Good morning friends, happy Friday and all that!

Today I thought I would publish just a lil list of some feminist books I think everyone needs on their shelves. I've done a post like this a few years ago, but the current climate surrounding social media feminism seems to be needing yet another feminist reading list.

I'm aware of the stigma surrounding feminist books, so the list I've put together are a few more 'academic' texts but are still easily read and accessible to all, but will leave you feeling excited and inspired by the stories within. There are also a couple on the end that I haven't read yet - damn you Amazon out of stock notice - but that are firmly on my list and I'm looking forward to reading.

The Ethical Slut by Janet Hardy and Dossie Easton

Ah, of course I had to include the polyamory bible. While this book does have polyamory and ENM styles at the forefront of the focus, there are also some incredible home truths about feminism and sluthood, and I think there are even bits monogamous people could do with reading - specifically chapters on jealousy and arguments within any relationship style. Relationships, but make it feminist - that's what this book is about. 

Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay

Oh this book - this sums up everything I feel about feminism. For a quick insight into what this book discusses, read this Guardian article that Gay wrote about how she feels like a bad feminist. "Pink is my favourite colour" she says - me too, Roxane, me too. However, as Roxane is also a Black woman, this adds yet another intersectional twist on the book, and you should be prepared to have your views torn up, chewed up and spat out upon reading this book. Her journey is unique to her, but her insights appeal to everyone and that's the best kind of feminist book.

Empowered by Sarah Banet-Weiser

This book was an absolute dream of a read. It is a little more on the academic side, just to warn you - but I immensely and thoroughly enjoyed it. I recently have been doing a lot of linguistic research into social media feminism and a friend and colleague sent me this book in the hopes that it would help me out - and help me out it really did. Banet-Weiser talks about popular feminism and how it comes hand in hand with popular misogyny, and argues that popular feminism limits its potential for collective power. It is incredibly critical of neoliberal feminism (love) and offers thoughtful insights into the direction feminism is going in the 21st Century

Now for a couple on my reading list...

Revolting Prostitutes: The Fight For Sex Workers' Rights by Molly Smith & Juno Mac

I have to be totally honest - the fight for sex workers' rights has really only come onto my feminist radar very recently, and I'm so eager to know more about the world of sex workers and how we as feminists have excluded sex workers in the past, and how we can do more in the future for sex workers' rights and I think this might be a good place to learn. I think this is a topic that needs to come to the forefront of the feminist movement so if you're also thinking along the same lines as me - add this to your lists. And it's finally back in stock on Amazon so you have no excuses.

Feminism, Interrupted: Disrupting Power by Lola Olufemi

This is another I have on order right now and I'm very excited for it. Everyone should be all about intersectional texts and the idea behind this book is that we're reclaiming the word feminism from consumerism - very topical for the current climate. And it doesn't just touch on consumerism, but goes even further and discusses state violence, reproductive rights, transmisogyny and gendered Islamaphobia, all topics I know very little about. Once again, I'm so excited to dig my teeth into this and learn, learn, learn. After all - that's all we can do.

Are there any other feminist books you think I should be reading?

Emilia xx

Books I've Read Recently

I haven't done a literature post in a while! I've been really enjoying getting back into reading for pleasure (English degrees teach you how not to do that) and I thought I'd give you a little run down of the books I've read recently.

Dear Mrs Bird by AJ Pierce

This was...an interesting read. I'm not going to say I totally enjoyed it, but also not that I didn't at all, I'm really on the fence about it. Set in 1941, it details the story of Emmeline Lake, who inadvertently takes a job as a typist on a women's advice magazine, and starts answering some of the letters herself, which her boss doesn't want to know about. It took me a while to get through, I have to say, and the plot felt a little fuzzy in some areas and to be honest, the ending was a bit of a let down for me. But, that being said, I enjoyed the character development a lot and I definitely got an excellent sense of being lost in the book and feeling really engrossed in their world. I do love historical fiction and I liked how funny it was but I do think the plot got very lost here and there.

Don't You Forget About Me by Mhairi MacFarlane

This is a book I can categorically say I didn't enjoy. It's the story of chaotic Georgina Horspool who gets fired from her job and finds her boyfriend cheating on her all in the same night, and the fallout from these incidences as she finds another job where her boss is her high school "love of her life". I'm going to be completely honest - I like a book where I either adamantly like or dislike the main character, and I just felt totally indifferent towards Georgina. I didn't care what happened to her, she annoyed me at times and the entire plot was just...too much. There was way too much going on in all the characters' lives and I just felt the actual story fell totally flat between them. A 2/10 for me really.

Wilde About The Girl by Louise Pentland

Okay, finally we're getting a bit more uplifting. I read the first in Louise's Wilde series, Wilde Like Me over a year ago and just never got round to reading the second when it was released, but I was looking for something new and this caught my eye as I remember really enjoying Wilde Like Me. The third and final in the trilogy has just been released, actually, so in preparation for it to come out in paperback I decided to pick up the second. And boy did it NOT disappoint - every bit as charming and funny and lighthearted as the first, except this time dealing with the hard-hitting topic of miscarriages. When I tell you I cried, I really mean it - I was sobbing while reading on one of our NCS fundraising days and my team were actually concerned for me. It's really rare that a book makes me cry - films are a different story, but books don't tend to make me cry that much but this had me.  I loved every second of it.

Still Me by Jojo Moyes

GAH. I picked this up yonks ago in Waterstones because I didn't know it was out in paperback and pretty much screamed when I saw it was. Anyway, I finally got around to sitting down and reading it and when I say I read it over three days, I seriously mean it. It's had me hooked on my work lunch breaks, before bed, in the mornings, when I get home from work. You name a time, I've been reading it. Now listen - I LOVE Jojo Moyes. I have most of her books and adored every single one, save for the second in this series. It just fell flat. But this?? Oh, this lifted the entire series and ended it on the best note possible. It details Louisa's life after she's left for New York (spoilers for the second - sorry!) and the trials and tribulations she goes through while in a completely new part of her life. Jojo Moyes' books aren't your typical romance-y chick lit - I always finish them feeling like I've had some epiphany and gained some new perspective and inner peace in my life and this was no different. Big, big recommendation if you were also disappointed by the second book.

Two good and two not so good ones this time round!! Have you read any of these books and if so, what did you think? Or, what have you been reading recently?

Em xx

Basic Feminist Books You Need To Read

Greetings pals! It's been a while, hey? I am so sorry about the radio silence but life does get in the way sometimes

I thought today I would tell you a wee list of a few favourite feminist texts that have come into my life recently. I just finished a huge project for my American Spaces unit in which I had to do a lot of feminist reading, and while I've picked up a few of these books before, there a few new reads in here for me too, so I thought it would be cool to share them! I love a good nonfiction read and these women really know their stuff so check them out and let me know what you think.

Books I Read In April

Hi friends!! I thought I'd start a new monthly series about books on this blog!! Because I don't already talk about enough stuff on here!! Yes, you may well ask what I am on. But books are a big part of my life, being an English student and all, so I thought I might just talk about it a bit more. I also want to talk a little more about poetry and my love for it too so if you have any ideas on literature based posts you want to see please let me know!! But for now, I'm just going to talk you through six of the books that I've read and loved this month...

Maurice by E.M. Forster

This is a book I actually picked up in order to analyse it for my English essay on queer theory and queer/gender identity (sounds boring but definitely isn't, I'm so proud of that essay, took me long enough!) and I didn't expect to like it as much as I did. I'd seen the film before I read the book which I always find helps a lot with classics since they're much easier to follow that way, but actually this wasn't so bad! It's set in 1913 and is based on the struggle of a young man, Maurice, on his path to discovering and accepting his homosexuality. Given that homosexuality was obviously illegal in England at that point (crazy) it's super interesting to see how much queer narratives have changed since then. Well worth a read if that's your sort of thing.

Trumpet by Jackie Kay

Another one I read for my essay, another queer narrative that focuses much more on gender identity. I LOVE THIS BOOK. It's the only one of my course books that I've actually categorically enjoyed this year, and that I actually wanted to keep reading. It focuses on the wife of a deceased famous trumpet player, Millie, who is keeping her husband's secret (won't tell you what it is though) but her son Colman is conspiring with a journalist in order to release the secret to the world. Everything about this book, from the way that gender and racial identities are discussed, to the changing points of view, is perfect and I love it.

1984 by George Orwell

Not another classic!! BUT it's the classic that founded dystopian fiction. A tough, tough read I'll grant you that, I haven't actually finished it yet because it's taking me so long to get through it but I'm really enjoying it. I love dystopian fiction so much, I think it's definitely up there with one of my favourite genres, and this just does it so so perfectly (as you'd expect from the book that made dystopia into a thing, right) and I'm really loving it so far.

Paris For One and Other Stories by Jojo Moyes

Anyone who knows me will tell you what a huge fan of Jojo Moyes I am, I adored Me Before You and I've read several of her other books since that one and loved them all. I won't lie, I was never a fan of short stories, I didn't really get the point of them and I felt I was always left wanting more, but with this, Moyes nails the genre so well. She ties up all the knots and into a beautiful little parcel at the end of each story and it leaves you not wanting more, but feeling fulfilled and happy because they're all such perfect stories. I love the beauty she writes romance, and the twists she always puts in her stories, and if you've read The Girl You Left Behind then you'll want to read one of the stories in this book as it's a little prequel and it's just so perfect.

The Beach House by Jane Green

Jane Green is another author who I've begun to get really into. I've read one of her other books, Falling and loved it, so when I was given this one for Christmas I was sure I'd love it equally as much. And it's not that I don't love it, but I don't love it as much. It's got that multiple narration thing going on in it, the same sort of thing we see in Love Actually, lots of different stories going on at the same time, and generally that's a really cool idea, I just felt that in The Beach House, there were almost too many narrations going on and I felt it was kind of easy to get lost in that, and forget which storylines belonged to which characters and so on, and lose the plot a little bit. That being said though, the actual way Jane Green writes is amazing, her detailed descriptions really draw you into the novel and she has this amazing ability to feed the reader information bit by bit and it does keep you hooked. I felt the twist at the end was a tad implausible, but then again, that's going to happen in every book we read!!

Bridget Jones' Diary by Helen Fielding

What a classic. More of a modern classic though, I'd say. I love Bridget Jones. I've seen all the films and adored them and most of all I just love the character of Bridget Jones so much. She's that character that everyone can relate to in some way, no matter if you're in exactly the same situations as her or just see your life playing out in the same way, there's going to be something that happens to Bridget or something that Bridget does that you'll be able to relate to. I also love diary narratives, I think they're such an immersive way of reading literature, they really make the reader feel like they're living the life of that character and I think it's so cool that a simple technique like a diary format can do that. Even just for a light read this is such a good book, I think everyone should read this at some point or anything because it's just fantastic.

And we're finally at the end of my rambling on about books!! Let me know if you like this and want to see more, or just in general if you want to see more literature based posts!

What books have you been reading recently?

Em xx

100 Books Over 2 Years

It doesn't sound so hard when you say 100 books over 2 years, does it?!

For Christmas this year, my parents gave me this really cool scratch off bucket list with 100 books on it, ranging from classics to modern literature that basically, everyone needs to read.

I've set myself the challenge of completing this within two years, which sounds easy but when you realise there's 104 weeks in two years which pretty much means a week on each book, it starts to sound a lot harder! I feel like Victor Hugo's Les Mis is going to take me at least six months to get through, have you seen the size of that thing?! It literally looks like a house brick and while I might love the musical the book is an entire different kettle of fish!

Anyway, I digress. I've decided to try and do this for a number of different reasons, the first being that I've just got out of the habit of reading. I was one of those kids that could read by the age of four or five, babbling away to anyone who would listen about my favourite book named "A Million Chameleons" (or Chimmies Millies as I used to call it) and those amazing Rainbow Magic books we all loved at that age. I loved them so much I painted the fairies in a fruit bowl still life in a Year 3 art class...

My point is that I loved books. And then when I got to GCSE English Literature, I kind of fell out of love with them. Seriously, GCSE Lit is enough to make anyone dislike reading. To Kill A Mockingbird is on this list and I'm really not looking forward to having to pick that book up again because I remember how much I hated studying it. I'm still not a fan of classics, one thing an English Lit degree has taught me so far is that 19th century classics are not my thing. Dickens especially. Give me a Jane Austen and I'll devour it but Dickens? No thank you. But at the same time, having a wide range of literary knowledge is so important, not just if you're doing an English Lit degree.  I just need to get myself back into the habit of reading and reading properly so hopefully this will do it for me!!

So one of my goals this year is one book a week every week this entire year and hopefully I will have finished half the list by the end of the year. Wish me luck, anyway!!

What sort of books do you like reading?

Em xx

November Favourites

Welcome to the most generic blogmas post ever!! I'm sure we're all bashing this one out at the moment so hopefully mine won't be too samey same!!

The Summer Edit

I struggled doing this edit, I really did! I have so many things that I love doing in summer and stuff like that and it took all my willpower to stop myself writing a ten page essay for this blog post!

Makeup – I never really wear a heavy base in summer, I generally leave it at eyeshadow, mascara, eyeliner and a touch of concealer. In summer you obviously sweat more (I won’t bore you with all my GCSE biology knowledge here) and a lot of foundation blocks your pores, trapping the sweat underneath and making your skin even worse than it already might be! I didn’t show my favourite concealer at the moment because there is a massive review coming, but it is the Seventeen Stay Time 18hr concealer.

First we have this eyeshadow palette, which is a Makeup Revolution Redemption palette in Iconic 3. I’m loving the matte shades in it to create a really soft, natural smoky eye. Paired with a slick of black or grey eyeliner and a lot of mascara – Black/Brown, I find black too heavy for summer! – it makes the perfect summery eye.

Then, my favourite lipstick ever! The Revlon Matte Balm in Sultry. Somehow I always find myself going back to this. A lot of people prefer matte shades in the winter but I just love this colour. It looks quite dark but comes out pretty bright on me. After not wearing it for ages because I thought it was too dark I’ve since rediscovered it and I’m using it almost as a sheer tint.

Nails – I don’t really like wearing bright colours on my fingernails, but for toes I go all out! For toes I’m loving this mini Nails Inc polish in Blandford Street, it’s a sort of corally-orangey-reddy colour and is perfect for summer. So bright, it makes me so much happier and confident (for someone who doesn’t like their feet very much) whenever I wear it. For my fingernails I love nude shades, and at the moment this Bourjois So Laque polish in Indispen-sable just bites the bullet for me. The only slight irk I have with these polishes (I have a couple others) is that the “up to 10 days” claim isn’t really true, it lasts for three at the most without a topcoat. Admittedly I haven’t tried it with a topcoat but hey, stay tuned for that one!

Fragrance – I’ve been loving Next’s Sparkle at the moment! One my and my younger sister share (I wear it more than she does) but it’s so summery and floral. But it’s also got undertones of citrus in as well, making it the most perfect blend of fruity and floral in the same bottle. Would highly recommend.

Other  - I’ve been reading so many books lately, and this one is one of my favourites at the moment. It’s a rewrite of Sense and Sensibility by Joanna Trollope, originally by Jane Austen. The difference? It’s set in modern day. Because of this, Trollope manages to incorporate some real-life issues into it, such as the issues surrounding inheritance and females, and things like that. It’s so good! If you’re looking for something a little more light then I’ve also been adoring the Princess Diaries series – they are so funny! And the pair of sandals I have shown are these ones from New Look - so so so so so comfortable. It's good to have a comfortable pair of sandals for summer for those days out where you know you'll be doing some walking but still don't want your feet to overheat! (that rhymed)

I’d love to hear any summer essentials you have too! Comment or drop me an email ^.^

Emilia xx