In my teens I loved nothing more than picking up a Point Horror from the school library, devouring them in bed late on a school night. Earlier than that still, I loved the Goosebumps series, and I couldn’t tell you how many times my brother and I rewatched the taped episodes we had for VCR. …
Book Review: Sorry I’m Late, I Didn’t Want To Come
Goodreads // Waterstones I first heard about Jessica Pan’s book when she spoke to Emma Gannon on one of my favourite podcasts, Ctrl Alt Delete. They discussed Jessica’s introverted nature and her challenge to overcome some of her habits that were holding her back. As someone who really identified with what they was saying, I immediately ordered …
A Year In Books: 2022
68 books read 17,140 pages read This year I discovered BookTube, and it opened up a whole new source of inspiration for reading material. Seeing how much people were able to read made me want to reprioritise, and I made sure I had a book in my bag whenever I left the house in 2022 …
Book Review: Inferno
Inferno is an incredible biography by Catherine Cho, following her experience of postpartum psychosis, which affected her almost 100 days after she had given birth. During her pregnancy, Cho experiences pressure from her Korean family to honour her heritage by staying inside for 100 days; this is a Korean tradition believed to protect the baby from …
Book Review: The Cat and the City
This book is truly a one of a kind. Dozens of short chapters are woven together to create a picture of Tokyo on the run up to the 2020 Olympics (which, sadly, never happened in the real world due to Covid-19). It is a story of how strangers’ lives can be interwoven in intricate, complicated …
Book Review: Wed Wabbit
Goodreads // Waterstones Reading Wed Wabbit with the children’s book club at work made me question why I don’t pick up children’s literature to read more often. The book follows Fidge, a young girl who becomes emotionally closed off after the death of her father. She carries a lot of resentment, and when her behaviour leads to …
Book Review: Not The Type
Goodreads // Waterstones I was drawn to this book because of the interesting contrast of the cover – that girlie pink background with the serious military-style clothes on Camilla in the foreground. This does a great job of reflecting exactly what the book ended up offering: a look at the thoughts and experiences of an incredibly …
Book Review: Earthlings
Goodreads // Waterstones You know the saying, ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’? I mean it when I say that the very worst thing you could do is pick up this book and think it will be a nice, cute story about little hedgehogs or plushies. You might see the adorable little creature on …
Book Review: My Name Is Why
Goodreads // Waterstones When I pick up a biography, it is rarely by someone I know of; I much prefer unravelling a complete stranger’s journey, and discovering new lives to root for. On this occasion, unfamiliar with Lemn Sissay’s previous work, I was swayed into reading My Name is Why by that striking title, and my …
Book Review: In The House In The Dark Of the Woods
Goodreads // Waterstones In colonial New England, a woman goes missing. Or not missing – perhaps she has fled, abandoned her family. Or perhaps she’s been kidnapped, and set loose to wander in the dense woods of the north. Alone and possibly lost, she meets another woman in the forest. Then everything changes… In The …