narfna – Page 90 – Cannonball Read 17

“You asked me questions nobody ever asked me before. You knew that I was a murderer two times over, but you treated me like a man.”

Native Son by Richard Wright

December 23, 2021 by narfna Leave a Comment

My brain is mush today, but I have time to try and catch up on reviews, so I’m going to attempt to review a masterpiece of literature while coasting on an ebb tide of intelligence. This is, I believe, the book I have owned the longest without reading. I’ve moved ten times since I bought it in college for a class that didn’t even end up reading it. I have kept it all this time, through lo so many book purges, because I always meant […]

Won’t be reading the sequels, thank you.

Rendezvous with Rama (Rama, #1) by Arthur C. Clarke

December 22, 2021 by narfna Leave a Comment

This one didn’t work out for me so much. And it tricked me! I was really into it for like the first twenty pages (hard not to pay attention when a giant asteroid pulverizes Italy), but once the crew of the Endeavor were introduced, this book became pretty dull for me. Rendezvous with Rama, which is a Hugo award winner, was published in 1973. I can see how something like this published fifty years ago would have been a big deal. But there are just so many […]

The weakest one of these in a while.

Kingdom of the Blind (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #14) by Louise Penny

December 21, 2021 by narfna 4 Comments

Lots of mixed feelings on this one. On the one hand, I really liked the main conceit of the plot, that this old woman makes Gamache, Myrna, and a strange young man named Benedict the liquidators of her will, despite that none of them knew her. The woman, who called herself the Baroness, had a strange and interesting past, and as often happens in these books, a murder occurs. The B-plot of the book follows Cadet Amelia Choquet after she is expelled from the academy […]

“Shakespeare knew too much.”

The Left-Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix

December 21, 2021 by narfna 2 Comments

I really had a good time with this one. I didn’t realize it was YA going in, but while it did lean into YA sensibilities at points, mostly it just felt like a kooky magical adventure story. It was very hard to put down, and I found myself constantly wondering what would happen next, which doesn’t really happen all that often to me anymore because I read so much (usually for me these days I vacillate between “I pretty much know what’s coming” because I’m […]

Very big thanks to andtheIToldYouSos for the heads up that this existed! Had a fun time nerding out.

The Year of Lear: Shakespeare in 1606 by James Shapiro

December 21, 2021 by narfna 2 Comments

This was extremely interesting. I am not deluded enough to think that it would be interesting for everyone. If you like historical analysis of notable literary texts, this book will be your jam. Especially if you are into Shakespeare. I have decided that this combination of historical context and literary analysis is something I really like. One of my favorite books of the last several years was Jane Austen, the Secret Radical, which did something similar, except across Austen’s entire career instead of focusing on only […]

Proud Graduate of the Harpy Institute for Crone Sciences

All the Feels (Spoiler Alert, #2) by Olivia Dade

December 21, 2021 by narfna 4 Comments

Two weeks later, still swooning on my fainting couch over this one. It definitely hit me in my swooners. I want to be friends with Lauren, and I want to hug Alex, and I love them together so, so much. I did end up rounding down, though, for a couple of reasons. But first, the positives. This is a direct companion to the first book, Spoiler Alert. You get a lot more context for Alex’s actions in that book, and a key climactic scene there is […]

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Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

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