literature
Geek literature from the New York Times or the recesses of online. Our favorite stories showcase geeks.
Book Review: "The Uncannily Strange and Brief Life of Amadeo Modigliani" by Velibor Čolić. Top Story - September 2026.
"The world is full of scoundrels" I have no idea why I picked this up in the library, maybe because it just looked interesting, I don't know. At the moment, I have to say my mental health isn't really there and, at the time of writing this in July 2026, I need something like a book on random vignettes to make me feel better a bit. I've been spending the morning reading this short piece of semi-fiction. I call it semi-fiction because I don't know enough about the protagonist to know how much of it is true. Was Amadeo Modigliani a good artist? No, not really. But that doesn't mean his story isn't interesting. He may have died destitute, swapping his paintings for food - but he had an interesting 30 or so years under his belt. However, I don't think it's a good idea to glamorise this kind of ignorance to the self, it can only end badly. Though he was through and through a true bohemian. No money, no life, nothing at all to suggest he was doing alright.
By Annie Kapurabout a month ago in Geeks
Thérèse Raquin by Emile Zola
Emile Zola was once a journalist and an art critic but early on in his writing career, he made a start on a book called Thérèse Raquin. The novel was first published as a serial in the magazine L’Artiste in 1867 before being released as a single-volume book later that year by the publisher Lacroix. With what Zola believes is more of a 'scientific' approach to the study of human behaviour and morality, the serial version may have attracted limited attention but the book did quite well.
By Annie Kapur2 months ago in Geeks
Book Review: "Puma" by Anthony Burgess
I've been to the library on my trips around town and I picked up a couple of books and now, here we are. Anthony Burgess as we know, was a great writer. The creator of the controversial A Clockwork Orange, I think many of us have at least read or seen one or two works by him. If you're looking for something other than his most famed novel then you can read my review of another novel by him below...
By Annie Kapur2 months ago in Geeks
Book Review: "The Ghostwriter" by A.R Torre
"I fear that I'll tell everything, and still no one will understand" I have never read anything by A.R Torre before but, everyone here knows how much I enjoy the odd cheap book. Needless to say, as I write this, I have just been on a library and bookshop trip which means of course I have spent money on books - though I swear I have been good. So is A.R Torre the kind of writer I will read more of? Perhaps, though not yet. The Ghostwriter is a book about a secret from a woman whom I have to say, we don't start off by liking. Be that as it may, it is well written and makes for an interesting reading experience.
By Annie Kapur2 months ago in Geeks
The Odyssey(2026) Review: A Brilliant Psychological Epic That Almost Gets There
Full disclosure: I came into Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey with sky-high expectations. After all, we are talking about The Odyssey — a cornerstone of the Western canon that has been translated, reimagined, and dissected. Set to music long before anyone had ever heard of Margaret Atwood or Claire North. Having read and enjoyed more than a few different adaptations, including (but not limited to) Emily Wilson’s landmark translation , Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad , Claire North’s Songs of Penelope Trilogy, and EPIC: The Musical , I was prepared to like this one a lot.
By Jenna Deedy2 months ago in Geeks
Book Review: "Here to Stay" by Mark Edwards
Check out one of my older reviews of a book by Mark Edwards. You can find other reviews of books by him on my page: When I read The Retreat, I was sure that Mark Edwards was one of those authors I wanted to keep looking out for. Here to Stay is one of my newest books by him and covers, in the beginning, a beautiful love story in which a woman looking for a house saves a man showing her around from a bee sting which seems to be having an allergic reaction on him. After this, we spin around to them going out to dinner and then eventually being married. Gemma, the woman, asks her husband - Elliot (the narrator), if it will be alright if her family came over to stay for a couple of weeks. He agrees to it as long as it is only a few weeks. And it is. Until it isn't...
By Annie Kapur2 months ago in Geeks
Book Review: "Wanting Daisy Dead" by Sue Watson
Recently, I reviewed Watching Alice by Sue Watson and I noticed that the domestic thriller was something I wanted to investigate further and so, I wanted to see more of Sue Watson. Needless to say, this book is not a domestic thriller but instead one in which we need to find out why Daisy is dead. Twenty years' ago now, Daisy Harrington was murdered in cold blood and, after the police investigated it - they found a professor guilty for her murder. However, one podcast starring two women brings together her housemates from all that time ago and there, they seek to discover who really killed Daisy as, after all that time, people now suspect the man who was convicted was innocent the whole time. But, with every single person having a motive, Sue Watson invites us to interrogate everyone who once wanted Daisy dead...
By Annie Kapur2 months ago in Geeks
Book Review: "I Know Where You Live" by Gregg Olsen
I was a blooming flower, or maybe a snake shedding its skin. Changed. I have no real idea of how I came across this book apart from the fact I wanted to read something that was a cross between John Marrs, Sally Hepworth and maybe even hints of Lucinda Berry. Gregg Olsen's I Know Where You Live starts off with a man having a medical emergency at his grand-daughter's wedding. It was also a wedding he wasn't invited to. It was even a wedding that his grand-daughter didn't want him at. Narrated by various characters including three main women: Violet - the woman marrying at the beginning of the book, Lily - her younger sister and Rose - the mother, this book is a family drama packed with secrets and twists. With constant inner-thoughts and a possible murder on the records, this book delves deep into the beating heart of generational trauma and what happens when families stay silent.
By Annie Kapur2 months ago in Geeks
