(Content Warning: mentions of transphobia, anti-Semitism, and racism) Unless you have somehow managed to stay offline for the past three years, you have probably heard at least some of the controversy surrounding Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling. Since first being accused of transphobia in 2018 for liking a tweet that described trans women as “men…
Books
How 2020 affected my reading habits
Back in January, in an attempt to read more, I set myself the challenge of reading 30 books in one calendar year. This works out as roughly 1 book every 12 days. I am happy to say (thanks largely to two national lockdowns) at the time of writing I am on book 27 of my…
Books
“Knowledge is the gift that will keep on giving”: why books make good gifts
Receiving a book for Christmas verges on one of two paths: euphoria or dread. In our digitised world, one might say books have become redundant as gifts. In the rise of streaming service entertainment, unwinding in the evening has largely become a case of scrolling through social media. ‘But I don’t like reading!’ I hear…
Books
Most important read of the year: Women Don’t Owe You Pretty by Florence Given
Unless you have been living under a rock this year, (which, with the way 2020 has gone, I really wouldn’t blame you for) you might have seen the book Women Don’t Owe You Pretty floating around the internet, hailed as the ‘bible’ for modern feminism. Feminism is never an easy topic. It’s always met with…
Books
Most important read of the year: The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
(Content Warning: discussion of depression and suicide) The most important book I’ve read this year was The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. The story follows 35-year-old Nora, who makes the decision to take her own life. At the stroke of midnight, however, she finds herself in a place called The Midnight Library, stuck between life…
Books, Venue
Spotlight on graphic novels: Junji Ito’s Uzumaki
Junji Ito is one of the most prolific horror mangakas of all time, and even with the sheer volume of content he has put out through his career, people usually consider his magnum opus to be Uzumaki. The premise is a strange one: a small town on the coast of Japan begins to be haunted…
Books, Venue
A self-publishing story
I hate to start this article off with something that sounds a bit cliché, but here goes: ever since I was a kid, I’ve always been writing stories. It’s true though. I remember reading out a short story where the chapters were a few sentences long to my Year 2 classmates. As I’ve got older,…
Books, Venue
The power of literary memes
An integral part of how we interact and communicate on social media nowadays is through the meme format. This isn’t up for debate; in almost the same way that poetry can induce shared sentiment and a sense of community and belonging, memes spark a reaction which situates the recipient in a communal group – in…
Books, Venue
The toxicity of the online book community: has reading become competitive?
The Internet is great for many things, notably connecting us to other like-minded people from all over the world. Throughout my teenage years, as the one guy at school who wasn’t shallow enough to think books “weren’t cool” and because being friends with girls was a cardinal sin at the time (still makes no sense…
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