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Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World by Jack Weatherford gives us a pretty thorough account of how a single Mongolian in the 12th century, seemingly with his back cornered against the wall, made a decision to strike back against a different tribe and from there on, actually made the modern world to…
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Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing retells a truly remarkable and unforgettable story about a shipwreck and their miraculous survival in the mid-1910s. I’m no stranger to shipwrecked stories and the crew’s relentless battle with nature. Having read The Wager, In the Heart of the Sea and Madhouse At the End of the Earth,…
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The Smartest Guys in the Room by Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind digs into one of the most infamous and largest corporate business scandals in America’s history. This was such a wild ride. Everything from corporate greed, mismanagement, cowardice, rivalry, a toxic work culture, and a need to constantly prove profitability to the public led…
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China After Mao: The Rise of a Superpower by Frank Dikotter gives us a step-by-step account of what happened to China after the death of Mao Zedong and, more crucially, how it is becoming the world’s leading superpower despite its never-ending clutches to communism rather than yielding to capitalism. I’m no stranger to the author,…
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The Last Murder at the End of the World by Stuart Turton is a slyly written dystopian ‘who-dun-it’ mystery. I can’t believe I’d be the only person who’d initially mistaken this novel for the FX TV series A Murder at the End of the World. I learned that this author has written prior mystery novels…
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Confessions of an Economic Hit Man by John Perkins goes over, well, the confessions of a hit man. However, not the hit man that most are likely to envision first when they hear of that term. Yes, a hit man has a goal of taking out a selected target, usually via stealth with James Bond…
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Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff is a collection of interrelated stories centered around Chicago in the mid 50s. I honestly had no idea of what to expect with Lovecraft Country. It was at least obvious to me that it would have something to do with H.P. Lovecraft and that in turn would suggest a novel…
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The Hot Zone by Richard Preston goes into an account of how the Ebola virus was first discovered around the late 1960s as well as how it infiltrated the United States. While many may be too young to remember the Ebola scare at that time, the resurfacing of the Ebola Zaire strain in 2014–2016 in…
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Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe chronicles Ireland’s brutal campaign for unification that lasted three decades and is likely still felt by its people today. The conflict, dubbed The Troubles, pitted Southern Ireland, which was predominantly Protestant and aligned itself with Britain, against Northern Ireland,…
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Dark Disciple by Christie Golden is a standalone novel in the Star Wars universe set around The Clone Wars timeline. It stars both Jedi Master Quinlan Vos and ex-Sith member Asajj Ventress, both of whom this novel serves as my introduction to. It always feels great to come back to read a Star Wars novel…
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The Mindless Catalog 