The Names ~ Florence Knapp

****

A sliding doors story.

A baby, named after his father, Gordon.

A baby, named by his sister, Bear

A baby, named by his mother, Julian

 

Network Effect (Murderbot #5) ~ Martha Wells

 

The Night Tiger ~ Yangsze Choo

 X DNF

I have so enjoyed all the Reese Bookclub choices but couldn't finish this drivel.

Loved to location and the time period and only wish that it had been stronger in the historical fiction area instead of the mawkish romance and repetitive supernatural element 

North Woods ~ Daniel Mason

 

The Nightingale ~ Hanna Kent

 

** OK

Lightweight fluff

The Night Ship ~ Jess Kidd

 

****

The story of the horrors of the Batavia shipwreck 

Excellent weaving of history into a compelling story

Native Tongue ~ Suzette Haden Elgin

 **** RECOMMEND

Sci Fi + Feminism + Language ... loved it

Thought Provoking, well considered construct

It is the first of a trilogy so I hope the others live up to this 

No One Is Talking About This ~ Patricia Lockwood

 * DID NOT FINISH

Pretentious Drivel

Literary Elitism 

Nine Perfect Strangers ~ Liane Moriarty

 

The Nameless Ones ~ John Connolly

 

The New World (Chaos Walking 0.5) ~ Patrick Ness

 

Nightblind ~ Ragnar Jonasson

 

The Golden Compass ~ Philip Pullman

**** RECOMMEND****

Normal People ~ Sally Rooney

The Nasty Bits ~ Anthony Bourdain

Nemaluk ~ Ion Idress

Norse Mythology ~ Neil Gaiman

**OK **

Ye gods!  Yawn!
Informative but not engaging

I know I am meant to swoon with joy because it is by (spoken in reverent terms) ... Neil Gaiman ... but no, no swooning on my part.  I felt very let down by something that I had been eagerly anticipating.  

While it definitely added to my scant knowledge of Norse mythology, it was not an engaging read.  It felt more like a lowly translation by someone not adept at either language.

The short story format was fine but it, combined with the language used, made it seem more of a children's version than a richly detailed, magical presentation of Norse mythology.  It was all too simplistic.  Dialogue in particular was poorly done - was he initially planning a graphic novel?  And if there is an argument that it was a written presentation of oral storytelling, then I would have fallen asleep around the fire.  It was informative but not colourful, it was peopled with characters but had no charisma, it was paraphrasing rather than engaging storytelling.  

The North Water ~ Ian McGuire

**** RECOMMEND ****

Chilling whale tale

Not Dark Yet ~ Berit Ellingsen

X NO X
- UNFINISHED -

See the purple on the cover - suits the prose!
See the nebulous shape - suits the narrative

Notes From A Small Island ~ Bill Bryson