What We Are Reading Today: Humans by Surekha Davies

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Updated 19 March 2025
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What We Are Reading Today: Humans by Surekha Davies

Surekha Davies’ “Humans” traces the long, volatile history of monster-making to chart a better path for the future. Along the way, Davies reveals how people have defined the human in relation to everything from apes to zombies, and how they invented race, gender, and nations.

This is not a history of monsters, but a history through monsters.


What We Are Reading Today: Writing Timbuktu

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Updated 25 January 2026
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What We Are Reading Today: Writing Timbuktu

  • In “Writing Timbuktu,” Shamil Jeppie offers a history of the book as a handwritten, handmade object in West Africa

Author: Shamil Jeppie

Printed books did not reach West Africa until the early 20th century. And yet, between the 15th and 20th centuries, literate and curious readers throughout the region found books to read — books that were written and copied by hand.

In “Writing Timbuktu,” Shamil Jeppie offers a history of the book as a handwritten, handmade object in West Africa.

Centering his account in the historic city of Timbuktu, Jeppie explores the culture of the “manuscript-book” — unbound pages, often held together by carefully crafted leather covers.