Bookstagram: is it ethical to ask for payment to review an indie (or any) book? Spoiler: absolutely f**king not

Over the past few days there's been a lot of posts in the bookstagram community on either side of the "should we ask authors to pay for reviews" fence. Hands up, I genuinely didn't even know this was a thing until these posts began to show up after an initial post by (I think, please…

5 Books, 1 City: epic reads from the Big Apple

I know I've said it before, and I'll likely say it again, but I want to start blogging more regularly again. It's just the times just now init? Lot going on and that and it's tough enough to keep up with actual work let alone stuff like blogging. But I do enjoy it, and I…

Blog Tour || A Burning – an intense and thought-provoking debut ovel

I'm absolutely delighted to be taking part in the #Bookstagram tour today for A Burning by Megha Majumdar so I wanted to keep spreading the word of this incredible debut by posting about it on here too. The story is told through the viewpoint of three characters, each leading different lives, as they are caught…

Books I can’t wait to read in 2021

Is it too late to say Happy New Year? Sod it, Happy New Year everyone. I hope you're all safe and well and coping okay. I've had a rough time of it head wise in the last month or so, hence my absence, but I'm gradually starting to feel a little better, a little more…

5 Books, 1 City: eclectic reads from Lagos

Last time around I discussed five books, some well known, others not so well known, from Edinburgh. This week I'm bringing you five reads all based in Lagos, Nigeria. Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie This stunning novel is full of incredibly heart-wrenchingly beautiful writing. if you've never read Adichie's work before I recommend this as…

NetGalley ARCs on my shelf that I can’t wait to read

I've really upped my game with keeping up with my NetGalley reading. I figure it's the least I can do since publishers are so kindly giving over their books for free. I'm currently at 79% but most of the titles on my shelf aren't out until 2021 so I've got a decent amount of time…

5 Books, 1 City: from academic horrors to a messed up ‘polis’ or two in Edinburgh

The New York Times recently ran a piece that highlighted one horror novel from each US State and I thought it was an amazing idea. I wanted to do something similar on here without it being a complete rip off so I came up with listing (at least) 5 "essential" novels all based in one…

Craving the dark side in the spookiest month? How about some dark academia?

There's something about universities and schools that lend themselves so well to books with a darker tone. The settings themselves, usually Ivy League or similar, along with the smart-arse full of themselves characters that authors tend to conjure to populate the hallowed halls, mingle so well. From secret societies to posh kids gone wild, to…

What I read in September 2020

September has been yet another absolute weirdo of a month. Coronavirus feels like it's getting well out of control again globally but it's also coinciding with a lot of people giving significantly less of a shit about it. It's terrifying how many people think a global pandemic is some sort of mind-control hoax but here…

Under the radar haunted house novels you need to know about

I don't know about you but my mind is firmly on Halloween (y'know, apart from the millions of other things we have to think and worry about) and specifically my TBR list for the run up to the spookiest day. The haunted house is my favourite horror sub-genre so I spend a lot of time…