JJ Arsenault

I was curious after watching the show. I wasn’t disappointed with this succinct and easy to read overview of the SAS and their amazing fight against fascism.

Beautifully written and lots of insightful moments on our condition in humanity. Yet the ending is flat and falls down. Perhaps a little to real life, to normal an outcome for a grand multigenerational tale.

Phenomenal way to approach such a dark subject in human history. Told from the perspective of a 9 year old boy. This is a quick read.

Brilliantly researched and nuanced book about the Transatlantic slave Trade. Hill writes in a direct prose and weaves historical events seamlessly into his fiction.

This isn’t an easy subject but necessary. There is a lot of nuance and morally grey moments in the story.

An amazing part for me was that the main character isn’t really likeable. She has moments where she chooses to remain ignorant of the world she’s been so savagely harmed by. It takes tremendous talent to write a protagonist like that, within such a tough subject and still come up with a page turner of a book grounded in historical fiction.

Honestly Stephen Fry can do no wrong. His modernized versions of Greek myth make for a highly accessible and deeply gratifying read or listen. The audiobook version is like a bed time story for adults. His voice and inflection tell a compelling tale that hooks you all the way till the tragic end. I'm a big fan of the Robert Fagle Translations of Homer, but Stephen is a huge win for anyone looking to delve into myth but is caught in modern language and framing and struggle with older translations.