What is “home” to you? For many, our birthplace informs the way we understand ourselves. Consider your own region or country. What are its myths? England favours the WWII story, especially its theme of national resolve. The myth of modern France is built on revolution. American national myths have created some of the most famous […]Read More
Okay, look. I’m pretty sure I can guess what you’re thinking, but A Curious History of Sex isn’t porn – though it is definitely NSFW and features some unexpectedly raunchy Victorian postcards – it is history; bloody well-written and well-researched history at that. Dr Kate Lister, lecturer at Leeds Trinity University, sets out in A […]Read More
One of the major public descriptions of Sayaka Murata’s novel Convenience Store Woman, when it was first released as an English translation in 2018, was weird. Many reviewers were simultaneously shocked and enchanted by the protagonist, Keiko, and her quirky, literal narration; Julie Myerson called her “sublimely weird” and “nuttily likeable”. Convenience Store Woman follows […]Read More
I ordered Influence the day it came out. I wasn’t sure what to expect, only that it had been on my list since I heard about it a year ago. I’ve loved the YA murder genre for a couple of years now, with my long time favourite still being One Of Us Is Lying by […]Read More
“I am a member of a cancer elite,” says Christopher Hitchens on 60 Minutes, curling the corner of his lips with his trademark charm, rousing his interviewer to laughter, “I’d rather look down on people with lesser cancers.” Within this particular witticism, one among many in his entire career on the page as a writer and […]Read More
Mitch Albom is a best selling author in the US and has spent many weeks at the top of their bestsellers list. Yet, in the UK, he has little to no name recognition. Having stumbled across his books in Waterstones before Covid, I’ve had several of them on my reading list for a while. Some […]Read More
As a child, I listened to retellings of the Ancient Greek myths on my cassette player over and over again. When I was a few years older, I was hooked on the Percy Jackson audiobooks. This year, I purchased the audiobook of Stephen Fry’s Mythos, which tells the stories of the Greek gods, to listen […]Read More
If they haven’t already, many a bibliophile will be lighting their fires, settling in an armchair and dusting off their copies of A Christmas Carol, the literary quintessence of the holiday season. Finally, like Michael Bublé, it can come off the shelf and into the spotlight. For some of us, however, Dickens is not our […]Read More
Appearance is an attribute which can welcome a number of different pre-conceptions of a person, whether that be their history, interests or racial origin. Often embellishments of the body from clothing to tattoos can provide a welcome means of expressing personal identity. The body we are born with, can, on the other hand, infer conceptions […]Read More
Harry Houdini. Henry Ford. John Pierpont Morgan. Booker T. Washington. Emma Goldman. Archduke Franz Ferdinand. These are just some of the real-life figures who appear in E. L. Doctorow’s historical novel, Ragtime (1974). Through a blend of fact and fiction, Doctorow depicts New York at the turn of the twentieth century when social, political and […]Read More
Having finished Emily Maitlis’ autobiography Airhead for a second time, I felt compelled to pen my thoughts into a review. I use the word autobiography reluctantly, as it’s not a compendium encapsulating her childhood and personal trials, but rather a polished set of professional anecdotes and tales from her journalistic journey. Each chapter contains a […]Read More
Trigger warning: rape, assault Let’s play a word association game, shall we. If I say ‘model’, what’s the first thing that comes to your mind? Perhaps you think of a tall, leggy Victoria’s secret model. Maybe you think of transgender model Munroe Bergdorf and her racism row with L’Oreal. Or maybe your mind goes to […]Read More
Grime’s against-all-odds success story is one I’ve followed pretty closely. My little brother even bought me a matching JME mug and coaster for Christmas last year. Having said that, Dan Hancox, the journalist behind Inner City Pressure, takes knowledge of the genre to new heights. His 2018 book covers so much depth, it’s obvious he […]Read More
“It was a cool evening in late summer when Wallace, his father dead for several weeks, decided that he would meet his friends at the pier after all.” Brandon Taylor’s debut novel, Real Life, is a precise and intimate narrative about coping with childhood trauma. Set over the span of just a few days, Taylor […]Read More
Due to be published in print by No Exit Press on November 19th, Cesare by Jerome Charyn is an ode to the Germans who were swept into war by a few elites’ extreme ideologies and ambitions. The book follows Erik, an orphan with a tumultuous past, who, once made a sub-cadet of the German Navy, […]Read More
