Author Archives: Daniel (@MKNN)

Reading Well: Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan

Posted on April 9, 2019 by Daniel (@MKNN)

Half-Blood Blues (2011) is Esi Edugyan‘s second novel. The bleakness of her debut, The Second Life of Samuel Tyne in no way prepared me for this book, which is as full of life as anything I’ve read in the past … Continue reading →

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Reading Well: Skippy Dies by Paul Murray

Posted on March 31, 2019 by Daniel (@MKNN)

I think I found Skippy Dies (2010), Paul Murray‘s second novel, through an interview with Marlon James. The title describes the action of the opening chapter, which is an interesting structure: we know, immediately, that Skippy–the erstwhile protagonist–does indeed die. … Continue reading →

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Reading Well: Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward

Posted on March 23, 2019 by Daniel (@MKNN)

Salvage the Bones is the 2nd in the trilogy of novels by Jesmyn Ward set in the Louisiana delta (I’ve already written about Where the Line Bleeds and Sing, Unburied, Sing–I read and wrote about them out of order). Salvage … Continue reading →

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Reading Well: The Idiot by Elif Batuman

Posted on March 12, 2019 by Daniel (@MKNN)

Elif Batuman‘s The Idiot was a 2017 Pulitzer Prize finalist. It’s a contemporary journey over fairly well trodden ground: in a vaguely autobiographical tone, a young person is sent off for their education, they remain wryly detached, fall in love, … Continue reading →

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Reading Well: Gnomon by Nick Harkaway

Posted on February 28, 2019 by Daniel (@MKNN)

Gnomon (2017) may be the smartest book I’ve read in many years. Nick Harkaway has created a multi-leveled, many faceted story that manages to succeed on several levels. First, it’s page-turning romp, a whodunnit that spans multiple timelines and characters, with … Continue reading →

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Reading Well: Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi

Posted on February 15, 2019 by Daniel (@MKNN)

Akwaeke Emezi‘s Freshwater (2018) made a fair number of end of year lists, and deservedly so. It’s an inventive, compelling, and more than a little frightening novel that focuses on, depending on how you read it, a young woman struggling … Continue reading →

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Reading Well: The Second Life of Samuel Tyne by Esi Edugyan

Posted on January 29, 2019 by Daniel (@MKNN)

The Second Life of Samuel Tyne (2004) is the first of three novels by Esi Edugyan in the queue. This one follows a Ghanaian family that emigrates to Canada, settling into a fairly settled life in post WWII Vancouver and … Continue reading →

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Reading Well: Milkman by Anna Burns

Posted on January 17, 2019 by Daniel (@MKNN)

Anna Burns‘ Milkman (2018) won the Man Booker Prize last year; as such, there are plenty of reviews of it to be found on the web (and is the second in back-to-back highly contemporary entries on Reading Well). I’ll just summarize … Continue reading →

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Reading Well: There There by Tommy Orange

Posted on January 6, 2019 by Daniel (@MKNN)

There There (2018) has found its way onto several prominent end of year lists, which makes me feel quite au courant in this entry in Reading Well. It’s Tommy Orange‘s debut novel, and speaks–from about a dozen different perspectives–to the contemporary … Continue reading →

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@The Movies with PopPop: Roma

Posted on December 22, 2018 by Daniel (@MKNN)

Roma, a 2018 Netflix film written and directed by Alfonso Cuarón, is wonderful. It’s a story of an upper middle class household in Mexico City in the early 1970’s, and Cleo, the young woman who works for them as maid … Continue reading →

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