Tag Archives: Reading Well

Reading Well: White Out by Michael Clune

Posted on July 25, 2025 by Daniel (@MKNN)

Part Proustian memoir, part recovery narrative, Michael Clune‘s White Out (2013) was gifted to me due to its similarity in topic and tone to Denis Johnson‘s masterful short-story collection Jesus’ Son. There is a struggle at the center of many … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Reading Well: The Angel of the Crows by Katherine Addison

Posted on July 9, 2025 by Daniel (@MKNN)

I’m quickly becoming a Katherine Addison fan, having thoroughly enjoyed both The Goblin Emperor and its two psuedo-sequels, The Witness for the Dead and The Grief of Stones. Those lead me to her 2020 novel, The Angel of the Crows. … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Reading Well: Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh

Posted on June 24, 2025 by Daniel (@MKNN)

A little way into Emily Tesh‘s 2023 science fiction novel Some Desperate Glory, I did not think I would enjoy it. But Tesh pulls off a very tricky shift, changing the narrative from a revolutionary narrative to one layered with … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Reading Well: Exhalation by Ted Chiang

Posted on June 9, 2025 by Daniel (@MKNN)

I bought Ted Chiang‘s Exhalation on the recommendation of a friend without knowing much about it. I was expecting a novel, but instead this is a collection of nine short stories, published in 2019, and covering stories published from 2007 … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Reading Well: Babel by R.F. Kuang

Posted on June 1, 2025 by Daniel (@MKNN)

How much do you love Oxford and how much are you fascinated by linguistic etymology? The answers to those questions will scale directly with your enjoyment of R.F. Kuang‘s 2022 novel, Babel. Set in a parallel 19th century, Babel exists … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Reading Well: The Cairo Trilogy by Naguib Mahfouz

Posted on May 17, 2025 by Daniel (@MKNN)

The Cairo Trilogy was my first encounter with Naguib Mahfouz, the only Egyptian writer to be awarded the Nobel Prize (1988). The three books were originally published in quick succession, with Palace Walk released in 1956, and both Palace of … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Reading Well: Let Us Descend by Jesmyn Ward

Posted on May 9, 2025 by Daniel (@MKNN)

Back before I treated multibook series as single entries, I wrote about Jesmyn Ward‘s Salvage the Bones, Where the Line Bleeds, and Sing, Unburied, Sing. I’m a fan. As such, I was greatly looking forward to her 2023 novel, Let … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Reading Well: Blue in Green by Wesley Brown

Posted on April 24, 2025 by Daniel (@MKNN)

Wesley Brown‘s Blue in Green (2022) is a fictionalized retelling of a key moment in the life of Miles Davis. It is August, 1959, just over a week after the release of the magnificent, majestic, masterpiece Kind of Blue. Miles … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Reading Well: Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

Posted on April 16, 2025 by Daniel (@MKNN)

I’ve always been a devotee of Barbara Kingsolver (see prior writeups of Unsheltered and Prodigal Summer), but had largely assumed the crowning achievement of her illustrious career would be 1998’s The Poisonwood Bible. Enter 2022’s Demon Copperhead, a novel of … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Reading Well: Bob the Gambler by Frederick Barthelme and Double Down by Frederick Barthelme & Steven Barthelme

Posted on April 3, 2025 by Daniel (@MKNN)

Donald Barthelme is easily the most famous of the clan, but his brothers, Frederick and Steven, were also writers, English professors by profession and somewhat degenerate gamblers by choice. I read Bob the Gambler by Frederick (1997) first, and enjoyed … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment