my favourite reads of summer 2019

For the majority of these past few summer weeks, I have been filling my days reading glorious novels in the sun, staring at pages of exquisite text for hours on end. I have found myself engrossed in an extraordinary number of fictitious worlds, ranging from eerily uncanny dystopian universes to the realms of an American…

my thoughts on.. the handmaid’s tale

The first time I read this book, I didn't understand why it was so integral to so many women's lives. I flicked through the pages and skimmed sentences, hoping for a thrilling and decisive ending, and was majorly disappointed, feeling such hatred towards the ambiguity of the final pages. 3 years (and many many many…

why I’m seriously devastated that I’ve only just discovered SRSLY

Since the start of the holidays, I have been making my way through the back catalogue of my favourite podcast, The High Low Show, hosted by the brilliant duo of journalists: Dolly Alderton and Pandora Sykes. I listen to it when I'm getting ready in the morning, when I'm walking from my house to meet…

my thoughts on… promising young women by caroline o’donoghue

I first came across the Irish writer Caroline O'Donoghue when I was listening to one of my favourite podcasts on a morning run. For a brilliant episode titled 'How to Write That Novel', O'Donoghue was a guest on the sensational 'Nobody Panic', a light-hearted audio guidebook to adulthood hosted by the hilarious comedians Stevie Martin…

my holiday reads for summer 2019

There is no doubt about it, summer is the most perfect, delicious, blissful time to read. Whether you are reading late in the evening in your bedroom as the sun sets or spending a carefree afternoon by the beach with a book in your hands, it can be dazzling. With these extra special moments in mind,…

my thoughts on… crudo by olivia laing

This was the first novel that I have read in a long time where I have put down the book and thought 'Wow. It was really really important that I read that.'  I sped through the pages, engrossed in Kathy Acker's world and fully captivated by the intensity of Laing's writing. The tone was just…

post-exams thoughts

I'm finally back! Exam season is finished and I officially don't go to school anymore. Writing that feels so unfathomable and too good to be true. I still don't think I have fully adjusted to the fact that my a levels are finally over and summer has begun. I wonder how long it will take…

travel diary: bordeaux

It is now the Sunday of half term and here in London we have had the most phenomenal weather- it has actually felt as though we've been gifted a magic interlude of summer to cheer us up through the dark depths of what is normally freezing February (and the distress of incoming Brexit, dare I say…

the intimacy of literature

It has been too long! Oh my, I've missed writing on this blog so so much. I've been so busy these past few weeks with schoolwork that I've just not had the time to sit down and write my thoughts on the two wonderful books, 'Three Poems' and 'The Diary of an Ordinary Woman', that…

what I’ve read recently

I picked these books up around November - December time. They were engrossing and marvellous and shocking and bewildering and I adored them all. Right now, I'm suffering through mock exams for my a levels (help!) so I don't have too much time to read but, when I can, I'm making my way through the…