Elizabeth is Missing, Emma Healey

This book was first brought to my attention in a stylistics class as my lecturer had done an analysis on some of the narrative style choices of the author.  The lecturer made the book sound so interesting that I took a mental note of it and kept it on my radar.  So when I saw…

Release, Patrick Ness

This was one of those books I'd been meaning to buy and read for ages.  A year in fact.  I've read a couple of other of Ness' books including The Rest of Us Just Live Here, and I adored the film adaptation of A Monster Calls and his TV series Class.  This book, like his…

Hay Festival 2018

I've just returned from yet another amazing time at Hay Festival.  This year I went for 4 and a half days and attended 5 talks about fiction, business and linguistics.  I've decided to write this blog post in a more journal style, detailing my day-to-day experience of the trip.  I hope it will be interesting…

Almost Love & The Surface Breaks, Louise O’Neill

I would usually write a separate blog post for each book I have read but I have chosen to combine these two because of how close together I read them.  These two books both by one of my favourite authors Louise O'Neill came out very recently and I have been looking forward to them for…

Neverwhere, Neil Gaiman

It's no secret that I love Neil Gaiman's work.  I just can't get enough of it.  So when the book club at my university that I'm a member of chose Neverwhere for their April read, I was so excited to get stuck into a Gaiman novel I hadn't read yet. Originally a television series created…

The Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes, Neil Gaiman

I'd been meaning to read The Sandman for a while now, as a way to explore the graphic novel medium properly.  I have previously read a Marvel superhero graphic novel but nothing outside of that popular genre.  One of my modules at university last semester was about new media and involved the analysis of graphic…

The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F**k, Sarah Knight

The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F**k is a parody self-help, inspired by Marie Kondo's books of similar names.  It is a no-nonsense guide to managing your time, effort and money, and how to spend them more wisely. The book goes through a number of common scenarios like how to navigate the choppy waters…

Hercule Poirot’s Christmas, Agatha Christie

This was the December book for the book club society at university that I am a part of.  Although December, and Christmas, has been and gone, it happened so quickly that I have only just had the time to read it. This is the fifth book by Agatha Christie that I have read now.  It…

A History of Britain in 21 Women, Jenni Murray

In my post about my resolutions for 2018, I talked about my aim to read more non-fiction books this year.  That is why I chose to make A History of Britain in 21 Women my first read of the year! Jenni Murray is a journalist, probably best known for her work on BBC Radio 4's…

New Years Resolutions

I never used to like resolutions.  I would sometimes set very rigid ones and subsequently fail them.  This year, in my bid to focus more of my time, money and energy on self-care, I have chosen to set resolutions that challenge me a little but will ultimately increase my self-care and happiness. In terms of…