This week, our First Impressions readers share their opinions on Nick Medina's Sisters of the Lost Nation, a coming-of-age novel with elements of horror and suspense that focuses on two teenage Native sisters, one of whom goes missing.

We also bring you reader reviews of David Grann's The Wager, a thrilling real-life account of shipwreck and mutiny in the 1740s.

Did you know that BookBrowse can tell you how to say a writer's name? Check out our author pronunciations and be prepared for your next book-related conversation.

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Davina Morgan-Witts

BookBrowse Publisher

Each month, we share books with BookBrowse members to read and review. Here are their opinions on two recently released titles.

"This is a coming-of-age/coming-into-one's-own story and much more. The main characters are two Native American teenage sisters and their family living on a reservation. They attend a local school and work in the luxury hotel of a recently built casino. The story touches on how life on the reservation has changed with money coming in from the casino and how the older sister believes the legends and stories of her people are fading away. At the same time it addresses the hugely important and timely subject of so many missing and murdered Indigenous women." - Margaret A. (Cornelius, NC)

"I liked this book even more than I expected. The ambitious mix of folklore, telling new stories and coming of age when you don't fit in actually works quite well. Medina creates a compelling setting and characters that I cared about, especially the two teenage sisters. Their conflicts and love were very believable. The time shifts in the story could have been annoying, but they were not. The real story of a missing girl from a reservation provides somber context for this modern fiction, a context that is probably not well known. I was pleased to see that Medina has written several books and story collections, and I may give one a look, though I do not generally like horror stories. Sisters of the Lost Nation has some elements of a horror story, but is too serious and real to be labeled as such, at least in my opinion." - Karen S. (Allston, MA)

"I really liked reading Sisters of the Lost Nation. I have not read a book by this author before and I did like his style of writing... I felt for the main character of this story with her struggles not only for her lost sister but what she struggled with within herself. I would recommend this book, especially for book clubs as I feel that it would be a good discussion." - Kristen H. (New Bern, NC)

"Set in 1740, this is the story of the treacherous journey of six English warships, the Wager among them, with the secret mission of capturing Spanish silver and gold near the tip of South America. While rounding Cape Horn, and battling an outbreak of scurvy, the weather conditions turned atrocious, and the Wager became separated from the rest of the squadron. Shipwrecked on a desolate island, the surviving crew struggled against the elements, splitting into two groups: one that mutinied against their captain, David Cheap, and a smaller group that remained loyal to him... Based on personal and detailed diaries, this book has elements of true crime and history." - Anke V. (Portland, OR)

"Chilling and thrilling are the best words that I can use to describe David Grann's The Wager. I found myself torn between being fascinated by how the men and boys could have endured this tragedy on the sea and cringing from the graphic descriptions of the fight for survival. The author does a fantastic job of drawing the reader into the minds and hearts of the characters. He also leaves the reader grappling with the question of 'who is/are the hero(es) and who should be hanging for their deeds?' This is a book for someone who enjoys digging into the back stories in history. It would be fitting for a book club that discusses personalities, events, and motivation for actions." - Jan B. (Estes Park, CO)

"Although the subject matter was not of great interest to me when I started reading the book, my opinion quickly changed when more of the narrative was developed. The author takes a maritime scandal and engulfs the reader in a suspenseful historical thriller! Although I usually avoid this genre of book, I suddenly was reading page after page with no thought of stopping." - Dan W. (Fort Myers, FL)

In this issue of The BookBrowse Review, we feature reviews and accompanying Beyond the Book articles for 14 books, including the novels Beyond That, the Sea by Laura Spence-Ash and Weyward by Emilia Hart, as well as Philip Plait's nonfiction exploration of the universe, Under Alien Skies. We also bring you a look at trends in cover art for young adult books, previews of upcoming books and more.

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In addition to author bios and interviews, BookBrowse also has a section that shows you how to pronounce 700 authors' names.

Head over to the author pronunciation section on BookBrowse and use the letters at the top to navigate; or try your hand at our quiz.

For example, writers whose work has recently been featured on BookBrowse with name pronunciations include Kate Zernike, Bisi Adjapon, Mark Dawidziak and Greta Thunberg.

What do you call a group of owls? A flurry? A darkness? A parliament?

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Test your language knowledge and see if you know how to refer to groups of starlings, vultures, peacocks and more with our fun Collective Nouns for Birds Quiz.

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