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

It is that time again where I highlight some of the things I have read across the month.

Hello everyone.

Hello again blog readers.

I am back with a book review today.

Here I am with another review...

Today I am back with my monthly bookshop visit. For this month I found myself nestled in the South Downs of East Sussex, in the cute village of Alfriston.

Here's to another book review...

Today's blog post is a shoutout to some women who lately have inspired me or those who I have admired for what they have done, are doing and will probably continue to do. This list is not necessarily  exhaustive but it certainly highlights some incredible women. 1: Paloma Faith - singer-songwriter and actress. Paloma Faith is a British musician who has risen to fame with singles including 'Stone Cold Sober' (2009), 'Picking Up the Pieces' (2012), 'Can't Rely on You' (2014), 'Guilty' (2017) and 'Gold' (2020) which were all from her top singles from her first five studio albums. Her sixth and most recent studio album  The Glorification of Sadness  (2024) was introduced with the lead single 'How You Leave a Man'. This catchy and powerful track offers Faith's opinion on how to leave a man, even if just for the weekend. I love how she has tracks on the album to signify resistance against men. Paloma also has a recently new podcast ...

For today's blog post I am diving back into a review. This time I am reviewing Zadie Smith's article 'Mind the Gap' (2012) that she did for Guernica Magazine. The whole article is about reporting on schools around the world in an essence. What I liked about the article was how she detailed her visit with the charity Oxfam to Liberia and how that different things can be to a person's own life. Seeing how different people live is fascinating because sometimes it can make you think about how lucky you are with your own life. The other thing that I liked was this style of  ‘ non-professional reportage ’ ¹ as she mentioned. Normally the news is filled with headline stories that are there to shock or grab attention, often being stuff that news companies deem important for people to know. However, sometimes I find that news companies do not always publish or broadcast news without being bias and often miss things on purpose. To see something like this is refreshing. Furthe...

It came and it went? Or did it? Why does celebrating women happen one day a year? Women face bigger challenges then men in society. I mean I cannot speak as a women, only as someone who is non-binary. But I know plenty of women who have had struggles that men could never have faced... This International Women's Day I want to shout out to some of these women... First and foremost, I have to give a big shout out to all the trans women in the world. It is tough to be non-binary in society so I can only imagine how demanding and gruelling society makes it for trans women. I see you all and I accept you as you are. You should be able to be your authentic selves and live freely without fear or judgement, or horrific people trying to ruin your lives bit by bit. Next up I want to mention all the women who are POC (people of colour). I see stories of racism and have heard racism from people, which I never agree with. Whether this is institutional racism, unconscious bias or just plain racis...

Spring has sprung and I am here with my first review of the month. I decided I would read Zadie Smith's  ‘The Waiter's Wife ’. It was only until I starting reading it did I realise that the characters in this short story are in her debut novel White Teeth  (2000). Then I realised that most of the short story ends up in the novel anyway. It is not completely the same though. Because of that and as I had read it I chose to review it anyway. I liked this short fiction: seizing the button labelled "my funny bone" and firmly pressing down. I loved reading about Alsana clashing with her niece as per, I loved Samad and Archie reconnecting after years apart, I loved the vivid description Zadie Smith adds in just to build up her fictional North-West London world. This short fiction seems real, it well-thought out and convincing. When Samad Iqbal decides to move from Whitechapel to Willesden, his wife Alsana finds she has reservations once they are there. Money is tight, she is...

Hello all. Winter has departed and Spring has arrived. For March and April there will be a new theme of the month. That theme will be women writers to tie in with International Women's Day being this month. I also have a new author of the month, who will be Zadie Smith. She is known for her novels that include White Teeth  (2000), The Autograph Man  (2002) and On Beauty  (2005) - all of which I have read and reviewed. After having read On Beauty  last year it became my third favourite book ever! That and the fact that someone recommended her fourth novel NW  (2012) to me, [which I have], are the reasons why I decided to pick her as author of the month for March. I love reading anything by Zadie Smith as so far she has failed to disappoint! This month also sees Mother's Day, here in the UK so I that was also why I decided to pick women's writers. I am looking forwards to reading some new stuff this month including Zadie Smith. So here we are to March people. Unti...