thinking about Arrangements in Blue
from journal
Books
I reviewed every book I read in 2024.
Now, I write the occasional reflection and review on books that move me.
on reading memoir
Reflection on Albert Camus' 'The Outsider'
'The Outsider' is starkly morbid yet the vivid with liberating absurdity.
Patti Smith's 'Just Kids'.
It is a memoir in the way the very word ‘memoir’ sounds; seductive, free, romantic, exotic, poetic.
Review of The Transgender Issue by Shon Faye: Complexly intersectional yet crystal clear.
Based on fact and research rather than anecdote, this book is a large window into the facts of the trans experience, and its intersections with socio-political, socio-economic, and societal structures.
Review of Katy Hessel's 'The Story of Art Without Men'
Hessel removes the clamour and clutter of men from the art world and shows the shining art of women that were and are spoken over.
Review: The autobiographical poetry of 'Notes on Heartbreak' by Annie Lord
In Notes on Heartbreak, Annie Lord delicately captures and commits to paper the acute feelings of love and loss.
Hags by Victoria Smith Review
In this passionate memoir-come-manifesto, Victoria Smith analyses the social and political status of older women.
Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton
I was so late to the party of this book, but I’m glad I held off. Reading it at 22 was perfect.
‘The Sum of Us’ by Heather McGhee
McGhee asks and answers the question: ‘What if racism is driving inequality for all of us?’
'Difficult Women' by Helen Lewis
Searching for a way to define feminism, in 1913 Rebecca West wrote ‘I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat or a prostitute’ other feminists have summed it up in a single word: ‘no’.
Divided by Tim Marshall
Like Tim Marshall’s other titles, Divided takes a fresh perspective on ways to tell geopolitics.
'Animal' By Sara Pascoe
Animal is as much about, as it is to the female body.
'Stronger' by Poorna Bell
Bell frames her journey through health issues and grief alongside a journey in powerlifting, where she found an anchor, a community, and her own strength.
'Billy No-Mates' by Max Dickens
This book inspires looking inwards onto what sort of friends we are and puts into perspective the one-off pints and coffees and walks that are part of the bigger picture of friendship.
Humankind by Rutger Bregman
Humankind is an optimistic view of human’s collective and individual nature. It plays with what Bregman confesses is a ‘radical idea’ – the idea that, when a crisis hits, humans become their best selves; that people are good
In Control: Dangerous relationships and how they end in murder By Jane Monckton Smith - Review
This book, accounts from families, friends, and victims, and the work they do with various organizations and charities encourage this misunderstood crime to not be bound up with its false and stereotyped associations.
Rough by Rachel Thompson - Review
Thompson’s book is a comprehensive study of sex, sexual acts, and the factors that shape sexual interactions both before and during the act. She studies these from the perspective of societal structures that pervade the way people interact sexually, the law (or lack thereof), and consent.
Buried by Alice Roberts - Review
"(Through) archaeology…we also see ordinary people doing ordinary things, laid out in their graves with their extraordinary ordinary jewellery”.
The Authority Gap by Mary Ann Sieghart - Review
The Authority Gap between men and women means women are interrupted, disliked, doubted, questioned by themselves and others, ignored, and patronised – it also puts them in danger, means they are not taken seriously, and makes them poorer.
Men Who Hate Women by Laura Bates - Review
Men Who Hate Women is an examination of the manosphere and its many forms. She educates, dissects, analyses, and quotes the many figureheads and forums of the movement.
Edible Economics: A Hungry Economist Explains the World by Ha-Joon Chang – Review
Ha-Joon Chang’s creative novel on the economy uses his contagious love for food, and its history and cultural significance, as an anecdotal springboard to supplement discussions on political and economic theory.
'Talking to My Daughter About the Economy: A Brief History of Capitalism’ by Yanis Varoufakis - Review
Varoufakis tells us in the prologue that he wrote this book in 9 days without a plan or provisional table of contents, and loved it. He explains that he let the book write itself at his home in Aegina - thus, it effortlessly and enjoyably reads itself too.
'First Contact: The Cult of Progress' by David Olusoga - Review
The Cult of Progress moves chronologically and cartographically through interactions, trade, nations, and cultural exchange to create a biography of human history.
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