A Blog on Books

Flowers for Algernon is an incredible read that I recommend to everyone. It’s the kind of book that sticks with you long after you’ve finished it. That said, there’s one aspect of it that didn’t sit quite right with me, but overall, this is a must-read. I finished it in just two or three days, and if I didn’t have school or other obligations, I’m sure I would’ve devoured it in one sitting. This was my first time reading Flowers for Algernon , though because of its popularity, I felt like I already knew quite a bit about it before picking it up. The book is often classified as science fiction, but I think anyone who enjoys fiction in general will get something meaningful out of it. It’s not science fiction in the traditional sense—no spaceships or aliens here. Personally, I love those kinds of stories, but I know they’re not for everyone. Regardless, don’t let the genre label deter you. What sets Flowers for Algernon apart is how grounded it feels, even while it explores the frontiers...

Wow! It's January 6th, 2025, and I already feel confident saying I won’t read a better book this year. Norwegian Wood might be one of the best books I’ve ever read. Maybe it’s recency bias talking, but honestly, I can’t remember the last time a book left me feeling this way—both during and after reading it. It’s simply masterful. This is the first book I’ve read by Haruki Murakami, and I’m already convinced he’s one of my favourite authors. That might sound premature, but I have no doubt I’ll be diving into more of his works in the future. Norwegian Wood is fantastic. It’s relatively short, yet it conveys so much emotion and tells its story with remarkable precision. I wouldn’t change a single thing. At its core, the book could be described as a love story or romance, but it’s so much more than that. It’s a meditation on life itself and the human experience. The ups and downs of existence are perfectly distilled into this narrative, evoking a spectrum of emotions within fewer tha...

This review contains major spoilers for both Fall of Giants and The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. If you haven’t read these books and want to avoid key plot details, I recommend finishing them before reading this review. Recently, I finished Fall of Giants by Ken Follett, the first book in the Century Trilogy. As a massive fan of Ken Follett, I went into this novel with high expectations. While I did enjoy it, I had a few significant issues that held it back from reaching the heights of some of his other works. I plan to continue the series at some point because it is still a solid book, but in my opinion, it is the weakest of his novels I’ve read to date. Two major aspects didn’t click for me: the pacing and the prevalence of plot armour. Pacing The overall story is engaging, but the pacing fell short of my expectations, especially as a fan of Follett’s Kingsbridge novels. For example, I even found his standalone novel Never more enjoyable than Fall of Giants . This book, at ...

Frank Herbert’s Dune series is one of the most ambitious works of science fiction ever written. It’s sprawling, philosophical, and deeply complex, full of political intrigue, ecological insights, and questions about power and destiny. What makes the series so remarkable, though, isn’t necessarily the strength of each individual book. None of them, for me, are among the best books I’ve ever read. But taken together, the Dune series is absolutely one of the best series I’ve ever experienced. The sum is truly greater than its parts. My journey with Dune has been a mix of awe, frustration, and moments of profound reflection. Add to that Denis Villeneuve’s stunning movie adaptations, and Dune has become more than just a series for me—it’s a world I’ve lived in, thought about, and will never forget. Dune : A Masterpiece of World-Building The first book, Dune , is where it all begins, and it’s undeniably fantastic. Herbert’s ability to create a universe so layered, so alive, is unparallel...

This book is wild. Just reading the back cover, I knew I was in for something crazy, but Outer Dark surpassed even my wildest expectations. Outer Dark back cover: "A woman bears her brother's child, a boy; he leaves the baby in the woods and tells her he died of natural causes. Discovering her brother's lie, she sets forth alone to find her son. Both brother and sister wander separately through a countryside being scourged by three terrifying and elusive strangers, headlong toward an eerie, apocalyptic resolution." This is an extremely dark read, but I loved every word McCarthy wrote. It was fantastic. As I mentioned in my review of All the Pretty Horses , Cormac McCarthy is probably my favourite author. Outer Dark continues to reinforce that belief. Interestingly, as I started reading Outer Dark , a Vanity Fair article surfaced claiming that Cormac McCarthy had a 16-year-old muse late in his life. While I haven’t been able to access the full article due to subsc...

Sometimes, a book's reputation precedes it so much that you wonder if it can ever live up to the hype. For me, Lonesome Dove not only lived up to my expectations—it far exceeded them. I bought the book ages ago but kept putting off reading it. Finally, after finishing All the Pretty Horses for the second time, I decided to dive in. I was on a serious Western kick, but I worried Lonesome Dove might feel lesser by comparison. I couldn’t have been more wrong. The two books are incomparable. While they both fall under the Western genre, comparing them feels like a disservice. They're just too different. This book is a true epic, and I mean that in every sense of the word. It gave me the same sweeping, awe-inspiring feelings I had while reading Ken Follett’s The Pillars of the Earth and World Without End . The scale is immense, the storytelling masterful, and the world so vivid it feels like you’re travelling every dusty mile alongside the characters. The Writing: Breathtaking i...