Time for Tea

Another good idea for a Christmas present is to treat a loved one to a spot of tea somewhere special. You could make an event of it, or do it as part of a day trip or shopping expedition.

Here are a couple of places I'd recommend in London and the south:-

Christmas ideas- Non fiction

One of my new years resolutions for 2014 was to read more non-fiction- I've kind of failed on this one.

Still, here are some non-fiction releases that have caught my eye, and are potential ideas for Christmas presents:-

skilful openers

These aren't necessarily the best first lines in books ever to be written, but I still think they're pretty accomplished and make you want to read more:

1.

"5^th, I know that woman. She used to live with a flock of birds on Lenox Avenue. Know her husband, too. He fell for an eighteen-year-old girl with one of those deepdown, spooky loves that made him so sad and happy he shot her just to keep the feeling going." 
Toni Morrison, Jazz 

2. 

"Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice."

-          Gabriel García Márquez, A Hundred Years of Solitude   

3.

"Does such a thing as ‘the fatal flaw’, that shadowy dark crack running down the middle of life, exist outside of literature? I used to think it didn’t. Now I think it does. And I think mine is this: a morbid longing for the picturesque at all costs."

-          Donna Tartt, The Secret History 

4.

 "When I think of my wife, I always think of her head. The shape of it, to begin with. The first time I saw her it was the back of her head I saw, and there was something lovely about it, the angles of it. Like a shiny, hard corn kernel or a riverbed fossil. She had what the Victorians would call a finely shaped head. You could imagine the skull quite easily."

-Gillian Flynn, Gone Girl 

What do you think of my choices? Do you have a favourite opening line? 

Bookish Birthday

Yay! It's my birthday today and at the grand age of 26 I feel I am officially a grown adult woman. So to honour the occasion I've put together a small ideas for the literature-lover in your life.


1. Doubleplusgood necklace, quoted from Nineteen Eighty-Four, £28.00, sold here   

I'm a fan of Orwell, so things makes my list. Also it's bang on trend at the moment as delicate gold  accessories are going to be massive this summer.

2. Bookish....and proud of it notebook, £7.99, sold here

I'm always slightly cautious when I get a new notebook as I don't want to spoil it with my dreadful handwriting. Both these notebooks would be perfect for readers to write reviews of make lists of what they want to read next.

3. Old Junk, Penguin Notebook, £8.99, sold here 

4. Roland Dahl Matilda t-shirt, £19.99, sold here 

I think Matilda is my favourite Roald Dahl, but the Fantastic Mr Fox and BFG are also pretty wonderful.

5. Game of Thrones, Westeros leggings, $85.00 AUD, sold here 

Possibly over-priced (and I'm not totally sure I could pull these off) but as a huge GoT fan I had to include these snazzy Black Milk leggings. The print also comes in a dress.  

6. From small seeds necklace, £20.00, sold here

 Staying on the Game of Thrones theme, I think the tree on this locket look like it belongs in a weirwood.

7. Personalised Penguin Kindle Cover, £19.99, sold here

This is so cool! You could use the details of your fave book, but  I think I would be tempted to use my own name as the author, or is that a bit sad? I really love the classic penguin design, when I went to a charity shop I had to really resist buying a bulk lot of these orange and white books, but as I didn't actually want to read any of them it felt a bit fake.

If you want to find my previous gift ideas see here:

• presents for readers 
• presents for tea-drinkers 
• presents for writers
• presents for potterheads  
• presents for feminists 

Or if you are on a budget or fancy giving a home-made present, check out my DIY ideas here:-

quote bunting 

framed penguin postcards 

I'm off to enjoy my day! 

Fictional Bucket List

For those of you who don't know, a bucket list is a list of wishes/goals you want to achieve during your life, for example swim with sharks or gamble in Las Vegas etc. A fictional bucket list is the same idea, but with a fantasy twist. 

So here's my literary bucket list:- 

1. Spend a term as Hogwarts, go shopping at Diagon Alley and play a practical joke on the Weasley twins (Harry Potter, J.K Rowling) 

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2. Offer Achilles and Patroclus some relationship advice (Song of Achilles, Madeline Miller) 

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3. Explore the spires of Oxford with Lyra and find out what shape my dæmon takes (Northern Lights, Philip Pullman)  

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4. Shape-shift with Loki and swim with Jörmungandr to the base of Yggdrasil, the world tree (Ragnarok, A.S Byatt 

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5. Have a jousting lesson with Brienne, learn about poisons at the House of Black and White and stand at the top of the wall with Jon Snow (Song of Ice and Fire, George R. R Martin)

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6. Party hard at Gatsby's (The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald) 

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7. Make Rhett Butler give a damn (Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell) 

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 had so much fun coming up with this list. II'd love to know what you'd include in your fictional bucket list- add your suggestions in the comment below. 

mother's day book list

It's mother's day this Sunday, and although my family don't celebrate it (not that we don't appreciate our mum) I thought I'd put together a list of books that put parent/child relationships at their core.

So, if you want to gently steer your mum away from Maeve Binchy or Joanna Trollope have a look under the jump for my suggestions:-

5 graphic novels I'd like to read

Graphic novels are not a genre I've ever really explored, I've only read one, Persepolis but after reading various reviews on Amazon and Good Reads, I think I might be missing out.

Here's a list of 5 graphic novels I have my eye on:

1. The Walking Dead Compendium Volume 1, Robert Kirkman 

I'm a huge fan of the tv show, so would love to see how the original story deviates. If you're not familiar, basically The Walking Dead is about a zombie apocalypse and the destruction of society. Originally released as comics, this compendium includes numbers 1-48 and is a whopping 1088 pages! It is pricey though at over £30, and there is another compendium after this one. I can see how an interest in comic/graphic novels will be expensive.

2. The Nao of Brown, Glyn Dillon       

This novel is about OCD, and as I have an interest in mental illness I'd like to give it a try.

3. Black Hole, Charles Burns 

This sounds right up my street, a story about a plague effecting teenagers in the suburbs of Seattle.

4. Fun Home, Alison Bechdel 

I first heard of  Alison Bechdel test through watching a youtube vid by Anita Sarkeesian (link), basically the Bechdel analysis the gender equality in a film, to pass the film must have have at least two named women who talk to each other about something other than a man. Most films can't even reach this small requirement, and the figures are even lower when the test is applied to POC. 

Anyway, so my point is Alison Bechdel seems like an awesome woman fighting the patriarchy so I'm really interested in reading Fun Home, her memoir about growing up in her dysfunctional family.   

5. Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea, Guy Delisle 

I used to live in South Korea, and have peered into the North when I visited the DMZ, so this graphic novel travelogue is very appealing.  Guy Delisle has also written other graphic novels about Jerusalem and Shenzen, both of which I've been fortunate enough to travel to, and quite fancy reading as well, though Pyongyang is first on my list 

last minute crimbo book ideas

If you're stuck for ideas for a present to give your book-loving friend/relative, hopefully this list will give you some inspiration. 

Scarlett Thomas' The End of Mr Y and Donna Tartt's The Secret History are perfect presents for university students. The End of the Mr Y, is a thrilling adventure that includes a cursed book, time travel and literary theory. The Secret History is a great one for classicists, eccentric misfits at prestigious New English collage engage in a Bacchus frenzy. The Secret History is one of my all time favourite books, the charismatic students, intelligence and arch wit of this novel make a lasting impression.

Scarlett Thomas, The End of Mr Y (ISBN: 9781847670700)

If the intended recipient has an interest in queer literature, Giovanni's room by James Baldwin is a good place to start. Passionate and beautifully written the novel focuses on the relationship between an American man living in Paris and an Italian barman. For a list other recommended LGBT novels see here.

James Baldwin, Giovanni's Room (ISBN:780552990363)

For those with an interest in travel or for those who are about to embark on a gap year I would recommend the following: Marching Powder by Rusty young, a cautionary tale of a young man  who is caught trying to smuggle cocaine out of Boliva and is sent to the infamous San Pedro prison. Pedro Juan Cutierrez's Dirty Havana Trilogy can be found in youth hostels the world over, a condemnatory expose of poverty, vice and tourism in Cuba. Shantaram recalls the epic adventurers (though it is debatable how much is true) of the author's, time in India during the early 80's. From escaped convict, to slum doctor, to Bollywood actor to Mujahedeen fighter, Gregory David Robert's story certainty isn't dull.

Gregory David Roberts, Shantaram (ISBN: 9780349117546)

Next on my list of suggestions are two book by two very different Japanese authors, Haruki Murakami and Koushun Takami. Norwegian Wood is one of the more accessible Murakami novels, as it is less surreal compared to his other fiction. It is a simple and beautiful story of first love, mental illness and Beatles music. Takami's Battle Royal is the original Hunger Games, a class of schoolchildren are forced to fight each other on a remote Island.

Haruki Murkami, Norwegian Wood (ISBN: 9780099528982)

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danilewski has a cult following and is very difficult to summarise, I've never read anything like it. It is a twisting, experimental labyrinth of a book. Fantastic for students that have had to sit through lectures on 'the uncanny' or fans of post-modernism. House of Leaves starts with a simple narrative about a house that is bigger on the inside than the outside, but turns complex, bewildering and frightening. There are lots of different editions of this book, but  I recommend buying the full colour.

Mark Z. Danieleski, House of Leaves  (ISBN: 9780375703768) 

Mark Z. Danieleski, House of Leaves  (ISBN: 9780375703768) 

Mark Z. Danieleski, House of Leaves  (ISBN: 9780375703768) 

Hopefully this has given you some ideas, only 3 more days to go!  If you are in need of more inspiration, check out this list of novels to give a fan of war books or gift ideas for a feminist, Potterhead or writer. Or if you've got a book in mind, check my review tag, to see what I thought

Literary Clothing

I've previously mentioned in other gift guides places to buy literature related clothing, and I've just found another one to add to the list:- The Affair. This company takes a more abstract approach rather than bog-standard book covers printed on t-shirts.

George Orwell, Animal Farm

The t-shirts retail for £29.90, which is quite responsible considering that they only produced in small runs. Also at the moment they're doing a really good deal of 3 mystery t-shirts for £44.8

If these aren't your style, but you still fancy some novel clobber, have a browse on these sites:-

• TruffleShuffle: for Roald Dahl, Wizard of Oz and Harry Potter t-shirts and hoodies
• Out of Print Clothing: literature related apparel, bags and accessories- I can't decide if my favourite is the 1984 t-shirt, or the Great Gatsby jumper. If you want to buy Out of Print Clothing in the UK have a look on amazon
• The Literary Gift Company: so many great titles to choose from, including children and adults books
• Litograph: These are really clever, the entire book it printed on the t-shirt with an illustration. For example Bullfinch's mythology is illustrated with a picture of Medusa. 
• Skreened: 'I party with Jay Gatsby' is my favourite t-shirt slogan, they also have Catcher in the Rye, To Kill a Mocking Bird and The Perks of Being a Wallflower items.
• Red Molotov. This Atticus Finch one is my favourite.
• Rupert and Buckley. This t-shirts include funny literary puns, 'Annoy me and you'll get the Bronte of my sisters', 'I'm no plain Jane I'm Austentatious! 

Presents for a Potterhead

It's been six years since the last book was published, but the magic can live on with these Harry Potter inspired gifts:-

1.  'Oculus Reparo' illustration print (£15.00 from here)

2. Glasses and Scar ring (£17.81 from here)

3. Butterbeer bag (£7.63 from here)

4. Marauders Map dress (from here)

5. Butterbeer lipbalm  (£2.38 from here)

She wants the D(estruction of the patriarchy). Gifts for feminists

Ok, slightly specialised, but still here is a list of gift ideas for the feminist reader in your life.

1. If you're after a fiction book good authors to try (my favourites in brackets);

•  Margret Atwood (The Handmaids Tale, actually any of her books are winners, my review of Madaddam)
•  Angela Carter (The Passion of New Eve)
• Toni Morrison ( Jazz)
• Octavia E. Butler
• Sarah Waters (Fingersmith)
• Suzanne Collins (for your adolescent feminist, Hunger Games)     

This list is in no way comprehensive, and also there is plenty of non-fiction book on feminist thought out there. People worth checking out include, Judith Butler, Pat Califia and Patricia Hill Collins.

2. A Book from Persephone Book store (here) a specialised bookshop dedicated to neglected (mostly women) mid-twentieth century fiction and non-fiction. Organised by categories such a 'Suffragettes', 'A Woman's Place' and 'Gender and race'. The covers are also beautiful and simply designed.

If you don't want to get your favourite feminist a book, here are some other suggestions:

3.  Feminist Brooch (£9.00 from here). Also comes in a snazzy necklace.

4. Feminist Killjoy Banner (£8.63 from here)

5. Margaret Atwood Print (£9.58 from here)

6. 'she is too fond of books and it has turned her brain' Notebook (£7.95 from here)

7. Uterus Plush ($20.00 from here)

8. Feminist Embroidery Hoop (£14.93 from here)

9. 'well behaved women rarely make history' tote bag (£9.59 from here). A nice Christmas idea would be to buy a bag like this, and then pop a feminist novel inside.

10. NUWSS replica badge (£13.50 from here)

11. A Room of Ones Own print (£19.95+ from here)