6DoBS - July - Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck

We start with Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck, in which 19-year-old Katherina begins an affair with a married man in the late 1980s and follows their relationship through the fall of East Germany and beyond.

Kairos is translated from German, as is *Inkheart by Cornelia Funke.

In Inkheart, fictional characters escape from their books.

In *The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde, the antagonist wants to live outside of his book.

The Eyre Affair takes place in an alternate history.

*The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal also takes place in an alternate history.

In The Calculating Stars, a meteor strike causes drastic climate change that changes the development of space travel. 

The development of space travel is changed by the explosion of the moon in *Seveneves by Neal Stephenson. 

Neal Stephenson received his Bachelor's degree from Boston University.

Isaac Asimov was a professor at Boston University.

Isaac Asimov won several Hugo Awards, including one for The Foundation Trilogy.

Carl Sagan also won a Hugo Award, for Cosmos.

From Kairos to Cosmos, it's all Greek to me!

*indicates that I've read the book

6DoBS - June - Butter by Asako Yuzuki

We start with Butter by Asako Yuzuki, which features a gourmet cook imprisoned for serial murder and the journalist who interviews her.

Butter is inspired by a true story, as is Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez.

Take My Hand centers around questions of reproductive freedom in the 1970s.

*All You Have to Do is Call by Kerri Maher is a fictionalized account of the Jane Collective, an underground abortion network in the 1970s.

All You Have to Do is Call takes place in Chicago.

Much of the action in *Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano takes place in Chicago.

Basketball is a big part of Hello Beautiful. 

Basketball also features in *The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian takes place in Washington State.

The Lewis and Clark Expedition, the subject of Undaunted Courage, ends in Washington State.

The Lewis and Clark Expedition also crossed through Idaho.

What says Idaho more than potatoes?!  We end with The Potato: How the Humble Spud Saved the Western World.

From Butter to The Potato!

*indicates that I've read the book