zoeelizabethk's Reviews (642)

A beautiful meandering journey through time and story. Ultimately I liked the Night Circus better. The Starless Sea is fascinating but the pacing feels a bit slow at times, the romance a little hurried, and I never felt like all of my questions were answered. But maybe that was part of the point. A very happy read for lovers of story, myth, and magic.

Some of these stories are magical, some curious, some poignant, some are full of deeper meaning, and some just plainly weird. There were some wonderful little stories but I found myself losing interest in the anthology halfway through. I’m glad I stuck with it because the last few were good. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not the biggest Alice fan and certainly do know all of the small details. I think that a number of the essays banked on one being invested in Alice the way I am say with Harry Potter, and since I’m not, some of the stories seemed completely out of left field and like thy had nothing to do with Wonderland. And some of them I could tell had a deeper meaning, but I just couldn’t figure out what it was. As with any anthologies there are hits and misses. 3.5 stars.

Ok so I obviously haven’t read the entire book but my goal was to get through the introductory bits which talk about the components and technique of creating balance in food and to learn how to book works. A lot of it felt very common sense but was not really stuff I’ve ever thought a lot about. The asides and quotes are helpful for creativity and I think the book will be able to help me break away from using recipes all the time and help me figure out what to make when I have a particular ingredient I want to use or the spices need to be tweaked. I’m definitely looking forward to using this more.

I’ve read a fair bit of mythology, mostly as a child, but I never really read any Norse mythology. It was very enjoyable to hear the myths retold by Neil Gaiman. There are many common themes between myths and fairy tales and it was wonderful to experience the comfort of familiarity with the different style of Norse tales. Gaiman is a wonderful storyteller, and I believe masterful at capturing the oral storytelling ethos. I loved the characters and personalities and, since I listened to the audiobook, Gaiman’s captivating reading. I only wish there were more.

I’m not convinced I’ve ever had a book floor me like this. From the beginning the Aviator was not at all what I expected. It ebbs and flows, pulling me to read faster, then slower. The last third I read in one evening and it kept propelling me forward. When Vodolazkin changes formats it means something, and, as narratives blur and change and speed up and characters come i to themselves more fully, it all becomes one piece of art, both fractured snapshots of memory and a glimpse of eternity. Vodolazkin, or maybe Innokenty?, make me want to think about the world more deeply, more personally, more narrowly.

I’ll have to definitely keep thinking about this novel. Absolutely stunning!

This was a fun mystery set in Paris. I don’t read a lot of mysteries but I didn’t figure the answer out before it was revealed so I thought the suspense was enjoyable. The setting in paris and the library is nice, but the author kept dropping in French words. At first I thought it was dramatic effect, but then note pad was italicized in French, which seems unnecessary. There were also a few typos that made it past the editor but it wasn’t really distracting. Overall a fun, easy read, 3.5 stars.