A Blog on Books

Wow, wow, wow! Epic! Homer’s The Iliad was a shocking read. I did not expect a story from so ridiculously long ago to hold up so well. "So well" is an understatement. The Iliad runs circles around many modern epics I've read in so many ways. It's a war story, in many ways simple, but there is so much thematic depth, and the characters are brilliantly realized. Themes like loyalty, honour, lust, courage (and lack thereof), and power come to mind. This story is profound. It's massive in scope and scale. Many characters, armies, allies, and locations are all thrown at you. Being my first time reading through, this was a lot to keep track of. I have to admit I probably missed some small details. People die left and right, and with so many characters—all with names so foreign—it was impossible not to get a little lost when it came to who just died or who killed whom. Often, and I mean often, there is repetition. For the main characters, it is much easier. Take Odysse...

Dan Simmons is one of my favourite authors of all time. He’s incredibly consistent in quality and can successfully write across so many genres and styles. I’ve never really been the biggest fan of horror, at least not in novel form. For that reason, Stephen King hasn’t clicked with me yet. I’d love to find something of his that works for me, but reading The Shining and The Dead Zone didn’t quite do it. I discovered Dan Simmons through the Hyperion Cantos . Science fiction is my genre—it speaks to me—so it’s no surprise that Hyperion left an incredible first impression. I followed it up with The Fall of Hyperion but haven’t yet continued the series with Endymion or The Rise of Endymion . This isn’t because of a lack of interest; I just haven’t gotten to them yet. Then I read Ilium , which blew my mind. I loved it, though, like with Endymion , I haven’t read its sequel ( Olympos ) yet. Finally, I picked up Drood , and that’s when I discovered a completely different side of Dan Simmo...

Reading The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins was enlightening and challenging. It's an iconic book, one of the most influential in evolutionary biology, I believe bested only by Charles Darwin himself. I haven’t read On the Origin of Species yet but would love to give it a read at some point. This book offers a look into a gene's role as the central unit of evolution and natural selection. I don’t know exactly how I first came across this book, but what compelled me to read it was the fact that Richard Dawkins wrote a blurb praising Carl Sagan's The Demon-Haunted World , which is probably my favourite work of science literature that I’ve come across. It's between that and Billions and Billions . Putting the title and author together, I decided it was worth a shot to tackle this monumental work. Dawkins has a way with words and can transform complex scientific concepts into thought-provoking arguments to support the “selfish gene” theory. Coming into this work, I mistak...

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 ...