Glyphs & Graphs

Author: R. F. Kuang

Published: 2022

Absolutely loved this book. A low fantasy that explores the dark underbelly of colonialism and academia, following a Chinese orphan in an alternate 1830s Oxford who discovers that the British Empire’s magical, language-based power comes at the cost of the exploitation of his homeland. A novel that actually got me going down a rabbit hole of poetry and reading essays on language. I loved learning about the etymology and relationship between words from different languages, and the backdrop scratched my itch for decent low fantasy. I’ll be keeping an eye out for R. F. Kuang’s future work.

Author: Erin Meyer

Published: 2014

An excellent book if you work or socialise with people from different cultural backgrounds. Yes, this book does belong to the “should have been a blog post” genre, but it’s getting extra stars because I can see myself returning to the pages regularly for reference. The charts also help cut to the chase identifying cultural relativity.

Meyer explains how cultural differences affect communication, leadership, decision-making, trust, and feedback in global business, offering a practical framework to navigate and bridge those differences effectively.

Author: Muḥammad Ibn Isḥāq

This was the Folio Society’s version; Edward Rehatsek’s translation edited by Michael Edwardes. An 8th-century biographical account that traces the Prophet Muhammad’s lineage, revelations, struggles, leadership in Mecca and Medina, key battles, and eventual unification of much of Arabia under Islam, presenting him as both a divinely guided messenger and a statesman.

Eye-opening, for sure. Should be read with the same caution as any historical biography written several hundred years after the events, taking into account the author’s prejudices.

Author: Misha Glenny

In progress/ backlog

Author: Murasaki Shikibu

In progress/ backlog…

Author: Adrian Tchaikovsky

In progress/ backlog…

Author: Adam Kay

In progress/ backlog…