I read because I love it. I love the characters, the journeys, the worlds I can be transported to. I love the reflections of the real world woven within the pages; the commentary on life, relationships and culture. It makes me relax and feel joy and fear and compassion. It’s one of the things that I am most passionate about. So why do I find myself feeling guilty when I do something I love? Is this a shared experience among readers?  I think there are a few types of reader’s

Climbing Everest is the ultimate ambition of so many. It pushes you to your physical and mental limits. If you summit you’ll literally be...

I got burned by this book. Literally.  I enjoyed it so much, I sat in the sun and slowly burned to a crisp with the outline of the book...

If you're a keen reader it can be easy to feel a bit inadequate when you're looking at all of literature's great heroes. You most likely...

“She grips my hand and it’s the hand I’ve known the best for the longest and it’ll always feel safe and dangerous and big and small and...

I’ve always seen myself as a big reader but sometimes my kind of reading can mean being stuck on the same book for months. I’ve recently...

Is it possible to write too close to home? I’m sure we’ve all been told at some point to ‘write what you know’ but is this reductive? I...

Shuggie Bain is set in Glasgow between 1981 and 1992 following the childhood of Shuggie, a young boy who doesn’t fit in with the...

The big question of life; to be or not to be…a book snob? Snobbery is a trait we often look down on but when it comes to books is this a...

This is part 2 of my reading diary for Penance so if you haven't read part 1 make sure to check it out. I recommend reading along with...

As I was reading Penance by Eliza Clark I decided to create a reading journal. This is where I’d record my reactions and thoughts about...

Going to a bookshop for me is an event. Browsing through titles, reading blurbs, and inhaling that new book smell are all things that...

Whether you write just for fun or are trying to write your own novel, writer's block can affect anyone. I’m sure you know the feeling...

Maybe when you hear the word gothic your mind goes to cold autumn nights and spooky noises in the dead of winter. However, for whatever...

To celebrate mother’s day this Sunday I thought I’d make a list of some of my favourite fictional mothers from literature. My list is...

Having an unreliable narrator is one of my favourite narrative devices that authors use and I think this sentiment is shared by lots of...

I’m actually quite guilty of watching films before reading the books they’re adapted from but I put that down to the fact that I love...

Recently there has been a trend on booktok where creators share the different books that shaped who they are in different stages of their...