Tom's treasures of fiction, poetry, literature and more...

Hello all. The ending of June is upon us. I do hope this month has brought you sunshine and happiness. For me personally, I have taken this month as a period of self-reflection. There have been times this month where I needed to just recharge and be by myself with a good book. Luckily I have read some. As you might not be surprised, some of the things I have read this month are regulars... 1: French. Every day I practice my French and that involves reading tasks to strengthen my understanding of the language. I am still going strong having achieved an impressive learning streak of 500 days this month! That is an achievement though I have no plans to stop! Watch this space for when I reach 600 days... 2: Instagram and Facebook. This month, I have found a lot out by seeing stuff on social media and then double or triple checking the facts. If you read something once in the media or online, think about the source. Is it a reliable source? Then... is anyone saying it? So much gets missed b...

Hello all, I decided I wanted to create this post because I am seeing and hearing a lot of stuff about Trump banning trans women in sports. Therefore I decided to do my research and find the facts because I do not know everything. But if people are going to talk about something then I think they should get their facts to be informed. Take a look at the 1980s and the HIV/AIDs pandemic. People then did not know anything about it to begin with. Look at how badly this affected gay men. People lost their lives, they were shut out and excluded from society. I'm sure people will agree with me that there was blatant homophobia when society excluded homosexual men. So is it not transphobic if trans people are excluded from society? Stopping trans people from using the toilets that fit their current gender identity AND the one associated with their sex at birth is a clear example of this. Now people will often say that trans women have an advantage over cisgender women and that their testost...

Hello everyone. I thought today I would give you a bonus bookshop visit. The bookshop I have picked is one of my two favourite bookshops in London - Skoob Books. Skoob Books can be found in the Brunswick Centre, Bloomsbury which is near to the train stations and London underground stations of Euston, Euston Square, Kings Cross, St Pancras, Warren Street and Russell Square which is the nearest. There are also multiple bus routes in the surrounding area which means you have plenty of transport options if you want to visit Skoob Books. Once you get to Skoob Books can either go down the stairs or take the lift down to access the bookshop itself. They have a wide range of books from fiction to history, poetry and more. There is always something for everyone. The bookshop consider themselves to have the widest selection of books in London. I must say they do have a lot of second-hand books. What I love about the bookshop though is how they offer a student discount to students which is nice. ...

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog! Today I am going to be reviewing a graphic novel from my author of the month - Alice Oseman. Now in case you did not know Alice Oseman created the Heartstopper graphic novel series and the popular Netflix series. Now I am not sure if I have ever read a graphic novel prior to reading this so here we go... Let's get into this! Before I started reading this, I had no preconceptions about what to expect from reading a graphic novel or the fact that it was Heartstopper. Of course I had heard the hype, I know people who watch it. Though personally I had never got round to watching it, despite it being on my list. So... I decided that I would read Oseman's first volume in the graphic novel series this month for her being author of the month. The graphic novel was joyous and sweet while telling the tale of these boys who fall for each other. It was intense, sad, loving, wonderful, confusing and funny at times. I especially loved when homophobia wa...

Today is part 2 of my LGBTQIA+ reading list. I am going to provide a reading list of some great LGBTQIA+ books. However unlike part 1, this part will be books I have not  read. These are the books that have either stood out to me, been highly recommended or considered popular choices. I hope something on this list stands out to you... 1: The T Guide (2023) by Gigi Gorgeous and Gottmik. This is a book that I have had on my birthday and Christmas list since last year. I am hoping this year someone gets me this book. It looks at what it means to be transgender as both authors are trans, who share their own experiences. There is also advice from advocates, activists and allies. This books is one that proudly acknowledges and accepts all gender identities - man, woman, transgender, cisgender and non-binary. 2: Gender Trouble  (1990) by Judith Butler. Gender Trouble  is a book I first encountered while at university. I unfortunately never got round to reading it all while I wa...

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog. Today I am here to offer a list of LGBTQIA+ books to read this pride month and beyond. LGBTQIA+ books do not have to be read only in pride month. Now my list contains books I have, books I want to read or books that I heard about which seem to be some top picks. I will do my reading list in two parts and part 1 will books that I have read, of which I think are the some of my favourites. 1: Girl, Woman, Other (2019) by Bernardine Evaristo. As I am always going on about it, this book is my favourite ever! It tells the lives of twelve characters across decades. Most of them are black and most are women. It full of life and bursting with vividness and vitality. This is a book for the modern day reader, telling the tale of modern day Britain. It is funny, serious, loving and saddening all throughout. This is one not to be missed. If you want to you can also read my blog post on which I reviewed this fine specimen of fiction.  2: Trumpet  (199...