Category Archives: Culture

Reading Well: To the Break of Dawn by William Jelani Cobb

Posted on September 8, 2020 by Daniel (@MKNN)

William Jelani Cobb‘s To the Break of Dawn (2007) joins the ranks of hip hop memoirs–narratives that are both a personal declaration of the impact of the art form on someone’s life and an academic and/or political examination of the … Continue reading →

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Reading Well: Doxology by Nell Zink

Posted on August 26, 2020 by Daniel (@MKNN)

Nell Zink‘s Doxology (2019) traces America through its fin de siècle and entry into the 21st century, following a set of characters combining family of origin and family of choice, and centered on the East Coast. A doxology is a … Continue reading →

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Reading Well: Only Human by Sylvain Neuvel

Posted on August 13, 2020 by Daniel (@MKNN)

Only Human (2018) is the conclusion of Sylvain Neuvel‘s trilogy that started with Sleeping Giants and continued with Waking Gods. If you liked those, you’ll enjoy the conclusion of the series. For me, I was happy to see the story … Continue reading →

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Reading Well: John Crow’s Devil by Marlon James

Posted on July 26, 2020 by Daniel (@MKNN)

As a big fan of A Brief History of Seven Killings and Black Leopard Red Wolf, I decided to look at the rest of Marlon James‘ output, starting with his debut novel, John Crow’s Devil (2005). The novel traces the … Continue reading →

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Reading Well: Ginger Bread by Helen Oyeyemi

Posted on July 14, 2020 by Daniel (@MKNN)

I’ve been a fan of Helen Oyeyemi since her debut novel, 2005’s Icarus Girl, which I thought was one of the best ghost stories I had read in a long, long time. I read Ginger Bread (2019) having skipped many … Continue reading →

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Reading Well: Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse

Posted on June 30, 2020 by Daniel (@MKNN)

Trail of Lightning (2018) is the opening novel of a YA duology set in, well, I guess technically it’s a dystopia, but it really is focused on the world after the dystopian events. I think it is Rebecca Roanhorse‘s debut … Continue reading →

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Reading Well: The Minotaur Takes His Own Sweet Time by Steven Sherrill

Posted on June 19, 2020 by Daniel (@MKNN)

I didn’t even know that Steven Sherrill‘s The Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break (2000) had a sequel until quite recently. The initial emergence of the ancient Minotaur into modern times was one of my favorite novels of the early 21st … Continue reading →

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Reading Well: Half Brother by Kenneth Oppel

Posted on June 11, 2020 by Daniel (@MKNN)

Reading Half Brother (2010) was somewhat surreal. I kept having this memory of reading not this book, but another book, quite similar to this book, but somehow darker, but maybe the same book? Turns out I was remembering Karen Joy … Continue reading →

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Reading Well: House of Names by Colm Tóibín

Posted on June 2, 2020 by Daniel (@MKNN)

Sitting in a long tradition of revisiting the Greek classics, Colm Tóibín‘s House of Names (2017) tells of the House of Agamemnon. Agamemnon fought in the Trojan War and, when things weren’t going so well, agreed to sacrifice one of … Continue reading →

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Reading Well: The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers

Posted on May 25, 2020 by Daniel (@MKNN)

I had never read Carson McCullers‘ The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter (1940), which is sort of a shameful admission, right? Now, I have; and if you haven’t read it yet, you should, too. There are a few things to … Continue reading →

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