One otterly bookish nerd shares her thoughts
2020 has been a year shaped by a global pandemic, which has unsurprisingly in turn shaped my own reading, but something else has also happened. I seem to have read a startling number of books which feature or make reference to global pandemics. Of course the writers of these novels could have had no idea… Continue reading The Pull of the Stars: An Account of the 1918 Flu Which Feels Eerily and Uncannily Familiar
Can reading help you to understand societal issues and the life experience/lived experience of those who are different from you? Studies have linked reading fiction with an increase in charitable giving, improvements in wellbeing and better relationship building. Studies have also found that reading can hugely benefit society at large, and empathy is key to… Continue reading Reading and Empathy:Can reading fiction make you a more empathetic person?
A slightly different Otterly Amazing reads coming at you today. Throughout May I am celebrating all things historical fiction. I’m a huge fan of the genre, but this has not always been the case. It’s only in the last 8 years or so that I have become interested in the books set in the past;… Continue reading Otterly Amazing Reads: What Makes Historical Fiction?
A wrap up within a week of the end of the month? By my standards this is a pretty big achievement and April was a bumper month in terms of my reading. So many fabulous books came out throughout April - a much needed boost during the first full month of lockdown here in the… Continue reading April Wrap Up
Do you have any books which you put off reading? You just knew you’d probably love them, they sound so wonderful and you’re seeing it in every bookshop (or online but I found today’s book well before I found bookstagram). Everyone loves said book, but what if you’re that one anomaly who doesn’t. What if… Continue reading Otterly Amazing Reads: The Night Circus
So March was an odd month wasn’t it. No matter where you are in the world I am sure that your everyday life changed in some ways (or perhaps significantly). March was always going to be a month of change for me. My partner and I moved into our new home. Having spent six weeks… Continue reading My March Wrap Up
Bookworms tend to be slightly obsessive. I count myself among that number. I collect books at a rate which makes my bank balance dwindle and bookshelves sag. I talk about books with anyone who will listen and feel slightly uncomfortable when daily life requires me to be seperated from my current read. That scene in… Continue reading The Popularity of Retellings: Why have they become our new literary obsession?
Reader, I’ll start with an apology for giving in to the whole Valentines thing, but I hope you’ll forgive me as this remains very much a bookish post. I was pondering on what would make a good post in the spirit of this most commercial of days. Love it or not this day is an… Continue reading Me and my love affair with books
Having read Clemantine Wamariya harrowing, human and ultimately hopeful account of her childhood as a refugee fleeing the civil war in Rwanda I’m genuinely unsure how to write a review. Partly because the central theme of this story is Warmariya attempt to find her voice, to take the pain and suffering of her young life… Continue reading The Girl Who Smiled Beads: An authentic, honest and fresh story about war and its effects
She walks up the boulevard. But she changes direction, crosses, and the broken angle of her path is sharp enough to puncture the space like a nail that catches on a piece of fabric and tears along its length" A mini review of this short novel which lingered with me long after I had finished… Continue reading The Collection by Nina Leger
