Books I Read in August 2025
My reading this month took me from Japan to Guadeloupe, via Scotland and Cote d'Ivoire.
Borges Marathon, Part 22: The Secret Miracle
My thoughts on "The Secret Miracle", a short story in which Jorge Luis Borges plays with time and causality.
Milkman by Anna Burns: Review
My thoughts on a Booker Prize winning novel about a teenage girl living in 1970s Belfast and struggling to survive in a…
Borges Marathon, Part 21: Death and the Compass
In this short story by Jorge Luis Borges, a detective tale becomes a labyrinth in which the usual crime fiction tropes are…
The Story of the Night by Colm Toibin
A fascinating window into a difficult life. Richard Garay is a young gay man trying to find his way in Argentina after…
Borges Marathon, Part 20: The Theme of the Traitor and the Hero
Treachery and heroism blur in this meticulously plotted short story by Jorge Luis Borges, with noticeable echoes from history and literature.
All the Books on One Shelf
How would you approach the task of presenting all of English literature on a single shelf display? Here's how one Serbian bookshop…
Borges Marathon, Part 19: The Shape of the Sword
With shifting narrators and a big twist at the end, this short story by Jorge Luis Borges tackles themes of violence, vengeance,…
Forest Euphoria: The Abounding Queerness of Nature by Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian
Professional mycologist Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian demolishes any idea of rigid boundaries and hierarchies in this glorious celebration of the diversity and queerness…