Category: book shops
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They may not exist but they keep producing good work
In the month that the Scottish courts finally went so far down the rabbit hole they’ve succeeded in convincing themselves that women don’t exist as a material entity, the tabloid press have reached the point where most people are aware that something rather silly is going on but most have yet to realize the gravity…
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Kingdom of Olives and Ash
Writers confront the occupation edited by Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman It’s hard to imagine what military occupation is like, if you’ve never had the misfortune to experience it. You try, and you’re never sure you’ve got there. It’s why I’ve been reading this collection put together in conjunction with Breaking the Silence, an organization…
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Winchester Writers’ Conference and the End of the World
How long ago was it? It feels like a hundred years, and just last year. Hang on, Terry Pratchett gave the plenary speech … When did he die? I picked up a book in the library and it reminded me of something important. It was … Okay … it was well over a decade ago.…
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No, this is the best feminist book … no, THIS is… No, wait…
We were sitting around cabaret tables, at the end of the main conference day. In front of us, a promising array of glasses and cutlery and other shiny things. At the top of the room, on the other side of an expanse of empty carpet that would no doubt soon be full of activity, long…
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All human life
All human life on the planet is born of woman – Adrienne Rich That quote introduces the editor’s column in the latest edition of The Radical Notion which I intended to lose myself in, but people just kept lending me books, and suggesting I read books, some of which were immediately irresistible and so the…
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What do puberty blockers and statins have in common?
The book Why We Eat (Too Much) is three years old now, but there’s a recent edition with an added chapter about COVID. The book tells how the author, Andrew Jenkinson, a surgeon who, after working in a bariatric clinic (specializing in last-ditch treatments for obesity), decided that our medical world doesn’t know enough about…
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Battles for the moral high ground
(by fair means or foul) My life ran to sublime chaos last week. I was determined not to read all the Strike books – it’s not just that they’re huge, it’s that they are huge and they are compulsive page-turners, so they guarantee you a week at least of putting your keys in the fridge…
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The woman in white
An addition to my occasional series in which I have fun reviewing old books — in this case because I’ve realised that for me, and anyone else who’s discovered real feminism or anti-racism in recent years, it’s well worth looking again at books you read years ago – it’s amazing how they change, in the…
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Is your bookshop hiding anything from you?
In the last few weeks, Hannah Barnes’ new book, Time to Think has been eagerly awaited. Anxious parents are concerned about schools being told to keep secrets from them, and about what their children are learning about sex and gender on TikTok. In political circles, the existence or otherwise of ‘innate gender identity’ is a…
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Come on in, it’s what you’ve been dreaming of…?
It sets off as a second person narrative, and doesn’t give you a name. He’s wading through a typical day which may or may not be the same as yours, but you’ll relate to the wading. And then something weird happens. I think everyone from H G Wells to David Nobbs has written this story…
Kay Green 