Jehovah’s witness who is refusing treatment for his leukaemia. Fiona makes a ground-breaking decision to visit Adam in hospital before giving her ruling, the consequences of which will continue to affect them both. Not McEwan’s best, but very enjoyable never the less (I enjoyed the film too with Emma Thompson and Stanley Tucci.)


This month my six degrees have taken me from rock’n’roll to spies to Dublin and the high court. Where will yours take you?

9 thoughts on “Six Degrees of Separation: Daisy Jones & The Six

  1. Mary Daniels Brown says:

    Oh, your reference to Liz Nugent reminds me that I read one of her books in 2019 (Unraveling Oliver) and meant to read some more by her. It sounds like most of her books are psychologically oriented, which is one of my particular interests. Great chain!

  2. Kate W says:

    Red Joan looks very interesting – I’ll check it out.,

    I really enjoyed The Children Act and found it very thought-provoking. The movie was on in Australia so briefly that I missed out on seeing it and it hasn’t yet shown up on my tv subscriptions – can’t wait to see it though.

  3. Literary Feline says:

    I love your chain! The Spy Game sounds like something I would really like. I’ve heard good things about The Children Act, but I haven’t read it yet. Hopefully someday. Thank you for sharing!

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