When Books Collide

June 2, 2015 My Reading Life 9

Hi Ho, Bookworms,

There’s an bit in Sarah Addison Allen’s The Sugar Queen (review) where one of the characters is presented with books by some supernatural force. They just sort of appear to her when she needs them. I can’t claim to have ever had anything THAT cool happen, but lately I’ve been a little weirded out by how serendipitously connected my reading has been.

Not long ago, I was reading The Walking Dead: Compendium Two, which is awesome of course, and about zombies. At the same time I was listening to The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson (review) which was about PTSD. Shortly afterward, I started reading Zone One by Colson Whitehead (review) which was about both zombies AND PTSD. WHOA, right?!

when books collide

Just this week I finished up the brilliant Self-Inflicted Wounds: Heartwarming Tales of Epic Humiliation by Aisha Tyler (more on this fabulous book later, I promise) which was set largely in the San Francisco area. Imagine my surprise when the very next book I plucked from the listening pile was ALSO set in San Francisco (You Suck: A Love Story by Christopher Moore.) What the what? These kind of things happen to me ALL THE TIME and it boggles my mind. I feel like the universe is trying to tell me something through books, but I have absolutely no idea what that is.

Talk to me Bookworms! Do any of you run into this weird synergy thing in your reading, or do you think the universe is trying to reveal its secrets to me through books? 

*If you make a purchase through a link on this site, I will receive a small commission. Maybe the universe is telling me to take a vacation. You could help the universe in its quest!*

 

9 Responses to “When Books Collide”

  2. Rhian

    Oh dear, I don’t want to be a spoilsport but this can be explained in a way that doesn’t include messages from the universe.

    Can’t. Not. Say. It.

    Confirmation bias.

    Sorry!

    Reply

  3. Belle Wong

    This doesn’t often happen to me, but often I’ll be thinking about something and the next thing I know, I’ll see a book about the same thing, without really looking for it! I don’t know, does this fit the confirmation bias theory?

    Reply

  4. Jennine G.

    Yes, yes, yes! What happens to me is someone recommends a book or I pick one up and the situation in it applies to my life at that moment or comes into play very soon after. A book I just reviewed, Travelogue of the Interior, did this.

    Also, a publisher suggested I look at a book of theirs coming in October. I said okay, thinking it would be good additional learning on friendships. It’s called Just Show Up and is about how to be there for a friend in a hard time. Was going to save it for later, but in the last two weeks, I have three friends who started going through some really hard things, one life threatening. So, think I’ll be reading it next week.

    Reply

  5. Catherine

    Seriously, Katie?! Are you spying on me? I call it Six Degrees reading and keep a list because I so often find an element that carries from one book to the next. In one case it was a composer who appeared in 3 books in a row I read and it was NOT someone like Mozart.

    Suffice it to say, I know exactly what you mean and it tickles my bookish brain every time it happens.

    Reply

  6. Care

    LOVE THIS! I call ’em “Book Connections” and I TRY to keep track of them but usually forget before I write it down. The latest one that I blogged about was how both Dept. of Speculation and Caitlin Moran’s How to Build a Girl mentions the concept of savoring and filing away a happy memory for possible reference at a later time. I loved this concept and to have two books almost back to back mention the idea was striking to me. Another example was I had The Good Earth mentioned in a book and two different conversations; I thought it odd that it kept popping up.

    Reply

Talk to me, Bookworms!

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