literature
Geek literature from the New York Times or the recesses of online. Our favorite stories showcase geeks.
Book Review: "Josephine" by Carolly Erickson
Josephine is a figure from history that there has been much assumption about - so don't think there is going to be no assumptions in this particular book. Married to Napoleon, from the French aristocracy and within her own right, the empress of France as depicted in the painting by Jacques-Louis David - Josephine is a figure of complexity. There are many things within this book which make it an interesting read for anyone who enjoys learning about French history, especially during the revolutionary eras. But there are also some setbacks which made this book a bit wonky if I'm being honest. Again, it is definitely to do with assumption and how much one can actually assume.
By Annie Kapur15 days ago in Geeks
Book Review: "Ancient Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction" by Julia Annas
I quite like reading about philosophy and well, I know how much some of my favourite older, classic writers were perhaps influenced by these people. For example: how Shakespeare portrayed philosophies written by Aristotle on the stage. But of course, we also have Plato and others who were huge influences on our modern day with The Republic perhaps being one of the most important philosophical texts ever written. We have and don't have original surviving texts by these famed philosophers, but Julia Annas definitely does it justice by going through it in a way that basically anyone can understand. She starts with the problem concerning Medea once Jason decides to marry another woman...
By Annie Kapur16 days ago in Geeks
Book Review: "Criminal" by Tom Gash
Subtitled The Truth About Why People Do Bad Things, Tom Gash's book focuses on the way in which we interpret crime, how we see factors relative to crime and of course, why those who commit it choose to go in that direction. The book is an interest read complete with graphs and data, but also shows the reader why data and statistics perhaps, may not be able to explain everything and how the amount of variables that are actually within the sphere requires them to be cut down by the researcher - creating implicit bias as to which variable is 'valued' over another. It's a book that works with an incredible amount of research and explanation to tell the story of why people do bad things.
By Annie Kapur17 days ago in Geeks
Why I left CIA
I still remember the night I knew I couldn’t stay. I was sitting alone in a cheap motel room somewhere in the Middle East, the hum of the air conditioner mixing with the distant shouts of a city that didn’t sleep. My hands were shaking—not from fear, but from exhaustion and something heavier, something I couldn’t name. Years of carrying secrets, running operations, and watching people’s lives hang by a thread had finally left me hollowed out inside.
By John Smith18 days ago in Geeks
Book Review: "Pseudoscience: A Very Short Introduction" by Michael D. Gordin
If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times: I love free books. I also love dipping my toes into the Very Short Introduction series, especially when I'm between bigger books. I've read those on Biblical History, I've read some on philosophy and now this one, is on pseudoscience. From UFOs to Anti-Vaxxers, from eugenics to how the Russians basically made up their own science during the height of communism, from the planets to the human body - pseudoscience is everywhere. But what is it, where did it come from, and what are the different forms it can arise in? Well, the truth is that pseudoscience is just as old as science itself...
By Annie Kapur18 days ago in Geeks
When Ice Becomes a Battlefield
For most of the world, Greenland exists as a blur on the edge of the map—vast, frozen, distant. A place of ice sheets and silence. A place you don’t think about unless you’re scrolling past climate headlines or watching a documentary late at night.
By KAMRAN AHMAD18 days ago in Geeks
Book Review: "Time After Time" by Chris Atkins
I'm quite interested in the prison systems across the world and how they work. Back when I read Let the Lord Sort Them a few months ago, I was surprised at how horrifying the American death row system actually was and how often it got things wrong and that doesn't just mean that they executed the wrong person - it means that the system is definitely rigged against some. Chris Atkins though, writes about the British prison system, where the death penalty thankfully doesn't exist (I don't trust the government to make the correct decisions on whether prisoners live or not). But there are so many damn things wrong that if you're not angry, then you're not paying attention. The British Government, no matter who is in charge, is the biggest joke in the country.
By Annie Kapur19 days ago in Geeks
Why I Trust Google More Than My Own Memory
I forgot my cousin’s birthday last year. Not just the date. I forgot the month. I stood in the middle of a grocery store, staring at my phone, typing her name into Google like it might gently remind me who I was supposed to be.
By John Smith20 days ago in Geeks
Book Review: "The Queen" by Andrew Morton. Top Story - January 2026.
You're probably wondering why on earth I would read this book. It was free and it was a fair length. That was basically it at first. But another reason is because I enjoyed the show The Crown and so, it only makes sense to read a book that goes through separating facts from fictions - and to be fair, there aren't a lot of fictions about the show it seems. From the birth of the little princess and the way in which her father was reluctantly to become the king, all the way to meeting and marrying the veteran prince, Duke of Edinburgh and even down to the death of her father, queendom and beyond, this book actually gives us a lot about a woman who basically embodied the greatness and modernisation of the British 20th Century.
By Annie Kapur20 days ago in Geeks
