#ReadHarder challenge 12: a book recommended by a friend with different reading tastes.

This is an absolutely gorgeous book. The charmingly chaotic structure of it kind of reflects the shop itself (a "socialist utopia masquerading as a bookstore"). The narrative of the history of the shop is interspersed with photos, drawings, magazine clippings, people's recollections, and the mini-biographies that the Tumbleweeds who stayed at the shop were required to write, making it like a beautifully messy scrapbook. Brilliantly evocative.

Look what I won! Isn't it beautiful? Check out Jess's shop, it's lovely https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/loadofolbobbins

🤣

#ReadHarder challenge 11: an award winning book from the year you were born (Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, 1981)

This was really enjoyable. Action packed, fast paced, really well drawn characters.

Happy birthday to me

#ReadHarder challenge 10: a book set in a bookshop. Been really looking forward to this.

This is a really interesting read. It's an unusual format, and not what I was expecting. It's a collection of short fiction based on real women's lives, which in some ways I'm a little uneasy about - it feels like taking liberties with someone's actual life story to fictionalise it. The author makes it clear that it's fiction, though, and lists further reading if you want to find about more about the women. Very well written and thought provoking.

#ReadHarder challenge 9:a biography of an author you admire

This is a fascinating account of a remarkable life. It's a really interesting insight into the attitudes of the time, both in how Mary Seacole was treated and in her own prejudices (she freely admits to disliking Americans, and I don't know why her description of someone as 'A BAD FRENCH WOMAN' made me laugh so much). It also paints a vivid picture of both the horror and the camaraderie of war.

#ReadHarder challenge 8: the book that's been on your TBR shelf the longest #internationalwomensday #womenshistorymonth

#ReadHarder challenge 7: a classic written by a POC #WomensHistoryMonth

This is really interesting discussion of disability, and a great starting point for exploring the issues around disability, accessibility, ableism and accessibility.

#ReadHarder challenge 6: a new-to-you literary magazine. Available here: https://othersideofhope.com/index.html

💙💛

This is a great collection and retrospective of the career, so far, of national treasure (😉) Attila the Stockbroker. Always refreshingly down to earth and unpretentious in style, his poems/lyrics/raps range from political rants to moving odes to his family, and are always heartfelt. And there's a fair few childish knob jokes as well. Very enjoyable.

#ReadHarder challenge 5: a book by a disabled author

There aren't many books that manage to cover Islam, gay culture, marine biology and quantum physics, but this glorious memoir does. A brilliant, no-holds-barred account of their journey from realising they were 'different' as a child, their struggle to reconcile their sexuality and gender identity with their faith, and a heartfelt, moving recollection of their often difficult relationship with, and love for, their family.

#ReadHarder challenge 4: a a queer retelling of a classic of the canon, fairytale, folklore, or myth.

This is a fascinating book. The characters are both likeable and at times infuriating. It gets very messy. A really well written exploration of gender, motherhood and life not turning out how you wanted or expected.

Sundaying #BooksAndBooze

Next up #lgbtqhistorymonth

This is a really interesting, eye-opening book. It's part memoir, part history, part social commentary, and challenges traditional thinking on gender. It's made me realise how little I knew about non binary identity - I had no idea, for example, that some NB people medically transition. A great insight.

Off work. Been book shopping. Just like the Four Tops, I can't help myself.

#BooksAndBooze

Solidarity with Val McDermid.

#ReadHarder challenge 3: any book from the Women‘s Prize shortlist/longlist/winner list

This is a really great insight into Hicks' life, It's brutally honest - it's not exactly a surprise to learn that a bunch of male comics who drank too much and took too much coke were often horrible to be around, and there's a fine line between 'free thinker' and 'self indulgent irresponsible dickhead'. The accounts from those who knew him paint a picture of a complex man, difficult but also generous and loyal.

#ReadHarder challenge 2: a poetry collection

This is a great read, and as witty as you'd expect. John Cooper Clarke has had quite the life, and he tells his story with the dry humour and razor sharp turn of phrase that he's known for. At times he's a bit 'of his time', as you might expect from someone who started out at Bernard Manning's Embassy Club. He's both brutally honest and generous in his praise. Very enjoyable. And it's his birthday today, which is a nice coincidence.

😂

#ReadHarder challenge 1: a memoir written by someone who is trans or non binary

This is a brilliant book. Shon Faye analyses the titular transgender issue from a radical intersectional perspective, arguing that there can be no real trans liberation under capitalism. Her dismantling of the TERF and trans misogynistic bigotry, and how harmful it is to all women, is particularly good. Highly recommend this.

This was......a challenge. I'd seen a lot of reviews saying this was a work of genius, and it's very clever writing, but quite smug and smartarse with it. The protagonist is possibly the most unlikeable I've ever read, and I spent most of the book trying to figure out whether he - and the novel - was a satire/critique of toxic masculinity and excess consumerism or the worst kind of antihero, and having finished it I'm still not entirely sure.

Not that I'm not finding West Ham v Leeds terribly exciting...... #BooksAndBooze

Can I interest you in a YA fantasy book about a young woman who can raise the dead and her adventures with her ghost dog? Thought so. This is a fascinating book, beautifully written, about injustice against Native and marginalised peoples, vengeance and coming of age. With a ghost dog.

Treat yourself to today's Audible daily deal. It is Christmas after all.

This is an excellent, and disturbing, book. The extensive detailed investigation that Rabia Chaudry has conducted into the case is remarkable, all the more so given her personal involvement and what she had going on in her own life. The police investigation into Hae Min Lee's murder was at best incompetent, and there is much to suggest institutional racism and corruption. Adnan Syed - and Hae Min Lee's family - were badly let down by the state.

Highly recommend today's Audible daily deal

#ReadHarder challenge 24: a genre novel by an Indigenous, First Nations, or Native American author.

This is a really enjoyable book. The protagonist, Nala, is incredibly likeable and relatable, and her relationships with her family and friends - both the good times and the bad - are portrayed beautifully. A lovely coming of age story of insecurity, and accepting yourself and others.

#ReadHarder challenge 23: An own voices YA book with a black main character that isn't about black pain..

This is an excellent book. Reading a novel set in the 1918 flu pandemic might not be what everyone needs right now, but I found the resonance of it strangely reassuring. It also explores the brutal injustice of the Church-run mother and baby homes, the impact of World War One and the aftermath of the Easter Rising.

Well, quite.

#ReadHarder challenge 22: a book with a cover you don't like
I fear the 80s soft porn style cover is indicative of the contents

This is an interesting analysis of the overthrow of Allende, and Nixon and Kissinger's role in it. I found it a little bit hard to follow, partly because of the slightly dry academic style but mainly due to how complex and chaotic the events were - at the point of the coup, I was flipping back and forth, trying to figure out who was on what side.

Yiirrss. Who's in? #ReadHarder https://bookriot.com/read-harder-2022/

No Christmas shopping today. Not in that weather. #BooksAndBooze

This is an interesting collection. I don't read a lot of speculative fiction but this was a good, diverse set of stories.