Looking back through the reviews on Wez G Books, I can see a personal history taking shape. The books cover different countries, centuries and subjects, but certain interests keep returning. Power, culture, conflict, freedom and the extraordinary things people do in extraordinary circumstances.
My reading tastes are fairly international. I can move from British intelligence history to a Mexican detective novel, from medieval queens to modern China. What connects much of it is curiosity about how people live, what they believe and how the world around them came to be.
Understanding the World Behind the Headlines
History and politics occupy a considerable part of my reading. I like books that provide the background needed to understand events that otherwise appear as isolated headlines.
China is a longstanding interest. Back in 2013, when I reviewed Xiaolu Guo’s A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers, I wrote about studying Chinese and seeking out books about its culture. The novel appealed to me through its treatment of language and the differences between cultures. That curiosity has continued into my reading about Chinese history and international influence. Read my review of Xiaolu Guo’s novel.
Bruno Maçães’ Belt and Road: A Chinese World Order offered another route into the subject: trade, infrastructure and the ambitions shaping China’s relationship with the wider world. I enjoy a book that introduces a subject clearly and leaves me wanting to investigate further. Read my Belt and Road review.
I also want to broaden the perspectives through which I understand history. Zeinab Badawi’s An African History of Africa interested me particularly because it foregrounds African voices and challenges the limitations of accounts shaped by colonial viewpoints. There is always more to learn, especially about places whose histories have been presented to us through somebody else’s eyes. Read my review of Badawi’s book.
Secrets, Ingenuity and Human Courage
Espionage is another recurring fascination. Intelligence history brings together politics, psychology, technology and stories that can be as gripping as any thriller.
I gave Gordon Corera’s The Art of Betrayal five stars. The Cold War intrigue, the consequences of betrayal and the experiences of people operating behind the scenes made it compelling reading. It also prompted an interest in exploring writers such as Graham Greene and John le Carré, whose lives crossed into the intelligence world. Read my review of The Art of Betrayal.
Sometimes these subjects connect directly with family memories. Helen Fry’s MI9 brought back my grandfather showing me his RAF button compass as a child. Reading about escape equipment and wartime evasion gave those memories a much wider context. I was also struck by the courage of the civilians who helped Allied servicemen escape, risking their own lives and families in the process. Read my MI9 review.
Fiction That Takes Me Somewhere
Although non-fiction features heavily in my reviews, fiction has given me plenty of memorable journeys.
Hemingway is an obvious favourite. In Fiesta: The Sun Also Rises, I loved the atmosphere of France and Spain: the restaurants, drinks, landscapes and complicated relationships. His descriptions made familiar places feel vivid on the page. In For Whom the Bell Tolls, the attraction was also emotional — loyalty, fear, romance and betrayal within the Spanish Civil War. Read my Fiesta review and my For Whom the Bell Tolls review.
That appreciation of atmosphere also appears in my response to Élmer Mendoza’s Silver Bullets. Its flowing style and portrayal of crime, politics and relationships in Sinaloa made a strong impression. I enjoy writers whose language gives a place its own character. Read my Silver Bullets review.
Russian literature takes me into another cultural world. Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita was an unpredictable, unsettling experience, and my review reflected both its originality and my reservations. A memorable book can leave you wrestling with it. Read my Bulgakov review.
Justice, Technology and Questions That Stay With Me
I often connect books with my own experiences and studies. Joey Whitfield’s Prison Writing of Latin America, written by a teacher of mine at Cardiff University, drew me towards questions about imprisonment, human rights and how literature gives marginalised people a voice. Read my review of Prison Writing of Latin America.
More recently, technology has become part of that wider curiosity. Karen Hao’s Empire of AI made me think more closely about the labour, resources and business decisions behind tools I use. It challenged assumptions I had made about their development and their costs. Read my Empire of AI review.
Looking across these books, I seem to return to questions about power and its consequences, but I also value a strong narrative, vivid writing and the pleasure of discovering something unfamiliar.
My review blog records those encounters over time. Each review captures what interested me, what I questioned and what stayed with me after the final page.
You can explore the books and follow the journey at Wez G Books. And if something there sparks a recommendation, I’m always interested to hear what I should read next.
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