Tag: writing

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

Book review: Katabasis

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Hello!

This is going to be a tough one.

Let me start with saying that I LOVE Kuang’s prose and her story building, her meticulous attention to detail through research and her character building – Babel, for me, is just sublime and a 6* read – and it pains me to say this, but Katabasis just fell flat for me.

I was lucky to attend an evening with R.F Kuang as part of Manchester’s Literature Festival and it was a joy to hear her speak about her influences, research and love of literature.


I was so excited for Katabasis off the back of Babel and maybe these high expectations are what let me down somewhat.

Kuang writes so beautifully and the English Literature student in me loved all the classical references to Dante, Virgil and Eliot and their works on Hell, their descriptions, their analogies – she borrows from them and weaves it all together giving the beginning of the novel a gorgeous mystical feeling. And yet…Hell is inherently religious, morality and steeped in culture and Kuang strips Hell of this core factor which, I think, removes the imagination and nuances which the classical stories delve into.


The premise of the story is obviously what drew me in and sounded so intriguing, but, for me, the full potential wasn’t reached and I think it’s because I felt a constant sense of disorientation rather than clarity at Alice and Peter’s descent into hell. The plot jumped from bit to bit, the levels of hell all felt separate rather than being cohesive and feeding into each other – the description and prose of each was beautiful, but at times became nonsensical – massive amounts of exposition – and the narrative amd plot became lost in it. I did like the structure it gave the story and I liked that as they went further into hell the prose took on a darker tone.

The characters. I liked Peter. His story, his silent struggle and his need to keep Alice safe. But his relationship with Alice just lacked…everything. I didn’t feel any chemistry or intimacy between them. I wasn’t invested in their ‘love’ story. To me it didn’t feel anything like a love story – just two people forced to be with each other due to proximity.

Alice. Oh Alice. I don’t mind an unlikeable character with flaws – for me they make a story – I just felt like Alice thought so much of her self, that self arrogance linked to Grimes and then right at the end the romantic feelings for Peter. I couldn’t sympathise with her and by the end I just disliked her. Her acknowledgement of misogyny but refusal to do anything, instead to benefit from it and use Grimes’ attraction to her but then cry when he behaves the way he’s expected. Double standards. But because of this flip/flopping between thoughts and opinions I just couldn’t warm to her.

I appreciate what Kuang was trying to do, it just didn’t work for me 😔

3.5 ⭐️

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

Book review: ACOTAR 1 – 3

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Hello!

This has definitely been a long time coming…

I recently went through, sorted and cleared out my MANY boxes of books. A woman on a mission, I vowed to get through my physical tbr this year and force myself on a book buying ban (I have already broken this of course🫠). So, I spent a few hours sorting books into piles and came up with a few piles to read.

Whilst sorting, I found A Court Of Thorns and Roses, A Court Of Mist and Fury and A Court Of Wings and Ruin as a trilogy…wrapped in cellophane…with a receipt from 2017. That should give you an indication of how far back my physical tbr goes 😭 But I thought why not, they seem to have had a resurgence lately. About 8 people I work with are reading them, so I thought why not see what all the fuss is about?

Sarah J Maas has worked on creating a universe that is interesting to delve into – all the courts and their personalities – was definitely something that’ll interested me as I read the trilogy and kept me engaged. I did like how she spent time fleshing out these different courts and their High Lords, differences, similarities, unique aspects. With fictional universes, so many times this aspect is rushed, I find, so this was definitely a nice breath of fresh air. A lot of the characters were fleshed out, given somewhat complex personalities. Only so much can be achieved over the course of three books, especially when you have a diverse range of characters.

Freyre

Ah, our protagonist. I wasn’t sure how to feel about her in all honestly. Over the course of the three books, I didn’t feel like her arc progression amounted to much, but maybe she wasn’t meant to. A stable 1st person narrative that allows the reader into the mindset of a girl trying to manage herself in a new and volatile world. It’s a trope that’s been done, of course, time and time again. Set against the backdrop of magic and faeries the strong-willed, fiesty, snarky female didn’t really feel that much different from other fantasy females. I did like seeing the inner conflict and how she dealt with that, the way she loses and then remakes herself in this new world.

Rhysand

I mean. I love me a chaotic good character. Couple that with enemies to lovers…ooh! Rhysand. A white Knight saviour, hidden under the mask of being a prick. I get it. He’s the guy who treats you right, gives you the choices, doesn’t force you into doing something you don’t want. Respectful. But coupled with being messy, willing to be sneaky to get what he needs, all whilst having peoples best interest at heart. I think I would have just liked to see a bit more push and pull between Freyre and Rhysand. Once the mating bond kicked into place, then everything became really easy for them as a couple. No fights or disagreements, really. I think having that would have just added to their relationship.

The inner circle

Definitely very well fleshed out, interesting characters that added richness and depth to the story. Azriel definitely needs a whole arc to himself. Mor…it’s been 500 years, just tell him already. And Cassian, the glue holding them together. Odd love truangle – that wasn’t really a triangle – but was forced to be was odd for me, especially when nothing came from it? It had been teased for two books and then nothing? I delt slightly cheated if i’m honest. I felt like Amren just disappeared from A Court Of Wings and Ruin, appearing sporadically and not really doing much when she arrived.

Writing and pace

The pace of the trilogy was pretty decent. I didn’t really feel like there were any major sections that were unnecessary. The plot itself tied together quite neatly with no plot holes and a somewhat happy ending for all involved. I do think the writing of the courts and the world building could have done with more  “show not tell”. I never felt 100% immersed in the courts. I could envision them well enough, but I wanted to feel like I was there, the smells, the sounds, the fell of the grass and roughness of the bark and ash trees.

I understand why people are raving about this series. For me, it was okay. Nothing special, but an easy read with decent pacing. Would definitely help to get someone out a reading slump if need be.

Overall rating for the trilogy: 3/5

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

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

Book Review: Alice

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Hello everyone😊

Hope you’re all having a fab day!

I recently read Alice by Christina Henry and I loved it! I really enjoyed the way in which Henry distorts the story and the characters I grew up reading. The plot we’re accustomed to reading becomes sinister and the story itself takes on a much darker tone, while all the while being imbued with the magical elements that captivated us as children. Our beloved characters are re-imagined and Alice is no longer the wonderous child-like protagonist we know and love. Instead she follows a much darker path.

Henry’s adult interpretation of Carrol’s beloved characters allowed me as a reader and a lover of classical literature, to envision a whole new world for Alice. A world that isn’t fairytale like, but gritty and real. I connected with Alice’s struggle in this novel – her quest to find answers, her need to know more, to find her place – and Henry’s writing ensures the story is easy to follow, the characters relatable and this new world that we find Alice, in fascinating. Henry has appealed to the masses with adding a dystopian spin to the plot (Hunger Games, Maze Runner etc etc), but what sets this apart is the incorporation of well known characters.

One of my issues with the story was the lack of character development for Alice herself. I really would’ve loved to have seen her come into her own and become the rebel with a no-care attitude. At times her character development felt rushed or stilted, but this is a trilogy and I can’t wait to read the next instalment to see where the story and character development goes!

“Beware the claws that catch…”

xo