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

Hello everyone, I hope you are all well. I wanted to say that I am going to be taking a few days away from my blog. This week has been mentally challenging for me and things have just been building. I hope you can understand that I need time out from having to focus on stuff to better myself. I am doing this so that when I come back, I can provide content worthy stuff for you to read on my blog. I do not expect to be gone forever, only a week or two while I heal. But I will back and will post on my blog. In the mean time, I hope you are look after yourself in what is a challenging and demanding society (in my opinion). Sometimes, we can keep going when we need to pause and that can lead to a burnout. It is good to take time out, say no or have time to yourself. That is what I am doing now. So I thank you for being so considerate. Until next time, Thomas.

Welcome back to my blog everyone. It is that time of the month where I give you the ins and outs to another bookshop that I have recently been to. This time, it is the Oxfam Bookshop in Coventry city centre. When I was on my travels, I found myself in Coventry. Now having lived and studied in the West Midlands, I knew about this bookshop. Funnily enough this was not my first visit here. Just as I remembered, they have a nice range of books and music despite being on the slightly smaller side. I noticed they still had a little collection of Doctor Who stuff! I am a big Doctor Who fan. Anyway, as I went nosing around, there was one book that caught my eye. It was this book: Sculpted: Poetry of the North West  (2013) edited by Lindsey Holland and Angela Topping. There is an introduction by David Morley who I have read before as a poet, teacher and editor. The important thing here though is that I picked up a poetry book and April (in case you were unaware) is National Poetry Month! I ...

What I have read this week… Hello everyone. Here I am at yet the end of another week, to disclose what I have been reading... 1: French! I am still at it with the French. I want to keep on learning and never stop. I came across a French GCSE textbook the other day that I had from ages ago. I am unsure why I have it as I never took the GCSE but I think I might use it to test myself. 2:  Mr Loverman  (2013) by Bernardine Evaristo. Currently I have this novel of Bernardine Evaristo on the go. I am keeping my lips sealed on anything for now... 3: Instagram. (Again) The reasons stay same. But this week I am been using Instagram for hope. The Supreme Court's decision here in the UK on what a woman is, is ridiculous. It only reinforces this misogynistic and patriarchal view of women should look like. How can someone immediately know whether each, individual person is a woman? Or a man for that man? What about intersex and non-binary people too? There was one person I read about who w...

Here I am everyone, to give you a new review of a book you could read. I do firstly want to say that due to being away, I did not get the chance to publish my post on Wednesday. So here I am. Anyway, this time I am reviewing Gwendoline Riley's 7th novel, My Phantoms  (2021) and welcome to fractured familial relationships. With the novel in first person, told from the perspective of Bridget we are greeted with her disconnect from both her parents. Bridget has an uncomfortableness with her father who died years ago and her mother who she sees infrequently. Now as someone who studied creative writing in part at university, one thing we talked about was whether a narrator was a trustworthy one. Here, I cannot say that Bridget is. Why does she have a distanced relationship with her mother, damaged with cuts of harsh truth? Her partner, John seems more connected to her mother then she does. Even with him and her sister actually, the relationships seem loveless as if. I wonder where the e...

Hello everyone and welcome to another review. This time I am opening up on a tragic tale of knives, youngsters and gangs. Here I am looking at another work from my author of the month, Bernardine Evaristo. Her chilling novella takes place in London and is an epistolary; meaning it is told though form of letters. The narrator is that of a teenager called Jerome who ends up wanting to join a gang to feel safe. Unfortunately for Jerome, the harsh realities soon hit him. It is his mother though who I worry about most. The pair of them love each other dearly despite their constant arguments. For me Evaristo is challenging when something needs to be challenged and here is no exception. Her novella is street smart, sharp and heated. It is just what is needed for those who want something quick or short to read. For me the novella is unusual in what happens. However, I still like. For me it deserves an 8/10. Until next time, Thomas.

What I have read this week… Hiya everyone! Just me again at the end of another week letting you in what stuff I have been reading. 1: French! If you have been reading my blog for a good few weeks then you will know this is always here on my weekly reading list. This week I passed a milestone of 450 days. I am so glad I have kept it going for so long. But I am not giving yet though as I plan to never stop learning the language! 2:  The Emperor's Babe (2001) by Bernardine Evaristo. As you can read my review, I loved this book. As my favourite author I picked Bernardine Evaristo as author of the month. This was one of her works I fancied reading. 3: Instagram. (Again) I am finding out a lot. I like to find stuff out that is happening in the world. I always double or triple check what I read though. 4: Facebook. I use Facebook the same main reason as I use Instagram. But also it's the only one I keep connected to a few people in my life. 5: Hello Mum  (2010) by Bernardine Evarist...

Welcome everyone to this lovely Friday evening. I just wanted to inform you all that as I am going away for almost a week, I might be delayed with some of my upcoming posts. I do still intend to post although I am unclear what I will be doing and when. Until next time, Thomas.

Hi everyone. I am here with my first review of the month for Bernardine Evaristo, who as I mentioned is author of the month. This is not my first review of hers as I did review Girl, Woman, Other  (2019) back in 2023. That was an incredible work of fiction which truly captivated me.  The Emperor's Babe  (2001) unlike that novel is a verse novel. This is a novel which shines amongst a lot of other books I have read. What caught my eye was reading the blurb. Now I know they say you should never judge a book by it's cover but when I am informed that a novel ‘sings a song of womanhood and survival’... I get an impression it might well be my kind of book. That and the mention of ‘drag queens’ drew me to it. As for having read the book. It really wasn't what I expected. I gasped, I laughed, I ewed, I tutted, I pondered and then my mind had "NOOO" darting about it. I am not going to spoil anything here but as far as novels go, this quite possibly had the most unexpected ...

Welcome back everyone. I hope you are all having a good April. I am finding this month is up and down for me. But maybe that's just life at the moment... Anyway, I want to dive into a review of The Rover  by Aphra Behn, which was originally written in two parts  - 1677 and 1681. When Behn wrote this during the restoration period, she became a leading figure in restoration theatre. Author Virginia Woolf has considered her to be responsible for women being able to have a voice. Many feminists have considered Aphra Behn a feminist and have considered The Rover  a feminist play. Now as a feminist, I liked it. I must admit I only read for university but it was a good play. Let's all go to the carnival... But the mood was not always as jovial as one might expect. Without me spoiling it, there was a moment that got to me a little. I notice Aphra Behn is very good at highlighting what women can go through. Behn however does this and still manages to weave it into the comedic aspe...

What I have read this week… Hiya everyone! Just me again at the end of another week letting you in what stuff I have been reading. 1: French! As far as I can remember I have been learning French and sometimes that means reading lengthy passages to make sense of. This week I was told "mal" is bad (which I already knew!) 2:  On Beauty  (2005) by Zadie Smith. I had not quite finished this book by the time Monday arrived. Therefore I took a little bit of time on Monday to finish it. I had to because  3: Tesco Magazine. This week I picked up the March edition of the Tesco magazine. I shop there at times so I love to read their magazine for recipes. They have great recipes as well as coupons. 4: Instagram. (Again) Recently, someone said something along the lines of "using their own stuff against them". What they meant was, fighting the good fight by using Instagram and whatnot. Such platforms have removed DEI policies, become exclusionary and discriminatory. Anyway, point...

Welcome back blog readers. April is blooming and the weather is warming up. I do like spring as I previously mentioned. I hope to be out and about, drenched in nature with a good book. I do love to read! But you might be wandering why... For me, it stems back to when I was growing up and for some unknown reason I thought I wanted to be a writer alongside some sort of standard, regular job. I studied English Literature A-Level at college where reading was compulsory for the exams. Then when I went to university, I took a degree in English and Creative Writing. I had by this point spent a few years reading for pleasure, which started towards the end of school. Although, during my time at university, my love of reading just grew ever so deeper. From then until I always like to have a book on the go, whether that is poetry, a short story collection, plays, essays or a novel. Currently, I am reading The Emperor's Babe  (2001) by my favourite Author, Bernardine Evaristo. For me, it was m...

Hello everyone and welcome to April! I love this month because Spring has sprung which leads to beautiful nature. (Flowers I am thinking of...) My favourite flower is the classic bluebell which I hope to see this month. Also, places I like to visit tend to be open more and some of them open for the first time this year. Anyway, this month I am going bringing you more reviews from stuff written by women. I am continuing with women authors as theme of the month, for the second month. I always have a theme of the month for two months running in case you missed that one at the start of March. However, I picked a new author of the month. Whereas in March, it was Zadie Smith, this month is someone different... I decided that as far as female authors go, it was only right that the author of the month of April should be Bernardine Evaristo. Not only is she my favourite author but my mother is a fan of her too. Do make sure you look out for my reviews of some of her work. You can also find a re...