Pepe El Toro

My Struggle, Book 1 by Karl Ove Knausgaard is a deeply personal account of the author’s life, family, and emotions. In recent years, I have explored the works of several Scandinavian writers, including Knut Hamsun, Dag Solstad, and Vilhelm Moberg, as well as historical studies on the Vikings by Anders Winroth. If I had to […]

The first thing to know about Meditations by Marcus Aurelius is that this was not its original title. In fact, Marcus never gave it a title at all. He wrote these reflections privately, with no intention of publishing them. It feels almost surreal to read the personal thoughts of a Roman Emperor from nearly 2,000

The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen. This is just a partial review since I didn’t finish the book. The novel comes with strong credentials. Nguyen is a professor of English at the University of Southern California, and the book even won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, along with several other awards. The story is set

The Conversion of Scandinavia by Anders Winroth. As of 2025, Anders Winroth is a professor of medieval history at the University of Oslo. Previously, he held a similar position at Yale University. I have read and reviewed his other book, The Age of the Vikings, which, interestingly, was published after the book I am reviewing

Frank Brady’s Endgame tells the story of Bobby Fischer, one of the most famous chess players in history. From a young age, Fischer displayed an extraordinary talent for chess. However, he completely disregarded formal education, dedicating himself entirely to mastering the game and becoming the best player in the world. As a young and talented

The Crusades Through Arab Eyes by Amin Maalouf was originally published in French in 1983. Maalouf, who comes from a Catholic family in Lebanon, was elected to the Académie française in 2011. I started this book after reading a chronicle about the Crusades by Hilaire Belloc, which I found fascinating. Maalouf’s work is equally good.

Spillover by David Quammen. The book discusses zoonotic diseases, which are illnesses that originate in wild animals and are transmitted to humans, often through an intermediate host species. In Africa, zoonotic diseases sometimes spread when people consume wild animals such as gorillas or chimpanzees. One notable example in the book is the Hendra virus outbreak

The Crusades by Hilaire Belloc. French-born British historian who wrote in the early 19th century, this book, first published in 1937, is fantastic. I’ve seen some criticism suggesting that Belloc’s Catholic upbringing heavily influenced his writing. However, from reading this book, I did not notice any religious undertones, either subtle or overt. One observation I