Collage of book covers. Dangerous Liaisons by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos. The Most Dangerous Thing by Laura Lippman. Clear and Present Danger by Tom Clancy. The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese. The Color of Watr by James McBride. The Water is Wide by Pat Conroy. The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy.

6 Degrees of Separation: Danger! Water!

It’s time for another adventure in Kate’s 6 Degrees of Separation Meme from her blog, Books Are My Favourite and Best. We are given a book to start with, and from there we free associate six books.

This month’s exercise begins with a classic – Dangerous Liaisons by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos.

Since the starting point is a book I’ve never had even the slightest inclination to read, I’ll take the easiest approach for my first degree, repetition of a keyword from the title: The Most Dangerous Thing by Laura Lippman. (Scroll down to #14.) This is one of the most memorable of Lippman’s novels that I’ve read.

Here’s another danger I found memorable: Clear and Present Danger by Tom Clancy. This was a long audiobook (30 hours and 10 minutes) that we listened to on a road trip.

The audiobook version of The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese is even longer (31 hours and 16 minutes). 

I’m double-dipping for my next choice, The Color of Water by James McBride. It’s memorable, like the first two degrees, and it repeats a word from the title of the third degree. 

I read The Color of Water with my book group at our local Borders (remember them?) bookstore. We also read and enjoyed another watery memoir, The Water is Wide by Pat Conroy.

Pat Conroy also wrote a memorable watery novel, The Prince of Tides. (Scroll down to the second entry.)

Thanks for reading. Where did your 6 Degrees of Separation exercise take you this month?

© 2025 by Mary Daniels Brown

14 thoughts on “6 Degrees of Separation: Danger! Water!”

    1. Mary Daniels Brown

      I read quite a few of Shreve’s books, probably back in the late 1990s-early 2000s. This title sounds familiar, but if I did read it, I don’t remember anything specific about it. Do you particularly recommend it?

      1. Not particularly. I liked the historical plotline about the Smuttynose murders, which are still a mystery to this day–but the contemporary characters really turned me off. I found them distasteful.

  1. Ooh I’ve heard of or read or seen adaptations of many of the authors in your chain. I read The colour of water before blogging, and a novel of his. I hear he has a new book out which sounds interesting.

    I have read a Pat Conroy novel, but I think it was Beach music.

    Anyhow, I enjoyed your chain. I think a couple of people went the danger in the title route. It’s been interesting seeing the different routes people have taken – epistolary, revolution, film links, and danger are the main ones I’ve seen.

    1. Mary Daniels Brown

      Thanks for reading and commenting. I read Beach Music, too. I think it came out after Prince of Tides. And I also think it was promoted as something people should read because of its predecessor. I thought Beach Music wasn’t anywhere near as good as Prince of Tides. I haven’t read McBride’s latest few books (so many books, so little time).

  2. I remember Borders, and miss them still. I also was part of a book group there for a while!

    And those are some long audiobooks!

    Have a great week.

    1. Mary Daniels Brown

      Thanks for stopping by and commenting, Marg. Sometimes long audiobooks work better than print for me because I can listen while doing other things (like folding laundry).

    1. Mary Daniels Brown

      I loved Prince of Tides, too. Maybe it’s time to reread it. (But probably not. I’ve got too many other books that I haven’t read even once yet.)

  3. I especially liked the links here related to water, even though I have not read any of them. The Prince of Tides sounds like a difficult novel to read.

    TracyK at Bitter Tea and Mystery

    1. Mary Daniels Brown

      The Prince of Tides is a tough read emotionally, but it’s well written, so in that sense it’s easy. Thanks for reading and commenting, Tracy.

I'd love to hear from you!

Scroll to Top

Discover more from Notes in the Margin

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading