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Too much to do too little time

It’s that time of the year again (insert eye rolls and an echo of “again, again, again…”): I’m too busy to do much writing. Since I have been reading a lot and do want to keep you updated, I’d hereby like to present you with my list of unfinished blogposts. Want to know what they are about? Read on! Firstly, I’m working on my next lecture series. This year, it’s about Paul Lynch Booker-Prize…

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“I love walking in London”: Celebrating 100 Years of Mrs Dalloway During our Annual School Trip

Every May, I go on a school trip to London. While the programme doesn’t usually vary much (we walk a lot, visit the highlights, and go to museums and a musical), this year it felt very different. That’s because last week, we realised that it was one hundred years ago to the day that Virginia Woolf’s masterpiece Mrs Dalloway was published. To celebrate this anniversary, I wanted to find out…

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Travel/Books: My literary holiday in Sicily

It is often said that you can only truly know yourself if you read. It is also often said that you can only truly know yourself if you travel and visit other cultures. I’m currently on holiday in Gravà, a tiny village in Sicily, and I don’t only explore the rich culture here, but whenever I’m not driving around the island, I spend my time buried in a book. After this holiday, I’ll definitely know…

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Don't Look Away - We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver

Fiction can change the world. Recently, the success of the Netflix series Adolescence, about a young boy who kills a girl after he’s been influenced by the so-called “manosphere”, led to fierce debate in the British House of Commons on whether they should impose stronger regulations on social media. We should ban social media, we should pay more attention to misogynist content, and parents should…

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"I seem to have fallen out of time" – The Hours by Michael Cunningham

I am currently in the recreational area in a hospital, waiting for my partner’s operation to be finished. This will take almost two hours, but I’m afraid it will feel double that amount of time. That’s because time passes at a different pace in hospitals. Everything is strictly organised, which means you don’t need to look at the clock at all. That’s why it was such a relief to read Michael…

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It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World – Vlees en Bloed by Vincent Kortmann

I promised I would make it up to you. In my previous post, in which I wrote about how awful I felt about having only read four novels by women this year – out of nineteen, I said I would read more feminist literature. Imagine how I’m feeling now, with the title of this post and two men on the cover of a novel written by a man. That’s because Vlees en bloed, by Dutch author Vincent Kortman, is so…

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Why It Took Me So Long to Write a Blog Post

I’m back! It’s been almost a month since I last wrote anything on my blog, which I hate. I do think I have a good reason, though – and the usual “I was very busy” is only part of it. This means that, yes, I was busy, but I was busy with many, many bookish things. Want to know which things? Read on! Busy thing one: So far, I’ve read seventeen books this year, which means I read approximately two…

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The Sweetest Love Story in the World - Esio Trot by Roald Dahl

It’s Valentine’s Day! Usually, I don’t care that much about this so-called Day of Love (in fact, this morning I travelled to Spain with a friend of mine, leaving my boyfriend behind for over a week), but I couldn’t resist sharing Roald Dahl’s short children’s story Esio Trot with you, which really is the perfect Valentine’s read. Want to know why? Read on! Esio Trot is about a Mr Hoppy, an aging…

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A Different Point of View - Orbital by Samantha Harvey

A couple of days ago, I was feeling quite ill. Usually, when call in sick for work, I spend my day on the couch in front of the tv, my laptop by my side so I could still do something useful if I wanted to. Whenever I’m ill, my world becomes very small. Thankfully, I read Samantha Harvey’s Booker-prize winning novel Orbital, which shows just how big and beautiful the world is. Want to know why?…

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Across the Divide - Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín

Do you ever feel like you want to live a different life? And what if you could change everything, but would never be able to return to your old life? I recently read Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín, which is about a young girl who leaves her dreary old town in Ireland for an unknown future in America, and it made me wonder whether I would like to move to another place, too. Want to know what it’s about?…

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Truly Fake - England, England by Julian Barnes

There’s a book for every occasion. Whatever you do, whatever you’ve been through, there’s a novel that mirrors your own life. Last weekend, I gave lectures about Charles Dickens at a nineteenth-century Christmas fair, dressed up as a Victorian reporter. At one point, enjoying some time on my own, I found myself sitting quietly in a corner reading Julian Barnes’s England, England. I could not have…

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Becoming a Professional Bookworm

What is your dream? What did you always want to become when you were older? I have had big dreams ever since I was a little girl. Some of them were realistic (such as living in England for a while), and others weren’t that at all (my mum keeps reminding me that no, I would never have been able to become a professional volleyball player). But now, one of my dreams has come true. I’ve had the same…

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“But hey, that’s just me” – Breakdown by Cathy Sweeney

I don’t know what it’s like to have a burnout. I don’t know what it’s like to feel so stuck that the only solution that’s left would be to leave and start a new life. However, when I recently read Breakdown, I kept wondering what’s holding me back, and why I shouldn’t start over, too, just like the main character in that novel. Want to know what it’s about? Read on!   “Mothers aren’t supposed to…

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This Is Not a Horror Story - Gender Theory by Madeline Docherty

Do you celebrate Halloween? I don’t. That’s partly because we don’t really give any attention to this holiday, and partly because I don’t like horror. I don’t like blood, and I certainly don’t like being startled and afraid. That’s why this Halloween, I’m discussing a novel that could not be further removed from the horror genre. Or could it? Want to know what it is about this novel, Gender…

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Say Their Names - The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

It’s Black History Month in Europe, and I’ve just finished Angie Thomas’s young adult novel The Hate U Give. Even though it was published in 2017, I had not read it before. I now wish I had. This is one of those books that everyone who is even remotely interested in politics, in people, in the world, should read. Want to know why? Read on! The Hate U Give is about Starr, a sixteen-year-old girl…

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New York, New York - The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath and My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Otessa Mosfegh

I’ve always wanted to go to New York. It’s supposed to be the greatest city in the world, and many books, movies, or TV series explain why you have to be there. However, the last two novels I read, The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath and My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Otessa Mosfegh, both taking place in New York, which made me realise that it might not be the magical place everyone thinks it is.…

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But Why? - Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano

“Oh, Elke, I read this book during the holidays which I loved, and I’m sure you’ll love it, too!” a colleague of mine told me on the first day of school. Needless to say, I bought this novel, Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano without even asking her what she liked about it – and what it was about this novel that she thought might appeal to me. Want to know whether it did, and what the books we…