Before to be a bookworm, I'm booksquirrel... I hoard and hoard and hoard books in Pdf files, epubs, paperpbacks until my Ipad crashes or my shelves give way under the weight of all these books, or until my soul eventually surrender to the cry of all those unread pages clamouring for belated attention... And then, as soon as I find time, I start one, then a second, then a third... And the race is on for the best book to catch my attention. And there are currently 4... 

THE STORM BEFORE THE STORM by Mike Duncan

Mike Duncan is the kind of God for history podcasters. He started in July 2007 a podcast called The History of Rome who quickly became a phenomenon and inspired dozens, hundreds of other amateur podcasters to launch themselves and create history podcasts. After the completion of his original groundbreaking oeuvre, he created a new one called Revolutions, and also found time to pen this book about a tense and fascinating period of the late Roman republic. Is it good? It is probably not to the taste of the usual Historian, but for any Mike Duncan's fan, this is a treat. I have even ordered the hardback copy for myself, a well deserved gesture to pay to a man whose words and passion has accompanied me around the world for the past ten years!

Quote:

By simultaneously destroying Carthage and Corinth in 146, the Roman Republic took a fnal decisive step toward its imperial destiny. No longer one power among many, Rome now asserted itself as the power in the Mediterranean world. But as Rome's imperial power reached maturity, the Republic itself started to rot from within. The triumph of the Roman Republic was also the beginning of the end of the Roman Republic.

Status: FINISHED.

THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD

 I had never heard about Colson Whitehead before his sixth book, which has propelled him into literary stardom, not only in his native USA, but all around the world, thanks to the glory of the Pulitzer Prize 2017. It narrates the escape of two slaves from a plantation of Georgia by taking the "underground railroad".  

The life on a plantation is presented without any romanticism, but in all its crudeness and violence and despair, which would make even "Django Unchained" looks tame and dull in comparison. It makes you feel uncomfortable and full of anger, as it should be. Of course, the most famous point of the novel is that Colson Whitehead takes the liberty to show the so-called "underground railroad" as a literal subterranean road. An unusual way to speak about the theme, but a welcome way to escape from the grim and unforgivable reality of the time.

Quote:

They gathered on the front's lawn. Randall's visitors sipped spiced rum as Big Anthony was doused with oil and roasted. The witnesses were spared his screams, as his manhood had been cut off on the first day, stuffed into his mouth, and sewn in.

STATUS: 1/3 complete.

AUGUSTUS by John William

As if The Storm before the Storm was not enough, I had to read something else about the Roman world. In that case, I have the idealized and romanticized literary biography of the first Roman Emperor, Gaius Octavius, the future Augustus. I have read already STONER by the same John Williams, which was kinda good, without driving me crazy... I don't expect much else either from that book. I certainly don't think it will compare favourably with Marguerite Yourcenar's MEMORIES OF HADRIAN (who started this whole genre of "Emperors imagined biographies") except a quick refresh into the main points of how a young aristocrat becomes a total autocrat capable of reshaping the entire known world to his image. 

Quote:

I write these memories in the fiftieth year of my life so that posterity may record the time when Octavius discovered Rome bleeding in the jaws of faction, when Octavius Caesar slew the factious beast and removed the almost lifeless body, and when Augustus healed the wounds of Rome and made it whole again, to walk with vigour upon the boundaries of the world.

STATUS: Just began.

TALES FROM TWO POCKETS by Karel Capek

All those serious books above made me crave from something more gentle, quaint and funny. Hence, I rushed to those takes by one of the main Czech writer, whose whole "oeuvre" deserves much better than to be reduced to the inventor of the word "robot". In this collection of short tales, Karel Capek amuses himself (and his reader) with a few police tales of his invention.  

Status: one story before to go to bed.

AND YOU WHAT DO YOU READ? WAITING FOR YOUR RESPONSES IN COMMENTS!