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

The end of the month approaches and I am gutted that we are finishing pride month. It seems the month has raced past in a flash. Still, I have read some good stuff this month. Here are some of those things... 1: My chess... The chess learning is still going. Some of the terminology I have been getting to grips with lately is actually quite cool. Before I started practising chess on my phone, I had never heard of forks or pins for example, even if I might have used them before. 2:  ‘'A Girton Girl on a Throne': Queen Christina and Versions of Lesbianism, 1906-1933’ by Sarah Waters. With Sarah Waters being author of the month, this journal was what I decided to read and review first. You can check out my review on the blog here to see what I truly thought of it. 3:  Social media . Even social media is owned by rich, selfish and horrible men (in my opinion) it has its uses and helps to keep me updated on important stuff. There is a lot of hope that I get from using social media ...

Today I am reviewing the three-part series of Tipping the Velvet  from 2002, directed by Geoffrey sax. Considering this was on the BBC, I was surprised by some of the scenes. One good example is the some of those scenes between Rachael Stirling's Nancy and Anna Chancellor's Diana. The use of such props that were used really shocked me. The props in general were used well such as the rose in episode 1. I did not expect the BBC to allow the series to bare such a likeness to the novel. This is one thing I liked about the series - how most things seemed strikingly similar to the novel. One notable difference was the ending... Unlike the ending in the book where Nan's previous lives come together and everything culminates, the TV series shows a different ending. Now I love the ending of the novel and kind of wished this ending would be the same for the TV series. However, I loved seeing Nan's ending in the TV series because it was happy and deserved to me. After having gone ...

What can I say about Sarah Waters' debut novel? Lust, desire and deceit... These are three words that conjure up in my mind when I think of Tipping the Velvet . From 1998, Tipping the Velvet  follows the many lives of Nancy Astley. She goes through a variety of different personas and jobs, suffering heartache along the way. When she suffers heartache, it seems to truly damage her. However, she then seems to find something else, even if it is not as good as her previous way of life. What I loved especially about this novel is the ending. Everyone and everything seems to culminate together at the event that happens. Another moment I loved was when Nancy and Florence are in the pub and people recognise her. This was a lovely reminder that of her time in the theatres and highlighted that people thought she was good in the theatres, not just Kitty. This is also where the meaning of 'Tipping the Velvet' is explained. I for one thing had no idea what it meant. Once I reached that ...

It is official now... Prime minister Kier Starmer has quiet. I for one am glad. Him and the labour government have turned their backs on so many. The LGBTQIA+ community suffer at the hands of conversion therapy which the Conservatives and current Labour government have failed to ban. It is a disgrace! Then we have his pathetic abandonment of protecting rights for all those who are transgender, non-binary and intersex. I have been appalled by this Labour government. Even a group started entitled "LGB Labour". That tells you all you need to know! It is terrible. But still, Andy Burnham could become prime minister and I do not trust him either. Still, if you asked me for a preference over him or Reform UK's Rob Kenyon in this Makerfield election, then Burnham it is. He is lesser of two evils. Kenyon admitted he was sexist, made vile, misogynistic remarks about women getting abortions and other revolting misogynistic remarks about national treasure Carol Vorderman. Reform UK...

Going to pride events recently has made me realise one thing. Some people are there for the LGBTQIA+ community. There are a lot of celebrities who are allies to the LGBTQIA+ community. Earlier on in the month I visited Canterbury for their pride event because I liked it last year and they normally have some well known singers joining the main stage. Plus it is free! This year I got to witness Atomic Kitten's very own Natasha Hamilton. She was incredible! It is great to see people be supportive. Now you might be wondering what you can do to be supportive. Here are just some of the ways that you can be supportive... 1: Go to pride events. Pride is more than just an event with music. It is a rebellion against the discrimination that the LGBTQIA+ community and a reminder of how far we have come. It is a celebration to be our authentic selves. Look at all the hatred and disadvantages the LGBTQIA+ community have suffered, are suffering  and continue to suffer from. Pride is still needed!...

Another month means another bookshop. For this one I decided I had to pick an LGBTQIA+ bookshop as it is pride month of course. The bookshop in question turned out to be the Folkestone bookshop, which funnily enough is in Folkestone. The bookshop is in town, down Tontine Street; I just love that name! For those who are unaware, a tontine is an agreement between people who earn a shared income as long as they are alive. I do not as such as agree with a tontine but the name sounds like an interesting dance. I think though that's because I saw a T.V show where a tontine was mentioned and there was dancing involved. Anyway, the bookshop is a wonderful bookshop. They have a huge selection of LGBTQIA+ books ranging from fiction, to non-fiction and more. They also had a display of books relating to Palestine/books by Palestinian authors. I thought this was such a beautiful touch considering how unimaginably horrible things have been. Obviously this does not make up for the torment, suffer...

Today I am reviewing the poetry collection Diving into the Wreck  by Adrienne Rich (1929 - 2012). Adrienne Rich was an American poet, essayist and feminist. She also happened to be a lesbian and came out in 1976. Her collection here is from three years earlier but it was one that stood out to me. The thing I loved was how eye-opening I found the collection to be. From the joys of 'August', to the seriousness of 'Burning one's self out', her poems offer variety and a necessary meaning to each poem. There are clear feminist ideas in here and as a proud feminist, I love to see it. Feminism is something that has always been needed and despite what some people could argue, is still needed to this day. For that I find that Rich's poems provide a relevance to the modern day reader. One such poem entitled 'Rape', offers a view as to what happens when someone reports it. This is a constant reminder what people have to go through. Even now, the number of people wh...

Today's blog post is a poem of mine. As June is pride month, I got thinking about all the love there is and all the hate there is in society. He loves, she loves, they love, ze loves. Going to pride, having a good time, lifting up our spirits when we need it the most. He loves, she loves, they love, ze loves. Going to pride, to protest against the monstrous men who are exceeding rich while being the biggest tax dodgers, hating everyone who goes against what they believe in. He loves, she loves, they love, ze loves. Going to pride, to remind us of how far the LGBTQIA+ community has come, the hate that one group of people has had to endure. But we keep saying no more. Some people love those who are LGBTQIA+, people of colour, people with a disability and Immigrants. Some people do not love the wealth hoarding tax dodgers, trying to cause division, discrimination and destruction as the whole country suffers. That is my poem, Love and hate. Until next time, Thomas (they/them).

Today's blog post takes a look at an article that author of the month, Sarah Waters did for the journal Feminist Review . The article entitled "'A Girton Girl on a Throne': Queen Christina and Versions of Lesbianism, 1906-1933" examines Queen Christina of Sweden and the ambiguity around her gender and sexuality. From reading the article I have discovered that queen Christina was many things, including ‘something of a misogynist - she claimed she liked men, not because they were men but because they weren't women - she spent time with women who, like her, had a reputation for cleverness.’¹ This surprised me considering that she went through a lot and I never considered her a snob, nor a hater of women. Especially as she had affections women as well as men.  Christina was expected to find a man to marry and produce an heir. But this was not what she wanted. One of the people she had an attraction to was a woman called Ebba Spare. There were men too which highlig...

Today's topic of the blog is about pronouns. I get sick of people moaning or complaining about pronouns as if they do not have any. It does make me question if they think about things. We all have pronouns - I, you, me, we, they, he, she, him, them, her, our for example. Personally, if you have a political agenda that stops you accepting what is a simple fact then maybe you want to rethink your political agenda. Let me tell you a story... I was once applying for a job and in the application there was a section on how to respond to a customer complaining. In the given scenario, the person was referred to as "they" and a name was not provided. Further to this, there was no image for anyone to able to define them or stereotype them or gender them. But they were just " a customer" with a "they" pronoun. This did not automatically mean that they were non-binary but that their pronouns were unknown and therefore given a gender-neutral pronoun. This example j...

Hello everyone! As summer is upon we will be getting pride events happening! Tomorrow for example Canterbury pride in Kent's only city is happening with Booty Luv, Atomic Kitten's Natasha Hamilton, drag queen - Drag with No Name who has been doing drag for 25 years and many more. The best part is this is free and you do not need a ticket! Kent has other prides such as Medway (which last year saw some great acts including Sydnie Christmas from Britain's Got Talent), Dover, Deal, Folkestone and Ashford to name a few. This is just one county. There will be pride events around the whole country from the big to the small. The southeast of England does also boast other prides such as London and Trans pride in London. Various towns in Sussex such as Worthing, Crawley, Eastbourne and Hastings will have their own prides. The big one of course is Brighton Pride on Saturday the 1st and Sunday the 2nd of August. This year is the 25th anniversary and boasts the headlines act of Raye and...

June is pride month and that means three things. 1: a celebration of who we are, 2: a reminder of what we have been having to deal with from the past to now, and 3: a fight for a better, more equal future. Lately there has been a rise in discrimination against the LGBTQIA+ community, especially trans, non-binary and intersex people. At the end of last month, this horrific bathroom ban was drafted in which is apparently based on common sense as people keep going on about. What is common sense about it? I have seen countless stories where women who are AFAB (assigned female at birth) have been pulled out of women's toilets as they are mistaken for being trans women or men. They are cisgender, meaning they always identified as a girl/woman. This is just one example of how the ridiculous bathroom ban is and how it affect more people. From my own experiences, I have been misgendered and told to use different toilets on more than one occasion. Being honest here, I am non-binary, specific...

It's pride month people! A solid reminder to everyone in the LGBTQIA+ community s here and we are not going anywhere. We have our rights under threat all the time, especially trans and non-binary people. But hey, the fight continues and I hope one day things will improve. For this month I will be continuing the LGBTQIA+ theme alongside a new author for author of the month. For June, the author of the month is going to be Welsh lesbian author Sarah Waters. I shall be looking forwards to reading some of her stuff throughout this month. So as summer arrives and pride month provides a constant reminder to our battles and history, celebrate with a good LGBTQIA+ book. Until next time, Thomas (they/them).