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jdcnlv.bsky.social
Jonathan
@jdcnlv.bsky.social
75 followers 82 following 110 posts
Book lover, freelance writer, and history enthusiast. I interview authors of fiction and non-fiction, sharing thoughtful conversations on social media and Substack. Exploring the stories behind the storytellers and more.
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jdcnlv.bsky.social
In this conversation with novelist and arts therapist Susanna Crossman, we explore “The Orange Notebooks”—a haunting meditation on grief, art, and time that asks: how do we live with our dead while still choosing life?

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Writing Against Silence: Susanna Crossman and the Radical Honesty of "The Orange Notebooks"
When Susanna Crossman speaks about her new novel The Orange Notebooks, she talks about process, practice, and experimentation—terms that suggest not a tidy narrative but a living, breathing act of cre...
open.substack.com
November 12, 2025 at 4:16 PM
Reposted by Jonathan
lrb.co.uk
‘Gone is any semblance of due process, presumption of innocence or assistance of counsel. Instead, the self-styled “secretary of war” shares videos on social media of each “lethal kinetic strike”.’

A.S. Dillingham on US government attacks on small boats, from the blog.
www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2025/no...
A.S. Dillingham | Murder at Sea
Since President Nixon declared war on drugs in 1971, US policies of mass incarceration at home and interdiction and...
www.lrb.co.uk
November 5, 2025 at 6:30 PM
jdcnlv.bsky.social
“King Sorrow” is Joe Hill's masterpiece and one of 2025's best horror novels. Six friends make a catastrophic choice that corrupts them for decades. Morally complex, structurally daring, genuinely unsettling. Full review here.

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The Dragon's Tale We Deserve: Joe Hill's "King Sorrow"
Joe Hill’s King Sorrow is an audacious and deeply layered exploration of guilt, myth, and the moral cost of violence—his most ambitious and accomplished novel to date.
open.substack.com
November 5, 2025 at 5:06 PM
jdcnlv.bsky.social
What endures when the body fails? In “The Hidden City,” Charles Finch delivers a mystery about resilience, recovery, and persistence. Full review up now.

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The Detective Persists: A Review of Charles Finch's "The Hidden City"
In The Hidden City, the fifteenth installment of the Charles Lenox Mysteries, Charles Finch delivers a work of precision and gravity—a study not only in detection but in endurance.
open.substack.com
November 3, 2025 at 11:52 PM
jdcnlv.bsky.social
Steven Kaplan’s”The Ethiopians” reexamines a civilization long shaped by myth and ideology—a study of how Ethiopia’s past was continually rewritten, and what those revisions reveal about power and identity.

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Steven Kaplan Reframes Ethiopia's Ancient Past in "The Ethiopians"
Steven Kaplan’s The Ethiopians: Lost Civilizations offers a concise yet considered examination of one of Africa’s most enduring and complex civilizations.
open.substack.com
November 1, 2025 at 3:05 PM
jdcnlv.bsky.social
Few writers made the past feel as alive as David McCullough. History Matters—a posthumous collection of his speeches and essays—reminds us that history isn’t a record of what was, but a guide to who we are. New review out now.

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The Spacious Realm: David McCullough's "History Matters"
Few historians have captured the living spirit of the past as vividly as David McCullough.
open.substack.com
October 29, 2025 at 3:09 PM
jdcnlv.bsky.social
“Old Songs”—a collaboration between Amy Jeffs, Gwen Burns, and Natalie Bryce that brings traditional ballads back to life through prose, painting, and music. History you can see, hear, and feel. Review up now on my Substack.

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Old Songs Through New Voices
Amy Jeffs and Gwen Burns' "Old Songs: Stories of Love and Death from Traditional Ballads"
open.substack.com
October 26, 2025 at 3:18 PM
jdcnlv.bsky.social
Hiron Ennes's “The Works of Vermin” is corporate horror spliced with biological fantasy—demanding, hallucinatory, and unlike anything else. It is, without hesitation, my top fantasy read of the year so far.

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Corporate Horror Meets Biological Fantasy in "The Works of Vermin" by Hiron Ennes
Tiliard breathes with the moon.
open.substack.com
October 23, 2025 at 3:12 PM
Reposted by Jonathan
historyrage.bsky.social
🚨 THIS WEEK🚨
🌟 Golden Ages? 🌑 Dark Ages?
🚫 They’re not history. They’re propaganda.
Historian @adapalmer.bsky.social joins #HistoryRage to smash one of the biggest lies in how we tell the past.
🔥 Listen now: pod.fo/e/3401b1
#AdaPalmer #MythBusting #FakeHistory #HistoricalNarratives
October 22, 2025 at 7:00 AM
Reposted by Jonathan
badancient.bsky.social
The Far Edges of the Known World is now available in North America! If you like ancient history, global history, reading about different cultures, or just fancy an escape - give it a look.
The Far Edges of the Known World
A revisionist history of the ancient world that shifts our focus from Athens and Rome to the long-ignored societies on the borders., The Far Edges of the Known World, Life Beyond the Borders of Ancien...
wwnorton.com
October 1, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Reposted by Jonathan
badancient.bsky.social
My book is in Waterstones' preorder sale for books released in 2026. Today is the last chance to get 25% off the paperback edition for when its released next February!
The Far Edges of the Known World by Dr Owen Rees | Waterstones
Buy The Far Edges of the Known World by Dr Owen Rees from Waterstones today! Click and Collect from your local Waterstones or get FREE UK delivery on orders over £25.
www.waterstones.com
October 17, 2025 at 9:08 AM
jdcnlv.bsky.social
New review: "Bloody Crowns" by Michael Livingston. It began with a murder over fresh water in 1292. It ended with a treaty in 1492. Two hundred years of bloodshed that forged modern France.

open.substack.com/pub/jonathan...
Two Centuries of Bloodshed: Michael Livingston Expands the Frame of Medieval Warfare in "Bloody Crowns"
Michael Livingston’s Bloody Crowns: A New History of the Hundred Years War undertakes what might be called a re-mapping of one of Europe’s most examined conflicts.
open.substack.com
October 20, 2025 at 10:18 AM
jdcnlv.bsky.social
Shauna Lawless's “Daughter of the Otherworld” is historical fantasy at its finest: Descendants vs. Fomorians in medieval Ireland's brutal collapse. The otherworld mirrors reality here. Start with this one—no prior knowledge needed.

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Shauna Lawless's "Daughter of the Otherworld": Fantasy Rooted in Medieval Ireland's Collapse
Shauna Lawless’s Daughter of the Otherworld opens the second era of her Gael Song series in medieval Ireland at its most fractured—roughly a century and a half after the Battle of Clontarf, amid the p...
open.substack.com
October 13, 2025 at 12:02 AM
jdcnlv.bsky.social
The case of the slaves was the same as if horses had been thrown overboard." Britain's Chief Justice, 1783. He thought he was settling an insurance claim. He actually ignited the abolition movement. Review of The Zorg ⬇️

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From Insurance Fraud to Moral Outrage: The Legal Origins of British Abolition
A Review of Siddharth Kara's "The Zorg: A Tale of Greed and Murder That Inspired the Abolition of Slavery"
open.substack.com
October 13, 2025 at 12:00 AM
jdcnlv.bsky.social
New review: “The Gales of November” by John U. Bacon. More than a shipwreck story—it's about regulatory failure, industrial ambition, and the 29 men lost when profit was prioritized over safety.

open.substack.com/pub/jonathan...
Beyond the Ballad: A Review of John U. Bacon's "The Gales of November"
Before opening John U.
open.substack.com
October 5, 2025 at 4:36 PM
jdcnlv.bsky.social
How a basement discovery became a 400-page history spanning Neanderthals to NASA. Tim Queeney on rope as the invisible thread binding civilization together. New interview available on Substack.

open.substack.com/pub/jonathan...
The Threads That Bind Civilization: An Interview with Author Tim Queeney
Tim Queeney’s father left behind more than memories—he left a knot.
open.substack.com
October 3, 2025 at 2:50 PM
jdcnlv.bsky.social
Christopher Gorham’s Matisse at War shatters the myth of Matisse’s wartime indifference—revealing an artist whose presence, art, and family ties became acts of resistance.
Read my full review on Substack.

open.substack.com/pub/jonathan...
From Indifferent Observer to Cultural Resister: Reframing Henri Matisse
A review of Christopher C. Gorham's "Matisse at War"
open.substack.com
September 30, 2025 at 1:37 PM
jdcnlv.bsky.social
In “How to Kill a Witch,” Claire Mitchell & Zoe Venditozzi turn Scotland’s dark past into a call to action—showing how fear, misogyny & power still fuel persecution today. Read my full review for the complete story of how history becomes activism.

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Reverence Where Due, Irreverence Where Deserved in Claire Mitchell and Zoe Venditozzi’s “How to Kill a Witch”
In 2022, two self-described “quarrelsome dames” achieved something remarkable: they successfully petitioned the Scottish government to issue a formal state apology to the estimated 4,000 people accuse...
open.substack.com
September 29, 2025 at 4:46 PM
jdcnlv.bsky.social
What happens when the dead demand justice? In Grave Birds, Dana Elmendorf reimagines Southern Gothic horror. Melissa Wyett and I spoke with her about grief, corruption, and the power of haunting stories.

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When the Dead Demand Justice: Dana Elmendorf's Unique Take on Southern Gothic Horror
Dana Elmendorf is quick to describe herself as a “bird nerd.” She collects feathers on her runs, sorts them by species and placement, and admits with a laugh that she hopes the FBI doesn’t come knocki...
open.substack.com
September 26, 2025 at 3:19 AM
jdcnlv.bsky.social
Reviewed Ken Follett’s Circle of Days: a leap from medieval cathedrals to Stone Age monuments. An ambitious epic of survival, belief, and community.

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Trading Pillars for Megaliths in Ken Follett's "Circle of Days"
Ken Follett's Circle of Days represents a bold departure from his familiar medieval epics, transporting readers to prehistoric Britain around 2500 B.C.E.
open.substack.com
September 21, 2025 at 5:24 PM
jdcnlv.bsky.social
My latest review explores Tim Queeney’s Rope, a book that redefines human progress through something we often overlook. From Stone Age tools to Mars rovers, rope has shaped civilization in ways you won’t expect.

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Rethinking Human Progress, One Fiber at a Time: A Review of Tim Queeney's "Rope"
What if the most crucial technology in human history wasn't the wheel or the computer, but something so ubiquitous we barely notice it?
open.substack.com
September 19, 2025 at 1:26 PM
jdcnlv.bsky.social
My latest review explores Owen Rees’s “The Far Edges of the Known World,” a bold rethinking of ancient history that shifts focus from Greece and Rome to the overlooked edges of antiquity.

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Owen Rees's Material Challenge to Historical Bias in "The Far Edges of the Known World"
"There is a fundamental problem when considering the edges of the world: the edges are determined by where we think the centre is." With this observation, Owen Rees sets the stage for his revisionist ...
open.substack.com
September 16, 2025 at 1:08 AM
jdcnlv.bsky.social
If the rest of the country wants to understand what lies ahead, it would do well to start here, or as Kyle Paoletta so aptly concludes in “American Oasis,” "In order to see where America is going, we have to look at where the Southwest has already been."

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What the Southwest Reveals About America's Future: Kyle Paoletta's "American Oasis"
As someone who has lived in the American Southwest for over thirty-seven years, Kyle Paoletta's American Oasis resonated deeply with me.
open.substack.com
September 16, 2025 at 12:48 AM
jdcnlv.bsky.social
Samantha Browning Shea’s Marrow isn’t just a thriller—it’s a sharp, unsettling look at power, motherhood, and autonomy. I dig into its strengths and flaws in this review.

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What Price Motherhood?: A Review of Samantha Browning Shea's "Marrow"
When I picked up Marrow, I was expecting something more mystical—what I got was entirely different.
open.substack.com
September 16, 2025 at 12:44 AM
jdcnlv.bsky.social
In my latest review, I dive into Jinwoo Park’s debut, “The Oxford Soju Club”—a spy thriller layered with questions of identity, heritage, and belonging from a Korean Canadian writer to watch.

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Behind the Masks: A Review of "The Oxford Soju Club" by Jinwoo Park
Jinwoo Park's debut novel, The Oxford Soju Club, begins as a spy thriller: a North Korean operative, a Korean-American CIA agent, and a South Korean restaurateur become entangled in a web of surveilla...
open.substack.com
September 4, 2025 at 6:28 PM