21st February 2023
Self-help books: follow these simple steps and your life will improve. Probably. In the depths of the 2020 lockdowns, I’m sure many of us can recall the period of pressured self-growth imposed on us on social media. My timeline definitely held a narrative that I should be using the time at home to develop myself, ...
18th February 2023
“Wonderful! Now you’ve given me an Heir and a Spare”. Prince Harry pulls back the curtain on the Royal family. Spare – Prince Harry’s new memoir, ghostwritten by the Pulitzer-winning J.R. Moehringer – is a story of rift, first a tragic one between Harry and his mother, and now one between himself and the Royal ...
6th February 2023
Whatever your relationship status this year, you can find comfort in a good book. As we approach Valentine’s Day, what books should we be reading? Is there a set list for everyone: the hopeless romantic, loved up couple, or even the cynic, or is this something more flexible? Well, these are the recommendations that make ...
1st February 2023
When will J.K. Rowling’s publishers let her go? From Amnesty International researcher, to struggling writer, to multi-millionaire best-seller, to anti-trans activist, J.K. Rowling has written some pretty influential pieces in her time. After The Philosopher’s Stone was originally rejected by a number of publishers, the large independent indie press Bloomsbury took a chance on Rowling ...
8th January 2023
Alisha explores its extensive LGBTQ+ archives and exhibitions dedicated to women’s history. Glasgow Women’s Library (GWL) has come a long way since its modest beginnings at Garnethill. Stepping through the doors of its present location in Bridgeton, I was transported to a shop front, at the corner of Hill and Dalhousie Street, that seemed unassuming ...
8th January 2023
Constance talks to the author of Parallel Lives, to discuss the role of marriage both within the book and in society more broadly. Phyllis Rose’s Parallel Lives, a study of five Victorian marriages, covers the ground of newlyweds, sexual disgust, affairs, ménage à trois, the mid-life crisis, re-marriage, love and revenge. It has become a ...
8th January 2023
2022 has seen the Queen of Crime return from the dead. Martin Mullaney explores Agatha Christie mania. 2022 has, thus far, seen the release of both Death on the Nile, Kenneth Branagh’s star-studded Poirot adaptation, and See How They Run, a satirical send-up of the whodunnit centred around Agatha Christie’s famously unfilmable play, The Mousetrap. ...
19th December 2022
Natasha Coyle argues for Brandon Sanderson being this centuries’ Dickens. Brandon Sanderson’s first book in the Mistborn trilogy, The Final Empire, is one of my favourite fantasy novels of all time. With its various twists and turns, talks of revolution and uprising against the tyrannical Lord Ruler, and fantastic character and plot development, The Final ...
19th December 2022
Ruby breaks down the essential features of the burgeoning trend. From showing breakdancing videos to breaking news, TikTok is so multi-faceted that it can be used and enjoyed by everyone. Avid users of the platform will probably know about the “sides” of TikTok you can find yourself on (or what comes up on your ‘for ...
19th December 2022
Emma Urbanova analyses the depiction of the student experience in books. The university experience is so well-worn and overused in the literary canon that campus novels have almost become a genre in themselves. But to what extent is their portrayal of student life authentic? Take Sally Rooney’s Normal People: its protagonists, Connell and Marianne, belong ...
