BOOKS

The following tips will help you write your first book for children.

6 books to add to your autumn reading list. Including:  Yellowface by R.F.Kuang· Manifesto: On Never Giving Up by Bernardine Evaristo  · Betty by Tiffany McDaniels · Notes on Heartbreak by Annie Lord  · The Queens of Sarmiento Park by Camila Sosa Villada (translated by Kit Maude)…

With lockdown 2.0 upon us we have put together a selection of 7 empowering, feel good reads to keep you busy and inspired during this time…

Milkman is by no means an easy novel to read, it is sluggish and sprawling, feeling longer than its 352 pages; however, it is hugely satisfying to finish. It also presents a haunting look at life during The Troubles in Northern Ireland…

This guide is intended to provide some insight into Jewish life and history. Jewish people come from a wide variety of backgrounds and levels of observance…

Between the World and Me is a poignant and profound piece of work, detailing the most gruesome and raw details of black American history and the everyday black experience in America…

At its core, Calypso is a novel about family. Sedaris highlights the recognisable relationship between siblings in a strikingly honest way: either you exist as the tyrant ruling over the youngsters or you’re the victim of the tyrants’ plots…

We all have the power to make great change, so instead of doing nothing, why not order a few of these books and attempt to understand this widespread issue…

As a result of the lockdown and government measures only permitting six people to meet outside at one time, the LGBTQ+ community will be celebrating Pride Month in a different way to usual. Though many events have been cancelled or postponed, there are still ways to celebrate…

For all our quarantine’s sins, it has without a doubt been a great opportunity to sink our teeth into some of the (many) unread books on our shelves. At a time when the news is particularly bleak, if you’re keen for a smart…

Girl, Woman, Other is an enthralling portrait of female experience. The novel follows 12 characters and most are black British women. Immense diversity is portrayed through these women, and it is through the difference in their experiences that Evaristo weaves such a rich tapestry of what modern Britain looks like…

The cover and artwork of Little Fires Everywhere are unassuming, and without the encouraging reviews also donning the cover I could have quite easily walked past this – yes, I judge books by covers. But within its pages, this novel has a mass of well-developed and deeply-explored themes including…

Queenie Jenkins is a 25-year-old Jamaican-British woman living in London. The story follows Queenie after a break-up with her long-term white boyfriend, Tom, and she really suffers in the fallout of it. But although the novel is framed by this breakup, it is not a love story, nor a tale of heartbreak…

The Stepford Wives is a phrase that is so well known that many people may not even realise that it originates from a novel. This satirical thriller is exceptionally short – most people could probably get through it in a day – but the layers of meaning, still relevant today, are what sticks with you. Regardless of the fact that The Stepford Wives was published in 1972…

In light of International Women’s Day and the announcement of the Women’s Prize Longlist for 2020 we wanted to talk about our favourite feminist books to read. Literature can be inspiring, motivating and powerful and feminism is a commonly discussed theme. Some notable feminist novels are…

Jane Eyre was originally published in 1847. Although it was written by Charlotte Brontë it was published under the pseudonym Currer Bell – and after reading, it is worth questioning whether the novel would have been regarded so highly if people were aware it was written by a woman, not a man. The novel provides a critique of society at…

Don’t put off reading this novel if you know nothing of the Greek gods and goddesses, it is easy to follow and there are no expectations on previous understanding.But equally, even if you are well versed in the mythology you will still be captivated…

If this piece of non-fiction is taken at face value, then it can be enjoyed as a glorious sweeping look at female sexuality, desire, and body image through the lens of three individual women. It is only when this novel is…

Sweetness in the Belly is an utterly beautiful story of human strength and determination. It is laced with themes that are still prominent in today’s society, such as race and racism, immigration, identity and religion all told through…

Although this book’s strongest theme is trees, it is also about people and it touches on many pertinent social issues of today – for example, climate change, protests, technology and social welfare. It will change your entire perspective on…

There’s something about Normal People that just draws you in and doesn’t let you go until you’ve devoured each and every page. Sally Rooney has a way with words like no other, and her writing style is unique to anything that I’ve read before …

‘A Man Called Ove’ is about a grumpy old man – so grumpy it’s funny – who at the beginning of the novel keeps trying and failing to kill himself. A young family move in next door and won’t stop bothering him, but this leads to an unlikely and unexpected friendship between them and it actually ends up turning Ove’s life around…

This novel explores a plethora of themes – namely love, loyalty, race, justice as well as black masculinity and womanhood – through the portrayal of the marriage of a young couple. It feels like a slow burner but after a couple of chapters the all-defining moment in Roy and Celestial’s marriage occurs and you are hooked…

Immediately you are sucked in by Evans’ use of language and the gorgeously vibrant and vivid portrayal of both London and marriage, but when you take a step back you realise that not much is really happening – it’s quite an…

 Zadie Smith is one of those authors that everyone speaks about, everyone knows of her name and whilst it took me a while to warm up to her writing I think it’s actually the ideas that she communicates that…

For any of you that are completely oblivious and have literally been living in a cave for the past twenty years Harry Potter is a magical series that centres around, yes you guessed it, Harry Potter, who is a wizard…

Adiche is one of the most prevalent writers of our generation. As a black female author from Nigeria, who spends lots of her time in America, her novels unsurprisingly heavily feature…

To some, this could be quite a controversial read as the story centres on three teens whose choices and lives eventually lead them to join ISIS….

Described as the next ‘A Handmaid’s Tale’ this book is extremely thought-provoking in its premise. The world that Dalcher creates is very similar to the world that Atwood presents in her dystopian novel…