Pepe El Toro

The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt is the second book I have read by the renowned NYU ethics professor. My first was The Righteous Mind, in which Haidt explores the origins of moral reasoning. I found his insights both profound and convincing, which is why I was eager to read this book. And I was […]

Kintu is set in 18th-century precolonial Africa, long before the arrival of Arabs in Uganda. The novel follows the journey of a young man named Kintu. After his father’s death, Kintu is set to become the governor of his province. When the time comes for him to choose a wife, he falls in love with

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