Butter makes everything better… or so they say. So today’s post is a butter-y one, with books (at least one), and words, and more..

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From Butter to Living With Hope and Magic and More

This month’s Six Degrees chain starts off with Butter.

Butter —> How Do You Live? —> Kiki’s Delivery Service —> Tidesong —> Up from the Sea —> The Phone Booth at the Edge of the World —> The Kamogawa Food Detectives —> Butter

The Pairs

Butter –> How Do You Live?

The link: Japan….:)

Had to start linking somewhere so simple seemed better here for when I thought of food or of murder, I got way too many options.. Not that Japan was actually too simple too.. but…

As is the norm with the starter book for me, I am yet to read Butter and had not even heard of it before seeing it on #6degrees. It does have a certain appeal though with its combination of food, murder, and the ‘based on a true story’ aspect.

I am linking it to Genzaburo Yoshino’s How Do You Live? which is a classic Japanese crossover novel for young readers. I read it a couple of years ago and it made its way to the list of favorite books for that year.

It also happens to be Academy Award–winning animator Hayao Miyazaki’s favorite childhood book.. which brings me to my next book on this chain….

How Do You Live? —> Kiki’s Delivery Service

The link: Studio Ghibli/Hayao Miyazaki

Hayao Miyazaki, the director of Kiki’s Delivery Service returned from retirement to make one final movie inspired by How Do You Live? The movie’s title is The Boy and the Heron and it released in Japan last year. You can stream it later this month (via Amazon, Apple TV+, and other options) (June 25, 2024). One additional point to make about the movie: it won the Oscar for feature animated film this year.

Kiki’s Delivery Service is a heartwarming story of friendships, magic, resilience, courage, and discovering that magic is everywhere.

I read it partly a couple of years ago (the English translation) though I saw the movie (before the book) with my kids when they were little. But I could not finish the book (had to return it to the library), and now I need to get back to it for I do recall I loved what I read of it.

Kiki’s Delivery Service —> Tidesong

The link: Witching hour…

Tidesong is another witchy and magical book. It is a graphic novel, and if you have visited me before, you know I love them! This story has so many ways I can connect to Kiki, with a young witch, her mother, her attempts to be magical, and more..

It has heart, family, friendship, and fun! While I started reading it just earlier today, I know I will be done with it soon despite many breaks and commitments that took me away from the book. I know you will enjoy it if you love graphic novels, comics, or witches, magic, or reading……

Tidesong —> Up from the Sea

The link: Tides…oceans… seas…

Water and tides connect these two books. Up from the Sea also has the Japan connection as well to many of the other books in this chain. I read it last year and loved this novel-in-verse about how one teen boy survives the March 2011 tsunami that devastates his coastal Japanese village. This book left me weepy-eyed and warmed my heart all at the same time.

Up from the Sea —> The Phone Booth at the Edge of the World

The link: Tsunami…Japan

Staying in Japan with the aftermath of a tsunami still, and this time the book is The Phone Booth at the Edge of the World. I never wrote a full-fledged review for this book, but it did make it into my list of favorite books for that year. A book that tugged at my heartstrings and left me feeling hopeful that there is magic in the world..

The Phone Booth at the Edge of the World —> The Kamogawa Food Detectives

The link: Japan again..

I am finding The Kamogawa Food Detectives a good next read after finishing Verghese’s Covenant of Water earlier this week. It is different and I love the concept of this series!

Book description: What’s the one dish you’d do anything to taste just one more time?
Down a quiet backstreet in Kyoto exists a very special restaurant. Run by Koishi Kamogawa and her father Nagare, the Kamogawa Diner serves up deliciously extravagant meals. But that’s not the main reason customers stop by . . . The father-daughter duo are ‘food detectives’. Through ingenious investigations, they are able to recreate dishes from a person’s treasured memories – dishes that may well hold the keys to their forgotten past and future happiness. The restaurant of lost recipes provides a link to vanished moments, creating a present full of possibility.

The Kamogawa Food Detectives —> Butter

The link: Japan and food…

Closing the circle back to butter!

Butter – y Words…

So many butter-y words

Of course, there is butterfly. From these colorful fliers to flowers, we have buttercups and butterburs.

Another word which has this base word is a surrebutter, and I had to look it up. It is a legal term and refers to the plaintiff’s reply to the defendant’s rebutter. Another legal buttery word is abutter, which refers to the the owner of an adjoining property.

And then sometimes I am butterfingered and I do love butterscotch flavored anything. And I also enjoy butternut squash soup. Speaking of food means we need to speak of drinks too, and it seems like butteries are rooms in which liquors are stored.

I found these delightful butterfly cards (while I am not sure who the right recipient for such a card will be for me, maybe you have someone you would love to send it to, so sharing them here)

And Now, the End of this Post

Dear friends, have you read any of these books? if 👍🏻, which ones and your thoughts on them? if not, which would you pick first?