midnightreads

Bram Stoker

Victorian anxieties wrapped in a horror novel. Stoker was processing his era's fears through fiction.

Mary Shelley

The 1818 edition is better than the 1831 revision. Shelley's original vision is more radical.

Daniel Kahneman

Reading this made me realize how often I make irrational decisions. Humbling and enlightening.

Herman Melville

Ahab's monomaniacal pursuit of the whale is the ultimate literary portrait of obsession.

Charlotte Brontë

The tension between passion and morality drives every page. A novel about a woman who demands equality.

Bram Stoker

Mina Harker is the real hero and doesn't get enough credit. Stoker accidentally wrote a feminist character.

George R. R. Martin

Better on re-read when you know what's being set up. Jaime's evolution continues to be the series' best arc.

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Overhyped for me. The writing is gorgeous but the plot is thin and the characters are shallow by design.

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

Sancho Panza steals every scene. His evolution from simple sidekick to wise companion is beautiful.