nocturnalreader's reviews
27 reviews

The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams

adventurous challenging emotional informative inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.5

Words define us, they explain us, and, and, on occasion, they serve to control or isolate us....

The dictionary of lost words by Pip Williams is refreshing and thought-provoking story that emphasises the importance of words.

This is the story of Esme who starts collecting discarded word slips by the male lexicographers in the Scriptorium.

When she learns that there are no entries made for the words written/used by women in the first Oxford dictionary;her curiosity grows into a habit and soon starts collecting the words that are mostly used by women.

Soon she decides to make the dictionary of lost words that she collected since her childhood.

The author has brilliantly penned the male dominated employment and women suffrage movement during WWI.

I’m truly amazed with narrating style and what hooked me to this book how much effort and time goes to put one single word into a dictionary and I have learnt lot of new words through this book.

Thank you @netgalley and @penguinrandomhouse for providing the Arc. I highly recommend this book to everyone and take your time to dive into the beautiful story of words.

So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo

Go to review page

challenging reflective medium-paced

3.5

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Go to review page

Did not finish book. Stopped at 70%.

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

Go to review page

informative medium-paced

3.5

The Mountains Sing by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai

Go to review page

challenging emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Human lives were short and fragile. Time and illnesses consumed us, like flames burning away these pieces of wood. But it didn’t matter how long or short we lived. It mattered more how much light we were able to shed on those we loved and how many people we touched with our compassion.

The Mountains Sing is a honest , brutal, and heartbreaking historical fiction narrated through different events that are taken place over the Vietnam war (1920-70).

The story pinpoints on many events that took place in Vietnamese history, like, the Great Hunger, Land Reform, Vietnam Colonisation..

The story was beautifully weaved that it takes its readers through the history and helpless times during the war.

I must say the mountains echoed through the voice of the author and I highly recommend this book to everyone.

Little Eyes by Samanta Schweblin

Go to review page

hopeful informative mysterious medium-paced