Weekly book reviews, short stories from different authors, and thoughts from the editor
Newest Posts
Non-fiction / Hiking
This is a guest post by Marielle Ebersol. Please see the author’s links if you enjoyed this piece.
I was on the trail at five o’clock this morning, an hour before sunrise. As I climbed up the first ridge I stopped multiple times so that I could lean my head back and look up at the stars. They are still so brilliant at that early hour and I love hiking early enough to…
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Horror
The master of horror’s first published book, Carrie, was introduced to the world in 1974. In it we are introduced to the titular character Carrie White, a lonely high school girl who starts to become aware of a strange and unknown power growing within her. It’s a destructive horror story exploring themes of bullying and repressed emotions which serve as…
(more…)Travel
This is a guest post by Amanya Mathur. Please see the author’s links if you enjoyed this piece.
We often assume that culture is created inside the grandest institutions. If we want to understand a civilisation, we visit its museums, wander through its palaces, queue outside its cathedrals and photograph its monuments. History, after all, tends to announce itself through…
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Imagine you’re on a worn but comfortable chair or sofa as you read your book, a blanket adding a little extra warmth over your shoulders. It’s a dark night and there’s a gentle rhythmic patter of rain against the window. You’re reading, and if it’s a large heavy book perhaps you’ve got it propped up on your knee. There’s a hot cup of…
(more…)Fantasy / Dark
This is a guest post by Hephzibah Ojochenemi. Please see the author’s links if you enjoyed this piece.
There once was a girl called Olivia, every night she would sneak off into the forest.
Dancing with the foxes under the moonlight.
Once the sun rises, she hurries back to bed before her…
(more…)Historical
Hilary Mantel takes past events and places from the days of Henry VIII and tells them in the form of a story from the viewpoint of Thomas Cromwell, a man who would rise from the son of a blacksmith to be the chancellor of England. It’s a powerful and gripping story set predominantly during the turbulent days leading up to and after King Henry’s divorce from…
(more…)Non-fiction / Travel
This is a guest post by Daria. Please see the author’s links if you enjoyed this piece.
Italy sounds so tasteful on my tongue when I say it; even better when the travel agent across from me does.
He waits for the answer for just a few seconds. I nod. One flight, no return.
We land what feels like a few steps from…
(more…)General Fiction
This is a guest post by Grace. Please see the author’s links if you enjoyed this piece.
Everything is beige, except the sunlight on my blue denim skirt. A couple, I assume, in fleeces and jeans and round glasses, kiss outside.
I wonder as I scribble in my tatty old notebook, when did the shape of…
(more…)Non-fiction / Science and Nature
I teetered on the edge of giving this a four instead of a three but it’s not quite there. Still a fascinating book and you won’t look at an octopus the same afterwards. The author takes us on an exploration under the sea to explore the private lives of the octopus (and to some extent cuttlefish and squid). From their bizarre behaviour of hand-holding to lightbulb stealing we…
(more…)I’m a stubborn reader. I like to read a book all the way through from cover to cover to the bitter end but sometimes when you do that it can feel like you’re reading through gritted teeth and relentless forced eye movements across the page. Until recently I could hardly recall books that I had stopped reading half way through, I just put up with it and ploughed through it. And then recently…
(more…)General Fiction
This is a guest post by Untangled by Fazilat. Please see the author’s links if you enjoyed this piece.
There is something strangely comforting about cafés.
Not because of the coffee, though that certainly helps. I think it is because of the way so many little lives exist in the same room without ever really…
(more…)Humour / Time Travel
Now this is a curious one. I rarely see quite such a divisive book as this one but I must add myself onto the “liked it” side. Our low fantasy world for this novel: A main character who’s a pilot in WW2 is spirited away by a time travelling musician to various points in time in order to shake off certain pursuing individuals and rescue King Richard Coeur de Lion (yes, the Lionheart). The plot is as ridiculous as…
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