July’s reading list brought together two seemingly unrelated books: The Girl with Seven Names by Hyeonseo Lee and Area 51 by Annie Jacobsen. One is a harrowing personal memoir of escape from North Korea, the other an investigative deep dive into one of America’s most secretive military sites. Yet, beneath the surface, both books reveal
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This June, the pages took me across continents, kitchens, and codebases—with three wildly different books that, surprisingly, share common ground. On the Hippie Trail: Istanbul to Kathmandu by Rick Steves, Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain, and Empire of AI by Karen Hao each dive into cultures—some vanishing, some hidden, and some just beginning to form.
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This month’s collection of book reviews features four powerful and thematically rich works: Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow, One Day Everyone Will Have Been Against This by Omar El Akkad, Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion by Gary Webb, and North Woods by Daniel Mason. At first glance, these
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April was a whirlwind — flights, long drives, and stolen hours in unfamiliar cafés flipping through pages while waiting for the sky to clear or chasing the next sunset. Travel kept me moving, but books kept me grounded. While I’ll be sharing some overdue travel stories soon — Patagonia, the Chilean steppe, and that one
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March was a compelling month for reading, as I dove into four books that spanned genres, centuries, and even planets. Despite their differences, “Intermezzo” by Sally Rooney, “Red Mars” by Kim Stanley Robinson, “The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine” by Rashid Khalidi, and “Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism” by
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This month, I read three books—Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick, Prelude to Foundation by Isaac Asimov, and Taming Silicon Valley by Gary F. Marcus. Though vastly different in style and intent, each offers profound insights into the intersection of technology, society, and human nature, drawing striking parallels with today’s world.
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In January 2025, the technological landscape witnessed a significant shift as Chinese startup DeepSeek unveiled its advanced AI model, DeepSeek-R1. This model, developed at a fraction of the cost of its Western counterparts, demonstrated capabilities on par with leading AI systems, challenging the dominance of established tech giants. The release of DeepSeek-R1 led to a
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December was a month of intense and thought-provoking reading as I delved into four books that, despite their diverse subjects, shared an underlying thread of conflict, power, and the human condition. Each book offered a unique lens through which to understand our past, present, and future, leaving me both confused enlightened and unsettled. War by
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I recently read two photography books about nature – that involve nothing related to photography – that re-invigorated my passion for landscape and natural photography. That makes zero sense but let me explain. As any artist or photographer knows passion ebbs and flows. I can only be at my best when I am inspired to
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I am going to try something new. January 2021 Book Review coming through… This year I’ve been consuming books at a staggering pace which I am sure I won’t be able to maintain. I’ve read books about cryptocurrency, income inequality, mass movements and minimalism. I’ve taken it easy on fiction which of course means I
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