"Win" by Harlan Coben

Harlan Coben is the master of the pun, so I'm sure when he created the character of Windsor Horne Lockwood III, aka Win, he had a good chuckle. Seems like he's decided to continue the joke by making it the title of his latest novel.

He was right on both accounts: Win is a winning sidekick in the Myron Bolitar series, and a winning protagonist in the latest thriller. I will stop here, but you get the drift: Win-The-Book is a top read.

Apart from the obvious: the character, the plot, the twists, what I valued was the food for thought. The book made me re-evaluate ideas such as revenge and forgiveness. I love it when a book is both worthy and immensely enjoyable. 

Where the Crowdads Sing

 As I was reading Where the Crowdads Sing by Delia Owens, I kept thinking:

• not quite Crow Lake
• not The Marsh King's Daughter
• wait, is this To Kill a Mickingbird in disguise?

When I finished, I still wasn't sure what to make of it. Goodreads compares it to Educated, but apart from a very obvious parallel, it didn't give me that vibe.

A week later, I'm still thinking about the book, and that means it's very good. Sometimes you fly through a novel, enjoy it at the time, then three days later you can't even remember what it's about. Where the Crowdads Sing is the opposite: a slow read and an even slower burn, but it stays with you for sure.

The protagonist is super-likeable and relatable. You care from page one.

Give it a chance.

My favourite quote:

“(...) lot of times love doesn’t work out. Yet even when it fails, it connects you to others and, in the end, that is all you have, the connections.”
― Delia Owens, Where the Crawdads Sing