Lifestyle

Gift-able Books: Book Recommendations for Gift-Giving This Season

Tis the season of gift-giving and my favourite thing to gift is books! There's just something so special about a book. You can gift it new or secondhand. You can give one of your own, even with your tabs or scribbles in the margins, sharing a piece of yourself with someone you care about. A… Continue reading Gift-able Books: Book Recommendations for Gift-Giving This Season

Lifestyle

Accessible Books to Educate and Inspire During Times of Political Divide

The aim of this post is to share books that I feel are profound and educational, as in they educate on how others live. I think divide and hate stem from ignorance. Not in a cruel way, but literally. As in, we don’t know how other people live. If you haven’t walked in their shoes,… Continue reading Accessible Books to Educate and Inspire During Times of Political Divide

Lifestyle · Reviews

Black History Month: Book Recommendations from Black Authors

Books I’ve read by black authors that I enjoyed: Ring Shout (current read, very interesting so far) - horror, fantasy, historical We Need New Names - set in Zimbabwe The Secret Lives of Church Girls - short stories, spicy, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry - literary, historical fiction Hello Mum - contemporary Dear Martin… Continue reading Black History Month: Book Recommendations from Black Authors

Lifestyle

How to Choose the Right Books for You: why do you read?

This question stemmed from my mini reading rut that I’m in. I am considering DNF-ing another book and I really don’t know what I want to read next that will engage me for the length of a book. Am I just too impatient and don’t give a book enough time to get good? Do I… Continue reading How to Choose the Right Books for You: why do you read?

Lifestyle · Updates · Writing Tips

Writing and Reading Revelations – changing the way I do things this autumn-winter

I’ve realised a number of things about my writing and the books I’m reading that I thought I’d share in case they resonate with any of you, too. Writing the wrong way I think that I really enjoy writing in notebooks, but I rarely write my actual stories in them anymore, just notes. This is… Continue reading Writing and Reading Revelations – changing the way I do things this autumn-winter

Lifestyle

50 reasons why you should read more

It’s fun The book is nearly always better than the film or tv version Evokes empathy in you Improved vocabulary Cultural knowledge Travel the world through books Helps relaxation Helps with sleep Books are cool these days (check booktok!) Travel back in time Travel forward in time Learn new things There’s a genre for everyone… Continue reading 50 reasons why you should read more

Lifestyle

2021 Reading Stats

Interesting and important topics I covered in my reading: GangsPolice brutalitySexualityGender identityAttentionHabitsSlavery and colonisation (if it were white people that it happened to)Original fairy tales Forced marriageFacts about the world / stats that prove we’re doing better than we thinkShame and perfectionism Total number of books read = 41 Number of physical books read =… Continue reading 2021 Reading Stats

Lifestyle · Mental Health

“Self-help” books I’ve read and enjoyed

These books aren’t all categorised as self-help and I think I agree with Leena Norms on YouTube who said that the genre “self-help” is a little confusing anyway. It’s not really self-help, it’s getting advice and help from someone else! And then using it yourself, which is what we do with anything we read, right?… Continue reading “Self-help” books I’ve read and enjoyed

Lifestyle

Books I DIDN’T enjoy reading this year (disappointments)

Children of Virtue and Vengeance by Tomi Adeyemi Hotel World by Ali Smith Quiet by Susan CainBurn by Patrick NessBraving the Wilderness by Brene BrownCarry On by Rainbow RowellMiss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs Peter Pan by J. M. BarrieThis Savage Song by V. E. SchwabDaring Greatly by Brene Brown These were… Continue reading Books I DIDN’T enjoy reading this year (disappointments)

Lifestyle

Books I enjoyed reading this year

Re-reading Harry Potter seriesThe Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick NessSacred Powers by David JiGhost Boys by Jewell Parker RhodesThe Four Agreements by Don Miguel RuizThis Book is Anti-Racist by Tiffany JewellNotes on a Nervous Planet by Matt Haig Northern Lights by Philips Pullman The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F by Mark… Continue reading Books I enjoyed reading this year