Get to Know Me

Just a girl curled up in her reading nook reading one of the authors who she thinks is underrated (not a question, just an answer!)

I should be doing some very important work in the real world, but I’d be doing procrastinators all over world a disservice if I didn’t spend a little bit of time doing something completely frivolous and fun, and totally unrelated to anything else.

A get to know me post!

I started this book blog at the end of October, and its one of my favourite things to do to help me unwind and relax from the chaos of the real world (it is the year 2020…) and from being a mum of three small children, 4 and under. So, here are a few of the questions that I’ve been asked over on my Instagram, just randomly, but I thought I’d answer them here too.

Lets go …

Hardback or Paperback

This is a no brainier for me, always a paperback. They are so much easier to carry around and don’t give me wrist pains from holding up in bed! I do love hardbacks aesthetically; I love special editions and I think they make great gifts.

2. WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY READING?

I’ve got two books on the go at the moment, one is a non-fiction (#nonfictionnovember) The Muslim Problem by Tawseef Khan and the second is fiction, Fragile Monsters by Catherine Menon. Both books have been gifted to me by publishers and will be published early next year. I’m equally excited about both but can’t offer any insights at the moment as I’m less than 10 pages in either of them.

3. THE MOST RECENT BOOK YOU COULDN’T FINISH?

This one’s easy – Dolly Alderton’s Everything I know about love. The less said the better.

4. LAST BOOK YOU RECOMMENDED TO SOMEONE?

The last book I recommended to someone was The Shadow King by Maaza Mengiste. The more I think about this book the more I love it, in fact it might be my best book of 2020… although there have been so many good books this year.

This picture has NOTHING to do with books, just sharing two of my other passions: Tea and henna!

5. FAVOURITE AUTHOR?

This is hard. I like so many authors and this year I’ve discovered so many more that I feel I need to go back and read their entire catalogue. To begin with it has to be Toni Morrison, she’s a legend and if you read nothing else, read something by her. Anything, you won’t be disappointed. I’ve always bought and read everything by both Margaret Atwood and Anne Tyler, so I think very highly of them too. Chinua Achebe, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Arundhati Roy, Maya Angelou, Alice Walker, Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams are also a few of the authors who I admire greatly and read over and over again.

6. BUYING BOOKS OR BORROWING BOOKS?

I wish I could just borrow books for eternity, but unfortunately that’s not an option. I love borrowing books, and have definitely been borrowing more audio and e-books from my library service during this pandemic, and in many ways that has kept me sane. I love buying books, especially second-hand books, as I like to own books, especially those I’ve really enjoyed. I’m also guilty of using post-it notes in my books as I like to go back and reread certain bits. This is genuinely a 50/50 split for me as I can’t afford to buy all the books I want to read and I like to borrow books and then if I love it I will buy it. I also think its environmentally friendlier to consider buying books from second-hand sources as it reduces waste.

7. BOOKMARKS OR DOG EARS?

BOOKMARKS!!!!

8. ONE POV OR MULTIPLE?

I’ve recently read a lot of books with multiple points of view and really enjoyed them, so I’m going to say multiple. Examples being: Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo, Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi, An American Marriage by Tayari Jones… convinced??

This would be my vogue cover – lets see more women reading, although maybe I should have smiled!

9. PHYSICAL BOOK OR EBOOK

About a year ago I would have said this was easy, physical book, have you smelt those beauties? In reality e-books have been keeping me afloat this year (especially ones I’ve borrowed from my local library!) Physical books are still my preference but I have a lot of love for e-books too. Who says we can’t have our cake and eat it?!

10. DO YOU LISTEN TO BOOKS?

Do I heck!!! Again, I only started to listen to audiobooks properly this year and of course I borrow them from my local library (they are absolutely free and there are no overdue fines as they magically disappear on the return date #winwin!!!) I also listen to book podcasts, shoutout to the New Yorker Fiction podcast which is one of my favourites and I used to listen to the Book at Bedtime on radio 4 many moons ago. One of the most luxurious pleasures in life is to be read to at bedtime I think.

11. FAVOURITE BOOK F 2020 SO FAR?

I’ve already touched upon Maaza Mengiste’s The Shadow King but I would have to also add a nonfiction, which s probably A Mouth Full of Blood by Toni Morrison and for poetry Citizen by Caludia Rankine. There’s still a whole month of reading to go this year so things could still change but for now these three books have really stayed with me and I’m still absorbing some of their brilliance.

So that’s it. You know almost everything worth knowing about me. I hope you find this as fu to read as I have found doing it. Let me know in the comments below if you have any other questions.