Strange thing I've noticed when reading

[PaperwhiteTheFriendlyGhost]

I read A LOT. What frequently happens is that in whatever I'm reading there's a character name or a mention of someone's name from the one I just finished. This one is Dante. Not even something common is it.

Any other quirks anyone's come across?

I've just read about a female character in Ulysses called Dante & she also features in Portrait.....!

I think it's confirmation bias. You won't notice all the many many other names which aren't the same. Plus if you're reading similar types of book or books published around the same time, names tend to get repeated. Like with naming children, naming characters goes in waves.

There are a lot of male leads called Noah right now.

I had four lewises in a row once- was so random! Once read two books with Sasha - the first one was vile so I couldn’t warm to the one in the second😅😅😅

The real woman she was based on, Elizabeth Conway, spent some time in a convent next door to where I grew up. (Rather sad story -- left convent before taking her final vows where her brother died and left her a big inheritance, married a man who made off with her money, and ended up being a sort of governess in the Joyce household, permanently embittered and fanatically religious.) Dante seems to have been the child James Joyce's mispronunciation of 'Auntie.'

But I agree with @Vroomfondleswaistcoat -- it's confirmation bias, like the way you notice pregnant women when you're pregnant, or people with the haircut you're considering.

Her life was pretty sad @VoyageVoyager but from reading Stanislaus Joyce's memoir My Brother's Keeper, she was a difficult character (is it any wonder!)

I also love his use of 'nuncle' Richie ♥️

I'd be difficult too if someone ran off to Buenos Aires with my inheritance! I'd probably absolutely have been sloping around baring my teeth at people and telling Molly Bloom to put her cleavage away. 😀

😂 poor Dante !

It also has my birthday in it.

I've just read 3 books in a row that referenced Hansel and Gretel. Not that weird I realise but noticeable!

I just began a book this morning and by page 13 there's Stephen and Clara who were characters in the one I finished yesterday!

I buy a random selection of books from charity shops to read on holiday. 9 times out of 10 I notice a theme shared by most of them.

These aren't themes as such, the stories and plot are different but there seems to have a character or two with the same name.

I finished a book by Katie Fforde yesterday on which the main male character is called Angus. I'm now reading an Agatha Christie and I just came across an Angus.