Tag: autobiography

February reading wrap

Life lately has been hectic but still very much enjoying escaping into a book at the end of a busy day.

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

I started reading this back in December 2023 and finally finished it in February 2025. I adored the Scholomance trilogy but I’ve been underwhelmed by Naomi Novik’s other works, and came very close to giving up on this because it was so slow paced and the story is narrated by too many characters. Spinning Silver is an intriguing story about a Jewish money lender who can turn silver to gold and a Duke’s plain daughter, a winter king and a fire demon, peasants and a Tsar, and how we are all pawns in someone else’s games.

The Winners by Fredrik Backman

The final part of the Beartown trilogy really brings the story full circle with a parallel to another family from the same town dealing with a similar tragedy to the first book. This had a slow start, and is full of parallels, but I loved catching up with characters from the first two books and getting to know some new characters too. As ever small town politics, family relationships and community are at the centre of this story about ice hockey. This is such a bittersweet ending to the trilogy (an ending foreshadowed right from the start of Beartown) with a little bit of romance, conflict and rivalry, grief, bravery and heroism.

A Haunting in the Arctic by C. J. Cooke

An eerie and atmospheric story that follows the daughter of a whaling ship owner travelling through the Arctic in 1901 and an explorer who visits the shipwreck beached in Iceland in 2023. There’s a twist at the end, but the ending itself seemed rushed and anti-climatic as having been pitched as a tale of trauma and revenge, it switches to one of healing, which while worthy felt a bit dissatisfying. Nevertheless, this was gripping, atmospheric and haunting.

We Are Not Here to be Bystanders by Linda Larsour

A thoroughly engaging memoir of a Muslim Palestinian-American Community organiser. This describes the formative personal experiences and socio-political context that shaped Linda Larsour from growing up in multicultural Brooklyn and spending summers visiting her family in the West Bank, to being Muslim in America after 9/11, racial profiling of Arab, black and Latinx men, and police brutality. A fascinating insight into the immigrant/ethnic minority experience in the USA, including accessing heath care and education, motherhood, racism, and building community. This was on par with Michelle Obama’s Becoming, and as someone feeling a bit burned out after a decade in social care, I really appreciated the reminder about how much can be achieved at a local level, and how to build resilience and community.

Sweet Bean Paste by Durian Sukegawa

A short but poignant Japanese story of a pancake chef trying to pay off a debt who meets an old woman who makes the best sweet bean paste filling he’s ever tasted. This is a story about the intrinsic value of life, and about second chances, lost chances and last chances.

Have a lovely week. X

June reading wrapup

Blogging has fallen by the wayside once again, and only finding time to share my June reviews midway through July.

Talking As Fast As I Can by Lauren Graham

Listened to this on Audiobook, and it really felt like catching up with an old friend who occasionally gives really good advice about dieting, dating, technology and social media. What really comes across is that she is every bit as much of a Gilmore Girls fan as the fans themselves. This is a whistle stop tour of Lauren’s life, more thematic than chronological it reminded me of Carrie Fisher’s trilogy of short autobiographies. Short on scandals and gossip but full of wry commentary and self-deprecating humour, this is a thoroughly enjoyable autobiography.

A Magic Steeped in Poison by Judy I. Lin

This had a slow start, introducing all the characters and intrigue, but the second half was absolutely gripping. A Magic Steeped In Poison follows a girl called Ning whose mother was a shennong, a kind of tea mage, but both her mother and sister were poisoned by someone who has been contaminating tea around the Empire. Her mum succumbs to the poison but Ning travels to the capital city to compete in the competition to become the new royal shennong and ask the princess to heal her sister. Along the way she meets a mysterious but handsome exile, and finds herself embroiled in imperial politics. This definitely suffers from some pacing issues and the magic is a bit of a muddle but I’m keen to find out how it all works out in the concluding part.

A Kind of Spark by Elle McNicoll

Every so often I read a book I love so much I want to press it into the hands of every reader I know, and I could tell right from the first page that this would be one of those books because every word of this hits home. I’ve always been drawn to stories about underdogs challenging injustice and this story follows an 11 year old autistic girl, Addie, as she learns about women from her own little scottish village who were tried and executed as witches. Recognising that the witches were most probably women who didn’t fit in and feeling kinship with them, Addie starts a campaign for a village memorial. Like so many children’s books, this has some pretty big themes like disability, friendship and bullying, shame and self acceptance, but is a wonderful story and definitely one of my favourites of the year.

Dirty Laundry by Roxanne Emery and Richard Pink

Over the years, I’ve overcome a lot of insecurities and so this (audio)book really surprised me because I expected a lighthearted but candid book about ADHD similar to the Instagram content they share, instead it ended up highlighting how often I’ve blamed myself for being lazy and useless because of symptoms I now know are part of ADHD. There were so many parts I could relate to from my sudden all consuming interests and hobbies, directional dyslexia, losing possessions, time blindness and struggles with housekeeping and personal hygiene. There are lots of useful tips to help make life easier but at times I wondered how Rox would cope without her organised and infinitely patient husband Rich, but the general relationship advice of being honest and treating each other with kindness and understanding is solid.

The Monsters We Defy by Leslye Penelope

This is a paranormal mystery-heist loosely inspired by the real story of a black woman called Clara Johnson who shot and killed a white policeman but was acquitted. In this story, Clara has paranormal abilities to communicate with spirits, and is one of several humans who have made deals with deities known as Enigmas who can bestow charms on people for a price. The Monsters We Defy is a really intriguing paranormal mystery as Clara finds herself trying to rescue people who have gone missing and free herself from the deal she made with an Enigma. I really enjoyed the richly described setting in Washington DC during the 1920s, the exploration of race and class during that era, the tense and spooky atmosphere, and slow burn romance.

The Kingdom Across the Sea by Zohra Nabi

A thrilling and gripping children’s fantasy about a recently orphaned young girl, Yara, who finds herself travelling from Bournemouth into a magical kingdom across the sea on a journey of self discovery. Trying to follow the last letter of her mother’s instructions, Yara tracks down a sorceress and finds herself against alchemists plotting to destroy all sorcerers who have been forced into hiding. This is such an exciting and heartwarming story of bravery, determination, identity, friendship and found family.

The Goodbye Cat by Hiro Arikawa

I loved The Travelling Cat Chronicles (reviewed here) a few years ago and picked this up recently while looking after my own beloved cat Mara after we discovered an ulcer on her eye. Both of these books really capture the eccentricities and personalities of the animals that we take on as pets, but also the sense of companionship, sense of purpose and well-being that pet ownership provides. The Goodbye Cat is seven short stories about different cats and the people who love and care for them with some new characters and others recurring from The Travelling Cat Chronicles.

Halfway through the year and I’m slightly ahead of my reading goal. What have you been reading lately? X

March reading wrapup

March was yet another month when I ignored my ever increasing TBR and read mostly library books instead, it was also another month where I read more non-fiction than fiction.

Scatterbrain by Shaparak Khorsandi

I’ve been reading lots of non-fiction but chose this expecting it to be a bit more light hearted than other topics I’ve been reading lately. Shaparak Khorsandi is an Iranian-British comedian who was diagnosed with ADHD in her 40s, and this is her autobiographical attempt to understand the impact that ADHD has had on her life from her education and career to friendships, relationships, and constant battle with clutter. It’s quite a short autobiography but one that’s amusing, relatable and poignant.

Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-Reum

This was a buddy read with two good friends, and we had the loveliest afternoon discussing the book and catching up over wine and freshly baked sourdough bread. A gentle and meandering story translated from Korean about a woman who risks societal disapproval when she gives up her career and marriage to run an independent bookshop. This does provide some interesting insights into South Korean expectations around marriage and work, but it’s a slice of life story about the little community that forms around the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop.

In My Mother’s Footsteps by Mona Hajjar Halaby

The second autobiography I read last month was an emotional insight into the Palestinian refugee’s diaspora. On 14 May 1948, Mona Hajjar Halaby’s mother packed a small suitcase and left her home and everything in it to stay with family in Egypt, expecting to return in a few weeks once the conflict between the Zionists and Palestinians had ended, but it would be 60 years before she would return and then only as a tourist. Mona was given the opportunity to teach at a school in Ramallah in the West Bank for a year, and this is her unflinchingly honest experience of her time in occupied Palestine navigating checkpoints and work visas, and the erasure of Palestinian history as she tries to find out more of her family’s story.

The Queen of Distraction by Terry Matlen

I had high hopes for this book, but it failed to deliver. If you love Bullet journaling or filofaxes, then this is the book for you, but if (like me) you find admin tasks tedious and overwhelming then a lot of the suggestions in this seem like making extra work for yourself. No amount of post-it notes, index cards, alarm clocks or colour-coded wall calendars will help me to stop procrastinating, be on time for appointments or keep on top of the housework, and some of the other suggestions are laughable, like employing a private chef if you struggle with cooking dinner or putting your kids to bed in the clothes they’re supposed to wear the next day to avoid rushing in the morning.  Most of the ideas in this book seem needlessly complicated, when the only thing that has ever worked for me is simplifying and minimizing. This book does a good job of explaining ADHD and how it affects people in ordinary situations but the writer doesn’t really explore any other ways to manage ADHD symptoms other than medication in any detail.

Have a lovely weekend. X

June Reading Wrapup

Halfway through the year and I’m still a few books behind my reading target, but have already found a couple of books that will be in my top ten come the end of the year. In June itself I read an interesting mix with non fiction outnumbering fiction, which is unusual for me.

The Bumblebee Flies Anyway by Kate Bradbury

An autobiographical story of Kate Bradbury creating a wildlife garden in the middle of Brighton. Written in a rambling, meandering style with flashbacks to her childhood and trips to see specific insects, interspersed with personal tragedies from bereavements to breakups that only nature could soothe and heal. I could relate so strongly to her desire to provide a safe, inviting habitat for birds, bees, butterflies and other wildlife, and felt keenly her grief over gardens and green spaces paved over or covered with decking and fake grass, or bulldozed to build blocks of flats and carparks. I also found it full of useful information about what to plant to benefit particular species, a really inspiring read.

Diary of a Young Naturalist by Dara McAnulty

Follows the diary entries of Dara for a full year, one that brings change and upheaval as he moves house and starts at a new school, but balanced by time spent in nature. This is a heavy book in places as he describes his struggles in social settings due to autism, school bullying and his frustration about environmental issues such as climate change and loss of species, yet the darker moments are balanced by his fascination and reverence for the natural world from the birds and insects in his own garden to adventures exploring the coasts, forests and mountains of Northern Ireland, and the warmth and safety of his family.

Nala’s World by Dean Nicholson

Dean was a fairly ordinary young man, a bit of a drifter who decided to cycle around the world when he turned 30; not long into his journey across Europe he comes across, Nala, a stray kitten whom he immediately falls in love with and decides to take with him on his adventure. Caring for a pet gives Dean an external purpose beyond his own whims and goals, teaching him lessons in empathy, compassion and responsibility. The overarching theme of this story is kindness, and the ripple effect that one kind deed creates, as Dean’s story of finding and caring for Nala inspires others to donate money to animal charities around the world or adopt strays of their own, as well as the countless people he meets on his journey that share food with him or offer him a place to stay.

Raising Good Humans by Hunter Clarke-Fields

A slightly different parenting book about using mindfulness techniques to cultivate patience, kindness and empathy to help parents become calmer and build stronger connections with their children. As a few other parenting books I’ve read, the book starts by asking parents to identify their own triggers and childhood experiences before moving on to developing a mindfulness practice that can be applied to the challenges of parenting as well as developing skills for mindful listening and communicating to help foster connection and cooperation. I found this really easy to read and put into practice, a very helpful parenting book for those of us who aspire to remain calm in trying times.

Juniper and Thorn by Ava Reid

The only fiction book I read this month was a twisted gothic fairytale by Ava Reid. Juniper and Thorn is narrated by Marlinchen, the third and youngest daughter of a wizard who has been cursed never to feel full no matter how much he eats, never rested no matter how long he sleeps, and to find fault with his daughters no matter how beautiful, clever or kind they are. I found the atmosphere incredibly tense and unsettling but this story was absolutely gripping. Juniper and Thorn is the story of wizards and witches, hunger and revulsion, magic, monsters and rebellious maidens.

What have you been reading lately? X

March Reviews 📚📺

The Light We Carry by Michelle Obama

Having read Becoming (reviewed here) a few years ago, I was intrigued by Michelle Obama’s new book where she shares advice, wisdom, humour and inspiration from her life. Once again, I found Michelle Obama refreshingly and courageously candid as she describes formative experiences and watershed moments in her life, and she covers everything from knitting and the value of small steps towards reaching a goal, accepting fear without letting it dictate your decisions to friendships, parenting and marriage. I found this so easy to read, there are parts that I could relate to personally (such as having a parent with MS) and her warmth, integrity and humour all come across so clearly on the page.

Lockwood And Co (Netflix)

I had a bit of a reading slump in the middle of March, I don’t usually watch much TV but binge watched Lockwood and Co over a few days. Set in a world where for the last 50 years ghosts have become a tangible threat whose touch can kill, the story follows three snarky teenage ghost hunters solving paranormal mysteries and unravelling conspiracies with lots of humour, a moody soundtrack, found family vibes and an angsty slow burn romance.

The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud

After watching the Netflix adaption, I requested the first book in the Lockwood and Co series. Narrated by Lucy, a teenage girl who is able to see, hear and sense the kinetic residue of ghosts, when she joins the ghost hunting agency Lockwood and Co. After one case goes disasterously wrong, the team find themselves investigating a murder and take on a high risk case to save their little agency from bankruptcy. One thing that the book does slightly better than the Netflix series is capture the true horror of using children to fight ghosts to keep everyone else safe, and there are some genuinely creepy scenes in the book. Despite knowing the story from the adaption, I thoroughly enjoyed The Screaming Staircase which provides chills, thrills with some humour and cosy moments too, and I look forward to reading the rest of this series.

The Bewitching of Aveline Jones by Phil Hickes

The second book in the series finds Aveline and her mum on holiday in a little village with a history of witchcraft. Aveline has barely unpacked her suitcase when she meets a strange but fascinating little girl called Hazel who is not what she seems. The Bewitching of Aveline Jones sets a tone of unease as Aveline finds Hazel pulling her off track and torn between her loyalties to her new friend and the other people she cares about, and in many ways this is a perfect metaphor for navigating adolescent friendships with some creepy supernatural moments adding extra suspense.

Have a lovely week. X

Becoming by Michelle Obama

I’ve been binge-reading lately, finishing one book and immediately starting another, but a little while ago in the midst of a reading slump, I decided to try listening to the audiobook of Michelle Obama’s autobiography, Becoming. I found it really easy to dip in an out of while washing the dishes or cooking dinner, and giving it my full attention at other times. At 19 hours in length it did feel like quite a commitment, but I found it so easy to listen to Michelle Obama narrating her story, from her wry comments (usually poking fun at herself or Barack) to the way her voice cracks slightly when describing her father’s death.

Unsurprisingly, Michelle manages to combine the personal and political describing the discrimination and racism that limited the educational, housing and employment opportunities of her parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents that were mirrored for black people all across the United States. Although there’s no doubt that her own determination, courage and work ethic helped her rise above her humble beginnings, she’s keen to acknowledge and full of gratitude for her parents, teachers and friends who supported and enouraged her every step of the way. Becoming is highly informative, inspiring and relatable and there’s so many themes running through this memoir about race, sexism, disability, poverty and social class but also about family, community, hard-work, determination and ambition.

Michelle’s story covers everything from her childhood in South Chicago in the 1960s, through her awkward adolescent years, her first romances, studying at Princeton University, her career choices, meeting and falling in love with Barack Obama, their struggles with infertility, motherhood, and entering the maelstrom of public scrutiny as he campaigned for and won the Presidency. I really appreaciated how open and honest she is about the resentment she felt about when Barack’s political aspirations interfered with their family’s life, and the compromises they made to find a balance for their family as well as the huge adjustment to life under the spotlight, it’s a fascinating glimpse behind the scenes into their marriage, family life and the inner workings of the White House.

Becoming is an informative and inspiring autobiography, full of humility, humour, vulnerability and candour, and I’d thoroughly recommend the audiobook. Have a lovely weekend. X

Sounds Like Me by Sara Bareilles

After The Fifth Season, I was in the mood for something a bit more light-hearted to read. I’ve been a fan of Sara Bareilles’ music since my then fiance-now husband suggested one of her songs for our first dance, and I was intrigued to learn she’d written a book.

Sounds Like Me isn’t a typical celebrity memoir full of love affairs and feuds, but it’s written with humility and humour, and provides insight into the experiences that shaped Sara as a musician and person from her parents’ divorce and being bullied about her weight at school, finding her love of music and theatre to her first love and inevitable heartbreak, a year studying in Italy, recording and touring, right up to writing the Broadway musical Waitress.

It’s a short book comprising of eight essays based around eight of her songs, though one aspect that did disappoint me was that most of the songs she picked as the basis of the chapters in this book were from her earlier recordings with no songs from Kaleidoscope Heart and only one from The Blessed Unrest, although she does include one from Waitress.

I started reading this thinking it would be a little stopgap between other reads, but I enjoyed it much more than I expected to. Sounds Like Me is a quick and entertaining read, filling in the background of one of my favourite musicians that made me want to listen to her songs with fresh insight, though it did leave me wanting to know more.

My reading often dips in the summer when longer, lighter evenings encourage me to spend more time outside being active, but back under partial lockdown for a couple of weeks and on the cusp of autumn, I’m looking forward to cosy evenings catching up on my TBR shelf. Take care, and have a lovely week. X

21 Miles by Jessica Hepburn

21 Miles

At the age of 43, after ten years and eleven cycles of IVF, Jessica Hepburn decides it’s time to give up on her dream of motherhood and get on with her life. Hepburn remembers an old childhood ambition and starts investigating whether or not she can actually achieve it. At first her dream of swimming across the English Channel seems as impossible and out of reach as motherhood, but Jessica turns the same dogged tenacity she put into a decade of fertility treatments into swimming. In terms of difficulty, she points out, more people have climbed Mount Everest than swam across the Channel.

One unexpected benefit of her ambition is that following the example set by Captain Matthew Webb in 1875, she won’t be able to wear a wet-suit and is encouraged by her swimming coaches to put on body fat to help her keep warm in the water. In order to help her put on weight, Jessica decides to have lunch with a list of 21 inspirational women (only some of whom are mothers) from neuroscientists and polar explorers to the founder of Mumsnet, an MP and a ballerina to discuss whether motherhood makes women happy.

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Over the course of her training, Jessica has to overcome her doubters and her own self-doubt, as well as her aversion to cold water and fear of jellyfish. Working her way slowly from swimming in the Serpentine lake in Hyde Park to open water, and finally her solo voyage across the Channel, I found myself rooting for Jessica and welling up during the description of her crossing.

Written with self-deprecating humour that had me chuckling out loud, this is also a thought-provoking and poignant book as Jessica doesn’t shy away from describing her disappointment and grief at not being able to have children, the shame and isolation of infertility, and the strain it put on her relationship. Unlike a lot of other books written about infertility, 21 Miles doesn’t end with Jessica having a baby, and yet it is life-affirming and inspiring. Throughout this book, Jessica considers the complex relationship women have with food, as well as the difficulties in her relationship with her partner, her relationship with her own parents, the social pressure to have children and the tension that sometimes exists between mothers and childfree or childless women, and in many ways, 21 Miles is as much about the modern experience of being a woman as it is about swimming or motherhood. Have a lovely week! X

I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai

I_Am_Malala

I Am Malala is one of those books that I’ve been meaning to read forever and I ended up borrowing a copy from the local library. In many ways, Malala comes across as a very ordinary teenager who bickers with her little brothers and worries about her exams, and I really enjoyed her vivid descriptions of her life in Pakistan, playing with the little girl next door, listening to her father and his friends chat about politics, visiting relatives in the mountain village where her parents came from, the sense of family and community, and her dawning awareness of living in a patriarchal society.

Malala recalls being vaguely aware of the Taliban and Al-Qaeda in neighbouring Afghanistan but – as I’m sure many people reading can relate – that was something happening somewhere else, until their influence slowly started spreading. Malala describes how a militant group of fundamentalists seized upon the chaos and destruction created by a devastating earthquake to extend their influence and occupy North West Pakistan where she lived, bringing terror, torture, murder and civil war to her home.

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The day that Malala was shot by a Taliban terrorist was just another day up until that event, and she recalls the confusion and disorientation of waking up in an unfamiliar place with no memory of what happened and feeling desperately worried about her family. Malala clearly expresses her humility and gratitude at being alive, reunited with her family and their new life in the U.K. with all the freedom and safety it provides, but it is also tinged with homesickness for Pakistan and all her friends there.

Malala comes across as a young woman shaped by her circumstances, she recognizes how fortunate she was that her parents supported and encouraged her education, and how her family were ordinary people caught up in the conflict between the Pakistani government and terrorists, yet instead of being cowed and frightened into submission, Malala developed a sense of purpose and her determination and courageousness shine throughout this biography. I Am Malala is every bit as powerful and thought-provoking as I expected, and ultimately Malala chooses to define herself not as the girl who was shot by the Taliban but as an advocate for education. Have a lovely week! X

The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher

PrincessDiarist

For almost as long as I can remember I’ve been a Star Wars fan, and my affection for the franchise is in no small part due to the sassy, blaster-wielding Princess who bossed her male counterparts around and was always at the forefront of the action.

Carrie was apparently inspired to write The Princess Diarist when she stumbled upon the diaries she wrote while filming Star Wars: A New Hope, and decided that forty years after the event, the public revelation of her affair with Harrison Ford would cause minimal damage to those involved.

The Princess Diarist starts with Carrie recounting her decision to step out of her celebrity parents’ shadows, and how at the age of nineteen she was cast as Princess Leia in a low-budget “space fantasy” simply called Star Wars. I sometimes wonder how faithful her recollection of events is but I can’t deny it’s entertaining to read about some of the changes in the original script, the process of finding that iconic hairstyle and various other behind the scenes moments between the cast and crew. However, for what is ostensibly a kiss-and-tell memoir, Carrie Fisher is remarkably tight-lipped about the details of her love affair with Harrison Ford.

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The mid-section contains poems and direct extracts from the diaries she wrote in 1976, and this part lags a little as the diary entries are rambling, self-indulgent and laced with Carrie’s teenage insecurities.

The final part explores the cultural phenomenon Star Wars became, and some readers might be offended by the way she describes the rabid fans and their sense of entitlement for autographs and selfies, yet I suspect she probably understood why the Star Wars characters are so beloved because she admitted that there were times throughout her own life when she wished she was more like Leia. I also found it interesting reading about the different ways male and female fans respond to her character, and she doesn’t shy away from sharing details of some of her experiences and observations about Hollywood sexism (and ageism).

I suspect that Star Wars fans may be disappointed that she doesn’t share more behind the scenes secrets and people expecting a more linear biography may also be disappointed, but Carrie’s inimitable style, humour and candour still make The Princess Diarist an easy and enjoyable read. Have a lovely week! X