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June 17, 2017

Review: The Lives of Others

I don’t obsess about finishing a book that is draining the will to live from every fibre of my being. Time is finite and there are way, way too many brilliant books out there to discover. Apart from that, if I struggle with a book, it can put me off reading for a while –…

August 13, 2016

Saturday Review: The word for world is forest

I’d been going through one of those phases where – despite being surrounded by unread books – I had no desire to read any. I started a couple but neither of them really grabbed me. So, I thought, why not read this tiny book I picked up randomly at a bookstore a few months ago?…

July 30, 2016

Saturday Review: Station Eleven

Station Eleven starts with a production of King Lear and soon plunges into an illness that kills something like 99% of the world’s population.

July 23, 2016

Saturday Review: The End of the World Running Club

I feel the need to celebrate. Finally, finally, I have read another book that I absolutely adore. You know an author has done something wonderful when they make you cry. The End of the World Running Club is a story set in the aftermath of (what sounds like) much of the northern hemisphere being struck…

July 16, 2016

Saturday Review: A little life

I like stories that open with a bang and drag you straight into the story. This is not one of those books.

July 9, 2016

Saturday Review: The five people you meet in heaven

The five people you meet in heaven is a book about a surly old American man who, well, dies and meets five important people from his past when he gets to heaven.

July 2, 2016

Saturday Review: Londonstani

This is a book set in the town where I grew up and went to school. Reading it was like jumping in a TARDIS and finding myself thrust back into the world of playground politics. So naturally, I didn’t take an immediate shine to it.

February 21, 2016

The importance of a strong instigating event

The impact of the instigating event can be crucial when telling a story. I finished reading Brown Girl in the Ring earlier this week. It’s a dystopian urban fantasy set in Toronto. The story revolves around the world of Caribbean mysticism/magic and how some of the residents of the – now largely abandoned – city,…

February 13, 2016

Why emotion matters

Some people don’t understand my fascination with apocalyptic and dystopian fiction. The thing is, I’ve always loved fantastical tales. When I around four I became obsessed with Enid Blyton’s The Faraway Tree (I’d listen to the book on tape as I fell asleep), I loved C.S. Lewis’s Narnia (specifically the Lion, the Witch and the…

July 11, 2015

The importance of action and context

Start with a bang. I see that advice all the time from published authors who’ve decided to share their expertise. Let’s have none of this slow build up nonsense, you want to get readers right into the action.