Monday 15th September 2025

Books

Animal History: Reviewed

If an older adult has ever raised their eyebrow at your vegetarianism, then I might just have the book for you. They might be interested in knowing that even...

Review: Sketches from a Curious Mind

In 1962, Edward Anthony wrote: “Writing a book of poetry is like dropping a...

Academia is hell, literally: R.F. Kuang’s ‘Katabasis’

R.F. Kuang’s Katabasis touches on a range of near-universal academic experiences: impostor syndrome; frantic,...

Reading Oxford books in Oxford

For those who have not even set foot in Oxford, the city still lives...

Of Libraries, With Love

"Here we are in a city of libraries, and it is never enough."

My Favourite Childhood Book: Anne of Green Gables

"Anne is such an iconic figure in children’s literature that I’m sure many relate to my enjoyment of her character"

On Russian History

"The concern with history as a way of understanding the past purveys much of this book."

Have A Hot Girl Hilary!

Deborah Ogunnoiki reviews Oloni's sex guide The Big O on how to have a healthy sex life, just in time for 'Hot Girl Hilary'.

Babel, or the Beauty of Multilingualism

Emerald Ace-Acquah reflects on the complexities of language, colonisation, and power, as explored in R. F. Kuang's new novel.

Spare – Is Harry’s book another step in the road to a United Republic?

"It is possible, therefore, to feel intensely sorry for Harry, treated as he has been, without forgiving him for this very public falling out with the nation."

Things Forough Farrokhzad taught me 

"She taught me never to be ashamed of living a bold life"

Why Isn’t Dystopian Fiction Fun Anymore?

"I wonder if the dystopian novels that we read...are really so far off from our own reality"

Irmgard Keun’s normal superwomen

Lori Latour reviews the life and work of the 20th century German novelist Irmgard Keun.

“The world outside our window”: Musings on Marvel

It was recently announced that Penguin Classics would be publishing special editions of certain Marvel comic books. The comics will be part of a...

In conversation with Francesca Tacchi

Any book that begins with the sentence “Every day is a good day to kill Nazis” is bound to catch my interest. Luckily for...

Netflix’s Newest Sweetheart

Originally posted as a webcomic series on Tumblr in 2019, Alice Oseman’s Heartstopper became an instant hit. It has been adored internationally for its...

Maxim Biller and Ukraine: The resignation of a German-Jewish author?

I am well aware that for the sake of switching off from university, or from the cruel news about Ukraine, it is better to...

Ismat Chughtai on Indian female experiences

The Quilt and Other Stories is a 1994 compilation of short stories by Ismat Chughtai (1915-1991), a prolific writer of 20th-century India. She occupied...

In conversation with Elaine Hsieh Chou

Sonya Ribner interviews author Elaine Hsieh Chou.

Review – Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention

a review of the book 'Stolen Focus' by Johann Hari

Rubbish representation in schools, syllabuses and beyond

But it’s not good enough to leave it to often privileged tutors, canon-compilers and Education Secretaries to dictate which texts we study. Time and time again, they have failed to achieve even the remotest degree of representation, a damning outcome in a subject which is so linked to identity and the self. The texts we study at school and beyond should be chosen and shaped by the diverse populations reading them.

The revival of the print book

I think there’s just something special about holding a book in your hands, something unique and timeless that isn’t replicated in a e-book.

Dystopian fiction: comforting or terrifying?

In the cultural moment of the pandemic it may be an attractive idea to compare present society to fictional dystopias. The sense of fear, the limits imposed on people’s rights, the ubiquity of screens, widespread surveillance, the spin tactics of the press, and the hypocrisy of leading political figures are all features of a dystopia.

Reading ‘The Waste Land’ 100 years on

"As the centenary of perhaps the two towering works of literary modernism, T. S. Eliot’s The Waste Land and James Joyce’s Ulysses, 2022 appears a natural time to reflect on the present day significance of these texts. Such an impulse can only be furthered by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has caused many to use literary works as a means of processing, alleviating, or escaping from present reality."

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