From the Bookshelf of Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
by
Start date
May 17, 2015
Finish date
May 22, 2015
Why we're reading this
Published by Bloomsbury, an Independent Press.

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What Members Thought

Chessa
It felt like it took a year to read this book, but I see it was only about 3 weeks. 3 VERY LONG weeks.

So, look. I liked it alright. It was possibly THE SLOWEST BOOK ON EARTH in the beginning, but I had heard it picked up, and it did, sort of.

I did laugh out loud a few times, and exclaimed with surprise. It was occasionally entertaining. It's verrrrrrrry....English. It reminds me of the humor of Jane Austen - droll, a bit underground, tongue in cheek, but there.

There were a few truly interestin
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Rincey
Nov 28, 2013 rated it liked it  ·  review of another edition
Shelves: 2013, mount-tbr-2013
See my full review: http://youtu.be/RaIJQPchjPw ...more
Kerry
Dec 30, 2011 rated it liked it
Shelves: iownthis, magic
Very charming. I'd give it 3.5 stars if possible, but four seems a little much because there wasn't very *much* to it, you know? But it was very nice. ...more
Cindy
Aug 30, 2008 rated it it was amazing  ·  review of another edition
I loved the idea behind this book - England using magic to defeat Napoleon. But it did get off to a slow start. It seems that while England did have magic, no real spell have been attempted in the last 150 years. What happened to all the magic? Is there anyone left who can actually DO magic? Yes. There is Mr. Norrell.

But Mr. Norrell, especially in the beginning, is not a very sympathetic character. He is fussy, jealous, and frankly, boring. I wasn't sure I really wanted to stick with this story.
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Rossie
Dec 30, 2013 rated it it was amazing  ·  review of another edition
Retelling of British history at the time of Napolean as if magic was a thing. Really interesting mix of fantasy and historical fiction.
Cassandra Michele
Wonderful!
Juliezs
Apr 15, 2008 rated it really liked it  ·  review of another edition
Rudy
Jul 31, 2008 marked it as unfinished  ·  review of another edition
Heather
Aug 04, 2008 rated it really liked it  ·  review of another edition
Sara
Jan 01, 2009 rated it really liked it  ·  review of another edition
Booktart
Oct 03, 2009 marked it as to-read  ·  review of another edition
Shelves: classics
Sandy
Jul 29, 2010 marked it as to-read  ·  review of another edition
Ana
Feb 04, 2011 marked it as to-read
Shelves: fiction
Teresa
Mar 10, 2011 rated it really liked it  ·  review of another edition
Lucinda
Apr 03, 2012 marked it as to-read  ·  review of another edition
Samantha
Aug 14, 2012 rated it really liked it  ·  review of another edition
Marci
Jan 18, 2022 rated it it was amazing  ·  review of another edition
Sarah
Aug 19, 2013 marked it as to-read  ·  review of another edition
Erin
Jan 01, 2014 marked it as to-read  ·  review of another edition
Allison
Mar 03, 2014 marked it as to-read  ·  review of another edition