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This is a brilliant history of Section 28, the bigotry and homophobia that led to it, the fight against it and its impact and legacy. It‘s very well researched and detailed, and Paul Baker‘s dry sense of humour makes it great fun to read. I really enjoyed this.
pick
This is a brilliant history of Section 28, the bigotry and homophobia that led to it, the fight against it and its impact and legacy. It‘s very well researched and detailed, and Paul Baker‘s dry sense of humour makes it great fun to read. I really enjoyed this.
Came to Oxford for the weekend to watch Oldham play Oxford City. The match was terrible, but it was absolutely worth it to see Lyra and Will's bench.
pickThis is a really interesting exploration of th power of women's anger, how it has been historically weaponised against them, and how personally invigorating it can be.
Aw. Andy got me the Neapolitan novels as pre holiday reading for my birthday.
pickThis is an incredibly powerful collection. Roy argues, backed by extensive research, that foreign policy and various attempted 'peace processes' have consolidated the hugely unequal power dynamic between Israel and Palestine, and left Palestine weaker and dependent on aid. She describes how, since 2005, Israel has isolated Gaza from the West Bank, shattered its economy and collectively punished its population. This didn't start on October 7th.
Early birthday present. I have the best friends.
pickThis is a fascinating exploration of gender identities throughout history and across various cultures, challenging the idea that trans and gender-nonconforming identities are a modern ‘trend‘ or ‘fad‘. You may not agree with everything that Kit Hayem argues, but it‘s thought provoking and incredibly well researched.
pickThis is a beautifully written memoir, and an enlightening insight into the LGBTQ+ Muslim community we're often led to believe doesn't exist. Lamya describes moving to the Middle East as a child then moving to the USA, how she draws strength from her faith, the pitfalls of dating/'not-dating', and of finding community where she can be her true self.
Next up #lgbtqhistorymonth
pickThis is as brilliant and funny as I hoped it would be. Rob Delaney is a superb writer, and hearing him relate his life story with brutal honesty (graphically and hilariously so when describing a range of bodily functions) is so enjoyable.
Book post is best post
pickThis is a brilliant book. A beautiful, vivid portrait of the visceral pain of grief, and of the joy of learning to love life again.
pickThis is a brilliant collection. Powerful, radical, eclectic. There are a lot of classics that you'll probably be familiar with here (I don't recommend reading Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas in a cafe a week after you've watched a parent die btw) but, like all good anthologies, there were new discoveries that I want to follow up.
Sometimes poetry and vodka is the only thing that's gonna make you feel any better #BooksAndBooze
Oof. This poem is hitting hard right now. My mum passed away last Saturday after being ill for a few months with lung cancer and my God, did she rage against the dying of the light.
pickAnother brilliant collection from Shaun Fallows. Witty, honest, often funny reflections on the frustrations of managing in a world built for able bodied people, politics, loneliness, the forthcoming robot war, and the Rothwell incident. Thought provoking and good fun.
(by the way Shaun, rugby was NOT better when Wigan used to win the league every year, I sincerely hope those days aren't returning.)
Awwwww. I asked Andy to get me this but I didn't think he would, we're VERY opposite politically and he's not a fan of Jeremy Corbyn and Len McCluskey. All the best everyone, I hope you got the books you wanted xxx
pickOh God, this is such a beautiful, heartbreaking book. A visceral outpouring of grief and love.
New e-book from the library
New audiobook
Awful weekend again, but at least I finished three books and I get to start three new ones today. New week, new books.
pickThis is a sweet, charming retelling of A Christmas Carol. Good, heartwarming, festive fun.
pickOh, Elfie. So young, so feisty, so full of joie de vivre, but still so much to learn. This is another beautifully written, charming episode in her adventures with Angus King, and the illustrations are as beautiful as ever.
pickOof. This is brilliantly written but my God it's bleak.
pickThis is a brilliant memoir. Sylvia Patterson describes her breast cancer diagnosis and treatment in unflinching detail, and is brutally honest about how she felt, and how the pandemic made a horrible situation worse. She also reflects on the perspective the experience gave her, and her appreciation for her loved ones and the joys in life. Funny, moving, and a surprising amount of snooker chat.
Next up
pickThis is a brilliant, wide-ranging book, telling the forgotten (or deliberately airbrushed) story of the millions of colonial and non-white troops who served in World War One, the patronising and racist attitudes they encountered, and how the backlash against them fed into the ideology and rise of the Nazis in Germany and the terrorism of the Ku Klux Klan in the USA.
Next up
pickThis is a fascinating story. Having been celebrity gossip fodder for most of the 21st century, it's great that Britney Spears is finally getting to tell her own story. The emotional & financial abuse her family inflicted on her is shocking, and I've never understood how, if she was so unwell that she couldn't be allowed to see her kids or access her own money, she could be forced to work. Oh & Justin Timberlake and Kevin Federline are utter dicks.
pickThis is a remarkable, sinister book. As always with fantasy/magical realism, I struggled a bit getting my head round what was going on ("so is she hallucinating and/or mentally ill, or has she actually given birth to an owl baby?"), but it's brilliantly written and really gripping. A dark, unsettling parable of the violence and brutality and motherhood and caregiving.
Went to bed at 1.45am. Awake again at 5.45am. Looking after a sick parent must be what having kids is like.
The lack of sleep is probably why I found this sentence so unfathomably funny.
Next up
pickThis is a really sweet, funny, quirky book. Highly recommend listening on audio because Jarvis Cocker is as lovely and charming as ever.
pickThis is a beautiful, funny, moving book. Jo Caulfield gives an unflinching, heartfelt account of her sister's illness and death, and doesn't shy away from how inconvenient and intrusive grief is, and how difficult family relationships can be, as well as the joy of them. Part of the proceeds go to Macmillan Cancer Care so you should definitely buy it.
