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From Rodham to My Grandmother Asked Me... | Six Degrees of Separation

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Six Degrees of Separation is a fun monthly meme hosted by Books are my Favourite and Best. 
Every month, a book is chosen as a starting point and linked to six other books to form a chain. Books can be linked in obvious ways – for example, books by the same authors, from the same era or genre, or books with similar themes or settings. Or, you may choose to link them in more personal ways: books you read on the same holiday, books given to you by a particular friend, books that remind you of a particular time in your life, or books you read for an online challenge. A book doesn’t need to be connected to all the other books on the list, only to the ones next to them in the chain.


This month’s book is Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld.

Rodham belongs to that category of books that I like the idea of reading but know will never read. Basically this means, the book will be in my TBR forever and I may always talk about reading it, but if an opportunity comes, I'll likely balk. Something about a…
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The Sunday Salon -- May 16, 2010

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The Sunday Salon.com

I'm typing up this post in the middle of a read-a-thon, because I have a feeling I'll be collapsing soon. One of my groups in Goodreads has had a Read-a-thon scheduled today yesterday, and for once, I wanted to try reading for as long as possible. I did manage some good reading. Nothing phenomenal, since some of the books took time getting through. But it's always wonderful to read a good number of books at a go, plus it's always wonderful to read. Period.

Graduation day (not mine, but some of my friends') came and went, and for the first time, it made me realize that I will be leaving in 3 months and this academic phase will end soon as well. A good bunch of us came together almost 2 years back. I still remember all the fun we had then. Most of us were meeting for the first time, and that did nothing to disguise our enthusiasm. If anything, the group helped me not have a major homesickness bout with all those rib-tickling jokes and nice anecdotes. (Of course, the homesickness came a couple of months later!). Even now, we hang around together, and there is no end to the fun we have. It's quite a sad feeling to realize that in a couple of months, we will all be going separate ways and that we will again be starting from scratch. I'm glad though that my best friend will be just 2.5 hours away.

Believe me, I am tired of partings. I guess I've had more than my share of that, and I'm ready to dig my bearings deep somewhere. Sometimes I welcomed the change, other times, I felt it was too soon. The next few months will probably be a bit hard and emotional, and for that, I am almost glad that we all have a thesis to worry about, leaving little time to ponder much. I may also be reading less over the next couple of months while I get my thesis written, but I hope I can keep a good schedule and still read quite a bit.

Did I mention that my brother will be coming to the US to pursue his Masters' in August? I'm so looking forward to that. It's good to have some immediate family nearby, even if he will be a day's travel away, in NY.

Plus, today is the last day to enter my giveaway of Glorious by Bernice L. McFadden. I will be selecting the winners tomorrow!


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Harvee, Book Dilettante said…
Congrats on graduation! The real world is not as bad as it sounds though it may be a lot less demanding intellectually. You now get to develop your street smarts:)
Harvee, My Sunday Salon
May 16, 2010 at 9:13 AM
Helen's Book Blog said…
Congratulations! I know just what you mean about endings/partings. I've been thinking about it a lot lately with my school's graduation coming up. The seniors have all been so puffed up with college acceptances, they are ready to leave and be "on their own", etc. But, as it gets closer they are all admitting that it's scary as well. Leaving what we know (both people and places) is unsettling. It's also good that you know you are ready to find somewhere to settle (for a while?).

Good luck with your thesis and all that goes with that!
May 16, 2010 at 9:19 AM
StephTheBookworm said…
Wow, congratulations on graduating! It is a long, hard journey and yay you did it!!! That is great that your brother is coming here too. Good luck with your thesis. What is your topic?
May 16, 2010 at 9:49 AM
bermudaonion said…
I think my son's having some of the same feelings you are. He will finish school at the beginning of July and while he's ready to move onto the next phase of his life, he realizes he's going to miss this phase.
May 16, 2010 at 9:52 AM
Athira said…
Oops, I guess my post was slightly misleading. I am yet to graduate actually. I was referring to the graduations of my friends.

Book Dilettante, LOL, that is definitely a plus! I'll try not to be so upset about graduating. :)

Helen, I expect it will be settling for a while. Some days, I am more than ready to leave. Other days, I am totally not! :(

Steph, my thesis is very boring, LOL! It's about improving the development of hardware designs. :) I'm totally thrilled that my brother is coming here! :)

Kathy, that's exactly how I feel! Eager to move on, but not ready! How conflicting!
May 16, 2010 at 3:40 PM
Emidy @ Une Parole said…
Aw, leaving your friends and current life behind is never easy. But soon enough you'll be falling into another routine and your life will become normal again.
May 16, 2010 at 5:55 PM
Ash said…
I've got two more years before partings, and then I'll have more to come up in grad school. It's all part of life but it seems like it is more frequent if you choose to do more academia. I'm interested to see where I end up after my undergrad, and then where I'll end up after that. It is exciting but also kind of stressful. Hope your last few months are great!
May 16, 2010 at 6:40 PM
(Diane) Bibliophile By the Sea said…
How great will that be to have your brother here....even if he will be a distance away, it would still be possible to a spend a weekend together. enjoy!
May 16, 2010 at 7:32 PM
Athira said…
Emidy, it's always like that isn't it? We are sad about leaving our comforts, and before we know it, what we were afraid of becomes our new comforts.

Ash, You do have some time before any significant partings. I feel academia is one of the best phases of life. What comes after that is boring. LOL

Diane, it's so good right to have family nearby? I'm glad my bro is coming over.
May 17, 2010 at 12:23 AM
The1stdaughter said…
I know just what you mean. I wanted to move back to California to be "close" to family, but now I'm further from friends than ever. To top it off, my family is still more than 3 hours away. So, it kind of stinks. It does get better though, I'm sure, I'm just not a huge fan of change.

Enjoy having your brother visit soon! That sounds like it will be great for you!
May 18, 2010 at 12:45 AM
Athira said…
Danielle, change definitely sucks. But it is just a matter of getting used to it. When I get myself to think like that, I am fine, no worries. It is during those lonely Saturday nights, that I start getting jittery.
June 5, 2010 at 7:31 PM
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