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Books

4 Biographies to Read in 2020

This January I went on a bit of a biography kick. To be honest, I have never been the biggest fan of biographies. If I were to head to a bookstore, it would be likely that I would not venture anywhere near the aisles that hold names such as the Obamas, Steve Jobs and Nelson Mandela. Though undoubtedly interesting, I generally crave losing myself to another world, not the one we are in. But by a peculiar turn of events, I found myself with a box of 13 biographies and autobiographies to read over the winter holidays.  I felt daunted…

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Academic

PhD Year 1: What I Learnt

Let’s start with the basics: A PhD (Doctorate in Philosophy) is the highest level of academic certification a university offers. This requires producing original research in a specific field, which upon completion must be defended in front of a panelist of experts. The term dates back as far as Medieval Europe though, at the time, the requirements usually only called for advanced scholarship rather than original research. Even now, requirements for a PhD differ across institutions ad nations but in all cases, original research remains compulsory.  So why do a PhD? I could write a whole post on what to…

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Books

What is Reading?

The Benefits of Reading On Your Brain Read. To read. Reading. Read. You know that feeling when you look at a word for a long time and all of a sudden it is like you have never seen the word before. It feels odd on your tongue, you cannot remember how to pronounce it properly and are almost entirely convinced you have been saying it wrong your entire life. That is exactly how I felt the other day while staring at the word ‘read’. The Cambridge dictionary defines ‘read’, a verb, as the ability to look at words or symbols…

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Books

The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle Mini Review

Earlier this year, The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton seemed to be everywhere. I could not walk into a book store or scroll through my Instagram without seeing some mention or photo of this thrillers elegant cream and red cover. Yet, for some reason, it was not until the end of the year that I ventured to pick it up, and I am so happy I did,  Seven Deaths tells of a young man (supposedly), a guest at the Hardcastle home for the weekend, who wakes up with no memory of who he is and how he…

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Books

2019 Booker Prize Winner(s): A Cop-out?

On 14th October 2019 the Booker Prize was awarded to signify a work of outstanding literature as it has been done annually for the last 50 years. However, this year prize was awarded to not one, but two winners: Margaret Atwood for The Testaments and Bernardine Evaristo for Girl, Woman, Other. Though not the first time that the prize has done this, the last time was over two decades ago, when a regulation was put in place stating there could only be one winner. When announcing their decision, the panel stated that this unique circumstance did not come from an…

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Books

‘The Testaments’ by Margaret Atwood

Margaret Atwood has become a household name, widely recognisable and revered, increasingly so after the production of a TV adaptation of perhaps her most famous novel, The Handmaid’s Tale. In September of this year, Atwood finally released the widely anticipated and requested sequel, entitled The Testaments. Written 34 years after the first, the novel similarly takes place some years after the events of the previous, specifically 17 years later. Moreover, prior to its release to the public, the novel was longlisted for the Booker Prize. The novel returns us to the patriarchal nation of Gilead, a state born out of…

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