October is a month that I have grown to love. One of the first foundation-rocking disagreements between me and my husband was his determined preference of Halloween over the, clearly superior, shenanigans of the Christmas period. It was a major trial for our 'love across cultures', where my lack of never having participated in any … Continue reading The 10 Best Non-Horror Halloween Reads
"So they went into the basement, a long, white-washed room running the whole length of the house. A window at one end gave onto a coal hole; a little daylight filtered through at an angle from an iron grating in the pavement above. There was a clean, sweet smell of new wood and a tang … Continue reading Review: The Magic Toyshop by Angela Carter
"To be a Parisian in Nablus was to be out of step with the times, locked in an old colonial formula where subjects imitated masters as if in the seams of their old garments they hoped to find some dust of power left trapped. This was not precisely the case with Midhat, who seemed rather … Continue reading Review: The Parisian by Isabella Hammad
One of the most prevalent challenges facing society today is undoubtedly loneliness. The news abounds with headlines showing that loneliness among almost all generations is on the increase. Although counterintuitive at first sight - we might expect that both the internet at large and social media in particular offer us plentiful opportunities for connection - … Continue reading Bibliotherapy For Loneliness: Fiction Recommendations For Tough Times
"Angel's Laundromat is in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Fourth Street. Shabby shops and junkyards, secondhand stores with army cots, boxes of one-socks, 1940 edition of Good Hygiene. Grain stores and motels for lovers and old women with hennaed hair who do their laundry at Angel's. Teenage Chicana brides go to Angel's. Towels, pink shortie nighties, bikini underpants … Continue reading Review: A Manual for Cleaning Women by Lucia Berlin
Whether you face Feb 14th with feelings of horror, boredom, or excitement, Valentine's Day is one of those events that cannot be avoided. As soon as the Christmas lights are taken down, we're confronted with visions of stocky cherubs and uncomfortably artificial advertisements at almost every turn of the head. Since meeting my husband, I've … Continue reading 10 Unconventional Reads To Enjoy This Valentine’s Day (Whatever Your Relationship Status)
As someone who has been reading for almost as long as I've been talking, it can be difficult for me to appreciate the direct but subtle ways in which fiction helps me to navigate the peaks and troughs of life. Only over recent years - and as a result of suffering from various kinds of … Continue reading Can Fiction Help You? An Introduction To Bibliotherapy
"Oh, how different the world did look from that height. Imagine it: my whole life I had lived on that brutish island and never had I seen its edges, never had I seen the ocean in its vastness, the white breakers rolling in upon the beaches. Never had I seen the roads, with their tiny … Continue reading Review: Washington Black by Esi Edugyan
"What will they make of us, the people of those unimaginably distant times? One thing I do know: they won't want the brutal reality of conquest and slavery. They won't want to be told about the massacres of men and boys, the enslavement of women and girls. They won't want to know we were living … Continue reading Review: The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker
"An occasional student who comes upon the name may wonder idly who William Stoner was, but he seldom pursues his curiosity beyond a casual question. Stoner's colleagues, who held him in no particular esteem when he was alive, speak of him rarely now; to the older ones, his name is a reminder of the end … Continue reading Review: Stoner by John Williams
