Perhaps it is just me, but I tend to notice connections between the books I read.  First off, generally I am reading several books at a time.  I never read just one; I often have one or two books on both levels of my home. Right now, I am reading three books.  Perhaps that's why I notice the connections--because of having three different story-lines to follow, I find similarities between them.  If I concentrated on just one book, then maybe things would be different.

Nonetheless, I notice connections, or perhaps just make connections.  For example, I just finished The Friendly Persuasion by Jessamyn West.  There is a character in it by the name of Homer (Denham), which is not that common of name (although there is famous author by that name); however, another novel I am currently reading is John Irving's The Cider House Rules, which has as one of its main characters, Homer (Wells).  I also remember having a great uncle by the name of Homer.  He lived with my maternal grandparents.  My memories of him are mostly of his sitting in the mauve armchair.  He looked like a thinner version of my grandpa, and one day he wasn't there any more, but I digress.

Back to connections: Irving's novel is about women in "trouble" and dealing with unwanted babies at an orphanage and doctors dealing with these issues.  Another novel, Midwives by Chris Bohjalian, deals with midwives who deal with home births and the death of a mother delivering her child  at the hands of an experienced midwife.  This novel, too, deals with women's pregnancy issues.  Okay, a bigger stretch of a connection, but if I look, I find them everywhere as I read or even watch television.  These are not the only times I have had this happen--these are just a few examples. I fully expect to see the connections between books in a series or books by the same author, but when the novels are diverse, then it is rather interesting (at least to me).

It may be that by reading I allow my mind to be open to the connections, or it may be that I just wish to connect.  Is it coincidence? Possibly.  Yet, I think that is what human beings do.  That is, make ties to our world through experience, if only tenuous connections in which we widen our web of knowledge, widen our web of thought.  Isn't that what writers do?  Try to make connections with their readers?