Book Review | Animal by Sara Pascoe (12/12)

32490576Sometimes I confuse myself. I get wildly and pointlessly jealous. I spend too much time hating my bum. And you know what I hate more than my bum? My preoccupation with my bum. I’ve had sexual experiences with boys I wasn’t really in to, but I got a post-coital crush on them. I’ve ruined the start of a relationship by immediately imagining it going into reverse.

There is so much about my behaviour I want to understand. So I started researching what makes me – and us – tick. And what I read made my eyes fall out of my face.

Reader, here is everything I’ve learned from science about love, sexuality, infidelity, boobs, periods, pubes, broodiness, and clever old fat. Merry Christmas and Hallelujah, suddenly being a woman doesn’t look like such a minefield after all. – from Goodreads Continue reading

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Book Review | Asking For It by Louise O’Neill (12/12 Book Club: January)

9781784293208

TW: Rape.

Slut, liar, skank, bitch, whore. 

In a small town, where everyone knows everyone, Emma O’Donovan is different: she’s pretty, popular, “in”. She works hard to keep it that way. At least, she did – until that night. Now she’s an embarrassment, a slut, nothing to anyone and everyone knows it. And the pictures – the pictures – that everyone has seen means that she can never forget. 

Go into a crowded place, and look around. You’re probably in a group of strangers, not really knowing anyone. Well, that’s where you’re wrong. Look around again. There are Emmas everywhere. There are Emmas who don’t know it yet; Emmas who are still denying it; Emmas who have gone through everything that can be thrown at them and still have nightmares; Emmas who are years and years older but still shy when an unfamiliar hand touches their shoulder; Emmas who are standing behind you, in front of you, next to you, and you might not even know it.  Continue reading

5 Reasons You Should Attend a Book Club

5 reasons...bookclub

Book clubs. You hear about them, there have been books written about them and to any literary lover, they sound pretty damn cool. Have you ever wanted to a go to a book club, but for some reason you never have? Here are five more reasons for attending a book club which may make you drool so much you actually decide to sign up for one.

  1. New books and book swaps. Attending a book club means you are so much more likely to discover a new book that you love, because hopefully you’ll find a book club of like-minded people! Besides that fact, your book club might be interesting in doing book swaps (for example, everyone brings two books they don’t want, and leave with two other people have brought along – for free!). Free (kinda) books!
  2. A chance to talk about books – aka, fangirling. (And no, you don’t have to be a girl to fangirl!) Mr Darcy finally won you over? That fictional baby was just so cute you have to persuade your SO to let you have one? You can’t get over the fact dragons don’t exist and no matter how much you pray to Santa, he’ll probably never deliver you one? To a “normal” person, these problems may seem, well, odd. But to fellow literary-ists, they’d seem normal! And they’ve probably encountered the same probably multiple times too. You’re in safe hands in a book club.
  3. It’s ok if you don’t want to say anything at all! Some people are scared away from book clubs by the fact they might have to stand up and announce to the world what they thought of it. If you find a good book club (or, indeed, set one up yourself), then chances are you can just sit and listen until your ready.
  4. New friends! Even if you hate the chosen book of the month/week/whatever, you might make a new friend! And the fact that you’re both in a book club means you already have something to bond over. How great?!
  5. Discovering more about yourself. Yeah, this one is kind of cliché, but true. Perhaps you’ll find out that you really like sci-fi, even if you’ve never dabbled in it before. And you might not even find something out about yourself book-wise: perhaps you’ll discover you really enjoy debating, or public speaking, or even scribing!

And here’s a 5 1/2 for those writers out there: yes, it’s great for your writing! More intel on what people do and don’t like, and you may even stumble on a great new idea.

Basically: book clubs rock.

Why You Should Join A Book Club – Or Start One

I didn’t particularly feel like writing about writing today, so I went for the next best thing – writing about reading!

Reading is great. Simple combinations of 24 letters and sometimes ten numbers and a multitude of punctuation marks can make you laugh, cry, scream or throw your book across the room. Or, slap the person who gave it to you. So yes, reading is great. But what’s better is reading with friends!

Why should you join a book club? Well, here are a few ideas…

  • You read books you otherwise never would have. I recently read Anna and the French Kiss for a book club on Instagram – I’m happy I did, because I loved it, but I would never have read it if I hadn’t joined!
  • You can talk about books when otherwise you might be told to be quiet. In fact, it’s mandatory to talk about books!
  • Book swaps are possible! Whoop, more books!
  • It gives you a reason to get out of the house for something enjoyable if you’re finding it difficult to leave. Especially prominent during the winter.
  • Equally, if you don’t want to or can’t leave the house, you can always find a book club online, on GoodReads, or Instagram like me.
  • It gives you a reason to go to your local library more often if you can’t afford to buy the books – fun fun fun! (I love the library…)
  • Online book shops deliver. No excuses, for you or your friends.
  • If you set up the book club, or are part of setting it up, you can always mention a book you’d like to read, or one that you’ve read and loved and you’d like the whole group to read! (I set up a book group with my friends, and we’re all reading Game of Thrones over the summer, which was my personal suggestion. We all got to choose a book that went on the final list, too, so everyone had a say, and it made it much more fun (and easier) to choose what to read!)

And another thing: you can always make new friends, especially if you join an online book club! Yay, friends – especially bookish friends!

So, what more persuasion do you need? Go sign yourself up to one, or grab a friend or five and start your own!
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