Tag: ramblings

Literary visits: Oxford and the Bodleian Library

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Hi!

Hope everyone is well 🙂

I spent a lovely few days in Oxford soaking up the history and architecture. Having never been, it’s always been on my UK bucket list of cities to visit and I am so glad I was able to finally make it, but actually spend a relaxing few days there.

I spent my days wandering and meandering through the streets just soaking up all of the architecture…and going into as many bookshops as I could obviously😅 Oxford is gorgeous!  Beautiful architecture, and it definitely gave me the Harry Potter vibes! Obviously, they filed a few scenes here and took inspiration from the buildings which is so clear to see when you walk around.

Going to the Bodleian Libraries has been on my bucket list for YEARS. So obviously I had to do this whilst I was there. If you sre interested in going, there are a few options you can choose from:

  • 30 minute tour (£10pp) – this will grant you access to the Divinity School and Duke Humfrey’s Library
  • 60 minute tour (£15pp) – this will grant you access to the Divinity School, Convocation House, Chancellor’s Court, and Duke Humfrey’s Library.
  • 90 minute tour (£20pp) – this will grant you access to the Divinity School, Convocation House, Chancellor’s Court, Duke Humfrey’s Library, Gladstone Link and the iconic Radcliffe Camera.

A word of warning – even through the website says some tickets are available online this is really not the case! Tickets must be brought on the day – you cannot buy tickets in advance. Also, tickets sell out fast and are limited, it’s on a first come first served basis and there are about 20 places per tour! I would recommend getting to Weston Library for 8:30/9am to start lining up as the library opens at 10am as during peak times it can get very busy. Bring a book with you whilst you wait!

Sadly, the 90 minute tour sold out, but I was able to get tickets for the 60 minute tour and for Duke Humfrey’s Library alone, this was so worth it. Ornate, splendour and opulent – it is what you imagine a

Breathtaking. I was so taken aback by the splendour and beauty of this library – and it’s an actual working library! Students can work here and read the books – incredible. Founded in 1488 and opened in 1602, Duke Humfrey donated 300 books to the University of Oxford. Did you know that before this, there were only 20 books on record?! In order to store the 300 books he donated, a library needed to be built, and thus, this gorgeous room was borne. I could have spent hours in here.

I also went to the Divinity School which was used in the Harry Potter films as the Infirmiry In Philosophers Stone and the Yule ball dance scenes in Goblet of Fire. How stunning!

The Divinity School

I then spent the afternoon meandering through different book shops – including the BIGGEST Blackwell’s I have been in, and will ever be in again. The reading room on the bottom floor was INSANE! I walked down the stairs and was completely taken aback by the sheer size and depth, and no matter how far in I went, there was always more to see and find.

But my favourite bookstore was this gorgoeus independent bookshop called Last Bookshop Jehrico. All the books were £5 and under, and there were so many amazing titles – I lost myself in there and even went back a second time because I regretted not buying something. 😅

It was a lovely few days away, filled woth history, books and gorgeous architecture. Definitely worth a trip.

xo

Palestinian book recommendations: fiction

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Hello all.

I wanted to share some fictional books written by Palestianian authors. I won’t spend time talking about all the horror that is happening in Gaza right now because I want to shine a light on the gorgeous words that have come from the people of Gaza.

There are NO spoilers below, but I urge you to read as many of these as you can. The prose is lyrical, beautiful and heartbreaking.

Mornings in Jenin

Starting off with a gut-wrenghing novel. Amal is born into the refugee camp of Jenin after her family was forced to flee Palestine in 1948. But here’s the kicker – her brother, a baby at the time, is stolen away by an Israeli soldier.

The vivid imagery that runs through this really immersed the reader and keeps you engaged and hooked until the very end. She really does get across feelings of hopelessness and grief, which can make it difficult to read, but it’s so necessary.

Mornings in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa

Against The Loveless World

Another by Susan Abulhawa – I really do enjoy reading her work!

This novel. Where do I even begin? Following a young Palestinian refugee, Nahr, we listen to her story, which is being told from solitary confinement, as she becomes more and more radicalised.

Abulhawa blends fact with fiction and it haunts me to this day. It’s a book I think about every couple of days to be honest. The rawness of the prose, the gritty nature of what it means to be a women who is dealt a hand and has to make do in a world that is not meant for her at all.

Against the Loveless World by Susan Abulhawa

The Sea Cloak & Other Stories

A collection of short stories from Nayrouz that are drawn from her experience of growing up in Gaza. This is a short book, only 100 pages, with 11 stories.

Quick snippets and insights into a range of different characters and a real focus on what it is like to live in Gaza – forcing the reader to envision life there. Short stories are always so much hard hitting I find, because of their length. The message hits harder, the words are more scathing and the prose is more sharp.

I think my favourite short story from the collection was ‘Pen and Notebook’, but they were all gorgeous.

If you are a fan of Susan Abulhawa, then I think you’d really enjoy this!

The Sea Cloak by Nayrouz Qarmout

Minor Detail

Don’t be fooled by the length. Whilst this is very small, 112 pages, it packs a massive punch in feels. I was gifted this by a friend last year and it has stayed with me ever since. If you can’t commit to something longer, this is a great, but impactful, one to start with.

Shibli intertwines the modern with the past. A Palestinian writer risks her life to find out more information about a young Palestinain girl who is raped, killed and buried by Israeli soldiers in 1948.

The story is hauntingly beautiful. The title encapsulates life – how one minor detail can strike any one of us and change our entire trajectory in life. Shibli’s narrative is sharp and gets to the point – there is no hiding.

Minor Detail by Adania Shibli

Returning to Haifa

Another short read and a play! I have to read the novella, but the play packs a punch. I read this and feeling more and more deflated and desolate as I got towards the end because I knew how it was going to end, but that didn’t take away from the story.

Two families – one Palestinian, one Israeli – are forced to live out their stories side by side. Starting in 1948, after the Nakba, the plot travels through to 1967, the Six days war, where Said and Saffiya dare to travel back to their home in Haifa and the memories that dome with it.

Returning to Haifa by Ismail Khalidi and Naomi Wallace

A Woman Is No Man

Set in America, Rum tells the stories of three generations of one family of Palestinian American women and their struggle to find their place in this world, in this society and within their own culture. We go through their struggles, desires and shameful family secrets that threaten to tear apart the whole family through the three women – Deya, Isra and Fareeda.

The women, and men, in the novel adhere to and break stereotypes that are forced upon them, and so many others around the world.

A Woman Is No Man by Etaf Rum

I can never do these stories justice. They’re meant to be read. Meant to be cried over. Meant to stir anger and passion.

All of these books were 5 stars for me. They were achingly, heartbreakingly beautiful reads. The imagery, the pain that is at the heart of each story, connecting it. They were all sublime.

Happy reading!

🇵🇸🤍🍉

xo

Geopolitics: India and Pakistan

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…

I don’t even know where to begin with this.

If you’re unaware, over the last few days, India sent missiles into Pakistan in retaliation to a horrific attack that killed 22 people in April.

The history of India and Pakistan is a complex one that can be pinpointed to partition, but in all honestly, that was the culmination of cultural and religious fighting that started before then.

Many 1st, 2nd and 3rd generation Hindus, Sikhs, Muslims, and Christians whose ancestry hail from India (pre 1947) carry the weight and pain of partition with them, and when the violence between these 2 nations escalates we all hurt.

Tha narrative that says ‘all Indians hate Pakistanis’ and vice versa is hateful and pushes the discord further. It is damaging. It is misinformation. But it is dangerous. It allows specific groups and sects to weaponise it and utilise for their own advantage.

These are lines drawn on a map by people who did not know the land or its people.

Lines that turned into borders that ripped apart families, communities and friends. Forced displacement of millions of people who had no choice but to watch loved ones die. From Amritsar to Lahore, the land has never really healed, it’s people and the diaspora have carried it with them since.

I always find it SO interesting about how geography and politics are so intrinsically linked. How a line on a map can make or break a nation and it’s people. How borders shape identities. How they include and can exclude, who has rights and who does not. The notion of power and control all comes down to lines drawn on a map. History is built on nations going to war all for that extra slice and slither of land to add under their territory.

Why do people fight, kill and maim over lines in the dirt? Why does it matter? Turning swathes of people with shared blood and lineage against one another, what does that get you? Where does it get anyone? And I don’t think it’s the majority of people, but the rhetoric that is coming out of India right now is so hateful.

In a world where it’s so easy to hate, empathy is much harder to have and hold onto.

This all felt like a bit of a rant with no real point, but my heart is heavy.

xo

Thinking about writing!

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So I’ve had the crazy idea to maybe write a novel? I mean, it’s not as if I’ve never thought about it before or haven’t been told ‘oh, you like English and love to read, maybe you should just write your own book!’

I also don’t think it would amount to much, but maybe it would be nice to explore that side of my love for literature? Ah conflicted!

Anyway, I think I might use this space to just throw some bits and pieces out there and I guess we’ll see how it goes.

Any tips would be really welcome!

xo

I feel sick.

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I’m currently in my 10th week of lockdown, and to be honest quarantine life hasn’t really made me want to write about anything.

But yesterday, another innocent black man was murdered in America by the police. This is the third black person to have their life cruelly taken away from them in the space of a few months because of police brutality.

Because of inherent racism in a country that calls itself openly ‘the land of the free.’

Because of a systematic and biased system that is supposed to be there for the people, not just a small selection of people they deem worthy of their protection.

It is disgusting and sickening for me to see this. And I’m tired. Tired of seeing black people mercilessly black listed, oppressed and denied their human rights. How many more innocent lives will be claimed and taken before they should be? How many more families will lose loved ones? How many more children will be scared to step outside of their own homes?

Staying silent, knowing that what is happening is wrong, is just as complicit as doing nothing. We need to use of platforms to show solidarity, to show our support and to make noise loud enough the world over to show that we will not stand for these injustices. I am reminded of this poem from 1946 as I type this out and I would urge you all to read it.

Just because you are not black does not mean that you cannot empathise with their plight. You can make yourself an ally and show your support:

  • Educate yourself – don’t just take what you read and watch on TV and social media as fact. Research it for yourself.
  • Ask someone – if you don’t feel like you know enough, or you need help understanding or clarification don’t be afraid to ask.
  • Promise to listen – give people a platform and your ear. Listen to their grievances.
  • Step in – if you see racial injustice, no matter how uncomfortable you may feel, step in and help.

For too long we have sat back and watched as people from different races and backgrounds have been persecuted and killed, made to feel worthless and scared of living in the countries they’re born in and done nothing. We need to do more and we need to do it now. The time for change is here.

I am here and I am an ally. I will stand up for you and I will not back down from your fight.

George Floyd. Breonna Taylor. Ahmaud Arbery.

Say their names✊🏽

xo

Deeds not words.

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Happy International Women’s Day to all!

In 2018 I wrote about a badass woman Princess Sophia Duleep Singh who led an incredible life. If you don’t know who she is please give it a read!

This IWD I want to pay homage to one of the original suffragettes – Emmeline Pankhurst.

Emmeline Pankhurst statue in Manchester.

Seen by many as a radical and a threat, Emmeline was a woman who refused to back down and allow women to be mistreated after seeing the dire conditions that many worked in in Manchester’s workhouses. Her methods may have been extreme, and their effectiveness has been disputed, but there is no denying that her work was crucial and seminal in leading the movement and gaining votes for women.

Born and raised in Manchester, it’s amazing to see this statue everytime I make my way into the city centre. It genuinely brings a smile to my face watching and seeing people young and old surrounding the statue. It gives people, especially young boys and girls, a chance and an opportunity to discover a part of Manchester’s history that went on to change the entire UK.

Feminists don’t wear pink

“Feminists Don’t Wear Pink” is a collection of short stories and essays from women across Hollywood from actresses to teenage activists. They l tell their story of their personal relationship with feminism and what it means to be a woman. For me, it shows is how far we have come as women and a society, but still how far we have yet to go.

There are still 31 million girls in the world not in school and 17 million of them probably never will. 1 in 5 women in the UK have experienced sexual assault – but these are just from the brave women who have come forward to report it. And at the rate the word is going it will take over 100 years just to close the gender parity gap.

Emmeline Pankhurt fought over 100 years ago for the rights for women, but in order to make the world a fairer and just place we must all come together to create it.

Let us all incite this meeting to rebellion.

xo.

Book subscriptions🤗

Hi😁

One of the (many) things that I love about books is that book subscriptions exist! For me, nothing beats wandering around a book store, but receiving a monthly book parcel in the post is just😌 A little gift from me to me🤗

I currently have a monthly book subscription to Reposed and did also have one with Bookishly if you would like to check them out.

What I love about the Reposed subscription is that it’s not just about the book you receive. They take the time to include handmade chocolates, teas, beauty products and/or stationary. All made independently and to the highest standards. So you dont just pay for a novel, which is great in itself, but you’re also paying to help local and independent businesses.

The novels that are sent in the Reposed subscription are modern literary fiction if that’s your jam. Or if you’d like to start reading more modern fiction then definitely give this a go! They handpick the newest, inspiring and insightful novels to send and I’ve enjoyed every single one.

February’s box of goodies!

If modern fiction isn’t your thing, not to worry, Bookishly is there for you! They will send out classic novels that they have beautifully re-created the cover to in house. And if classics aren’t your thing, there are so many different types or book subscriptions out there from Crime and Detective to YA to Women led/feminist literature to just receiving a completely random book, there’s a subscription box for you!

xo

Booktour of LDN: Persephone Books

Hi!

I spent a couple of days in the good ol’ UK capital this week and decided to pay a visit to one of my favourite book stores – Persephone Books.


Persephone Books reprints neglected fiction and non-fiction by mid 20th Century (mostly) women writers. There are around 132 books that they publish that range from novels to stories to diaries to memoirs to cookbooks!


This is a must for any book lover or bookstore lover to add to their list. If you get the chance whilst you’re in London, definitely give it a visit! The books range from around £12-£13 or you can grab 3 for £33, and a lovely  little extra is you get individually crafted bookmarks for each if the books you buy!

I picked up 2 novels and a book of poems – The World that was Ours by Hilda Bernstein, It’s Hard to be Over Thirty by Judith Viorst and A Lady and her Husband by Amber Reeves. Can’t wait to get stuck into these so keep an eye out for my reviews🙂

If you would like to check out their catalogue, head on over to the website!

xo

Placement level…complete!

Hello everyone 🙂

Hope January is treating you all well. I know it can be a difficult time for a lot of people, but bigger and brighter things are around the corner for you!

What’s new with everyone?

For me, I finally completed my first placement of my teaching training course which means I’m more than halfway through! Gosh. I didn’t think this would come around so quickly. It felt like it was dragging its heels😅 but in the best way. I enjoyed it completely and gained so much from it that really cemented that teaching is the career for me.

I bawled like a baby (in private – can’t let the kids see that!) when one of my classes gave me a notebook filled with lovely comments about my teaching. Urgh😭

With teaching there’s that constant feeling that looms over you that you’re not good enough or that you’re not doing enough. And boy did I feel that on an hourly, never mind on a daily, basis. There is always something more you could be doing. Even right now, writing this, there is something that I probably could be doing to enhance my teaching career. But where is the stop sign? Where are the boundaries? There aren’t. It’s as simple as that. The main thing I learnt on my first section of this journey is the need to switch off and to separate myself from my teaching and my teaching persona. It’s hard and I’m still navigating through the currents, but I’m slowly starting to get there. Waking up in a panic at 3am most nights thinking about things I hadn’t completed, or even started, was not the one. Everything I watched or heard, or conversations I took part in made me think about how I could use it in my lessons. Pages upon pages of notes of ideas…have I used any of them? Big fat nope.

It’s definitely an all encompassing career and one that 100% will take over your life if you let it. Yet, I’m thriving and crossing everything that my next placement goes just as well.

xo

You’ll be the prince and I’ll be the princess. It’s a love story, baby just say yes.

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Hello 🙂

I love love. I love romance. Give me heart wrenching, tear jerking couples pushing and pulling at each other, not realising they’re made for each other only to recognise it at the last moment to love happily ever after. Give me couples who shouldn’t be together or are enemies who fall in love, along with all the other soppy clichés. I’m a sucker for it. Ahhh ❤

But that’s not to say I enjoy reading romance novels where that becomes the only plotline and everything else redundant. For me, I like to have romance in novels/literature as an added bonus rather than being the main plot. I don’t want characters to be reduced to being love interests, I want their love to add to a story, to enhance it further, to be a driving force. More often than not however, that’s the case. Whether it be women thrown into a narrative, reduced to being nothing more than a one dimensional sexual character, or a male character being written purely to enhance a female’s story – to give her story purpose – because she can’t have a purpose without a man surely(!) I want flawed characters. I want them to fall in love with the person and the not the idea of romance. I know that it might be a little hypocritical to say that given that the first thing I said was I love romance. I mean the whole idea of romance is to sell an idyllic version of it right? To allow us to fulfil our fantasies and escape to a world where everything is easier and simpler, where a boy would come in and sweep you off your feet or a girl would give everything up for you in a heartbeat, you take one look at the movie industry in the 90’s and you can see that, it distorts or perceptions and our ideas of what love and romance should be and more often than not, the reality never lives up to the fantasy.

But. When you think of the best fictional couples, or when I think of my favourites, the ones that instantly spring to mind aren’t the perfect couples where everything goes right. My favourite literary couples are the ones where actually, everything goes pretty wrong. Where they butt heads and clash. Where they have a difference of opinions but compliment each other, making each other whole. Love is imperfect so why shouldn’t the couples be imperfect with it? Love is blind and romance is a fantasy, but what I love about my favourite fictional couples is their resilience, their strength and their fight for one another. Give me Elizabeth Bennett and Mr Darcy with their different stances on pretty much everything. Give me Ron and Hermione who are imperfectly perfect for each other (no matter what JK says!) and give me Oliver and Jennifer who show that romance will never die.

“The very essence of romance is uncertainty.”
― Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest and Other Plays.

xo