Blame My Shelf

The Opposite of Loneliness We don’t have a word for the opposite of loneliness, but if we did, I could say that’s what I want in life The Opposite of Loneliness brings together Marina Keegan’s short stories and essays, both previously published and unpublished, to great effect. Personally, I have rarely found the draw of short stories alluring. I see Edgar Allen Poe as overtly sombre and more akin to something I would have read at school, and Ali Smith unsatisfactory – without the chapters of back story I can find her work clipped, and care little for the characters. However – Marina Keegan shows masterful skill over the short story and for the first time had me rapt. After each story I felt as though I needed a break, to digest and wrap myself in the characters for a moment. They did not appear to be the beginnings of a novel, each one, in a chapter sized length, is a whole and complete journey –rarely resolved by our writer, however never concluded predictably. I love...

Feminists Don’t Wear Pink and Other Lies – Scarlett Curtis Scarlett Curtis has curated the voices of many different women, all of whom are feminists into one thought provoking book in the Instagram magnet shade of Baker Miller Pink. The voices featured are varied in background and age and profession, and this will contribute to its success. The medium of the book is further varied – ranging from short poetry, a letter on how to raise boys as feminists, mission statements and simple to do lists. We hear from accomplished actresses alongside women’s rights activists and schoolgirls, but what they all have in common is their unashamed, unabashed feminism. Predictably, I did not enjoy every section of this book – at times I found the point of view put across a little simplistic, or lazy, or written in a way as to avoid the real subject. However to contrast that, there were writers contained that I did not expect to enjoy, who put a message across in a way I had not considered b...

My Beach Holiday Recommendations 2018 Having had a recent relaxing holiday – an entire week to sit by the pool and read (5 books this year – I don’t know if I was the most sociable companion) it got me thinking about what makes a fantastic book to take in your hand luggage. For myself, I prefer to take “easy read” books, but equally there must be enough interest sustained without predictability. This is what I would see as a happy medium; How to be Famous by Caitlin Moran . Hilariously funny, Moran writes at a voracious pace, with every phrase loaded with humour and clever observations. We follow our protagonist Dolly, a music journalist through the typical debauched London landscape Moran would have frequented. Unlike previous releases, this one is written to appeal to an adult audience, however it has the trademarks of her style – the poor, council house upbringing with several siblings, journalist elements and social commentary – particularly regarding feminism. The End We Sta...

Prescribing a morning-after pill in A&E. The patient says, "I slept with three guys last night. Will one pill be enough?" I can’t have been the only person to assume that when you are waiting 5 hours in A&E, it is undoubtedly due to one of the doctors polishing his solid gold bust and deciding which shade of suede he is going to order his Ferrari in. Whilst this is of course, an exaggeration, as we are all aware of the enormous pressures that the NHS is under, but there is that niggling sentiment lying dormant. Adam Kay opens the door to the surgical ward, specifically the gynaecology ward where he delivered thousands of babies and worked for inhumanly long stretches – I’m not sure I’ve ever been awake for 24 hours, let alone worked that many in a row. Tales of working the morning of your wedding because you can’t get the time off, and weekly working hours clocking in the region of three numbers, inevitable relationship breakdown and hardship beyond what I h...

Today, two fantastic non-fictions, a genre I previously would seldom reach for, however these writers have me changing my mind. Moranthology by Caitlin Moran ….everyone should remember that this is the very same reasoning that led more than 60 per cent of the female population to get Alexa Chung-style fringes last year – fringes that we all regret now, don’t we, ladies? This was Caitlin Moran’s first foray into column collation, and I can’t believe I left it this late to read it. I had already read How to be a Woman and Moranifesto, and therefore knew I would like this one. Moran covers everything, from growing up poor and inventing the cheese lollipop to critically analysing the sexiness of Benedict Cumberbatch. The charming quality to this book is that it does widen your mind – Moran does not shy away from complex social and political issues, however this is countered with humour pieces on why her new nickname should be puffin, thereby softening the approach and making ...

Perhaps this is more suggestive of my lack of research into a book before I have added it to my basket and frantically searching for my card details, but I was unaware that Derren Brown of Happy, was the Derren Brown of magician-TV-fame. However, you quickly realise that his psychological experiments and magic hiding behind clever psychology, it becomes natural that Brown would wish to interlink the fields of psychology and philosophy and delve into the depths of what happiness is, and how and whether we might find it. I was also pleasantly surprised to find that his “celebrity status” did not subtract from the reading of the book. It became clear that Happy, is a fantastic book that happened to be written by a celebrity, rather than a celebrity who has sat down to write a book. Brown writes eloquently with a clear style, and has written an interesting book with an interesting style and concept. This has to be applauded aside from Derren Brown of TV fame. Brown runs through th...

The Last Act of Love is one of those books that followed me around, as some do from time to time. When scrolling online for books to read I came across it from recommendations. Later, I saw it highly recommended in a couple of magazines, and it further plagued me in my Amazon basket. I then came across it in a charity shop, but reminded myself of the dark and sobering themes and put it back, but a few weeks later I bought it and set aside a few hours so that I could stop the haunting. For those unfamiliar with the book, it is written by Cathy - in 1990, her brother is involved in a hit and run car accident, and we follow the family from desperately wishing for his survival, to years trying to get him out of an unconscious state. Undoubtedly, Rentzenbrink can write. To me, she has a clear writing style that I could pick out in a line up, probably months after having read this. In my opinion, her writing style is cathartic, almost calm – the line between factual and emotion...

A completely varied assortment of books that I have read recently; between a gothic horror, an account of organic dairy farming and a book about forensics and what we can tell from the types of flies found on the deceased, at least it cannot be said that my taste is limited. The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell This antiquated yet chilling novel follows pregnant and widowed Elsie as she travels back to her spouse’s family estate in the 1860s to live with the housekeeper and untrained servants, who hold Elsie and her companion, Sarah, with thinly veiled contempt. Throughout, the novel switches between the present in a mental hospital with Elsie, the violent prisoner who slowly begins telling the story to her new doctor, and between Elsie living at The Bridge, and further, to her husband’s late relatives in the 1630s. It transpires that Rupert’s predecessors, in an attempt to entertain an upcoming Royal visit to The Bridge, purchased optical illusion wooden boards, which b...

Perhaps I have not been around long enough to know that this genre of book has always been written, or perhaps I am right and the memoirs with scatterings of collected pieces of writing, whether that be recipes or poetry or lists, have become increasingly popular recently. However I feel that Everything I Know About Love, is a really good example of one, the best I have read. It does not have the political awareness and social comment that Lena Dunham and Caitlin Moran’s counterparts do, and it is not as self-absorbed or career orientated as “celebrity” books of this genre can be. Thereby making it an easy read, easily engorged in a day or two. Dolly Alderton, a journalist and previous Made in Chelsea producer chronicles the disaster that is most people’s twenties. There is plenty here to relate to, especially if you are of a certain age, such as heart-break, soul crushing and cringe inducing first dates, MSN messenger, and general drunken debauchery. It is true to the time-...