#ReadingRoom: Friday Black

Dec32018 by MeneeshaNo Comments

#ReadingRoom: Friday Black

#ReadingRoom: Friday Black “Fresh, exciting, vital and contemporary”. These are just some of the words used to describe this collection of short stories. Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah’s Friday Black has debuted with a bang. (more…)

Oct142018 by MeneeshaNo Comments

#SundayRead: Why Social Media is Ruining Your Life

Books

#SundayRead: Why Social Media is Ruining Your Life I spend a huge amount of time on social media … for myself as well as the numerous clients I work for. There is no real cut off for me. The first thing I reach for when I open my eyes in the morning is my cellphone. The last thing I look at before I fall asleep is my Instagram feed. So, when this book landed on my desk I was a bit apprehensive. Could I be ruining my life? (more…)

Oct72018 by MeneeshaNo Comments

#SundayRead: The Necessary Marriage

Books

#SundayRead: The Necessary Marriage Once you get past the slow start to this book and get to grips with the underlying commentary, I promise this novel will be worth the read. Jane and Leonard, 16-year-old pupil and teacher, fall in love in the 1970s and get married – against the wishes of Jane’s parents. After having two daughters and setting up home, Jane questions the decisions she made as a naive teenager. Jane loves Leonard but cannot come to terms with his sexual repression. (more…)

Sep302018 by MeneeshaNo Comments

#SundayRead: Eve of Man

Books

#SundayRead: Eve of Man Eve is special. She was the first girl to be born to the human race in 50 years. The story of her birth is tragic and dark. All her life Eve has been kept in seclusion – away from men or boys and away from the truth of her past. All her life, Eve’s daily routine has been controlled. She’s been groomed for one thing … her destiny. When she turns 16, three potential males could be her future and that of humanity. She’s accepted this, understands she is different. [caption id="attachment_2578" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Women are subjugated in insidious ways. This book is a reminder of how it happens.[/caption] But then she meets Bram – and control and freedom take on a whole new meaning. Love…

Sep232018 by Meneesha1 Comment

#SundayRead: Vox

Books

#SundayRead: Vox I read The Handmaid's Tale when it was first published. It’s one of those novels that stayed with me all these years later. Vox will be the same. In the last month, I’ve received two books with similar themes. In fact, Elle magazine says this novel is a “petrifying re-imagining of The Handmaid’s Tale in the present”. (more…)

Sep162018 by MeneeshaNo Comments

#SundayRead: F**k Plastic

Books

#SundayRead: F**k Plastic I’ve written extensively about my plastic-free journey this year. If, like me, you’d like to join the war on plastic, get your hands on this nifty pocketbook. It offers you 101 ways you can join the campaign. There are 51 trillion particles of plastic in our oceans - possibly more than the marine life that inhabits it. It’s a sobering thought. In this book, you can find simple tricks and tips you can do in your everyday life to reduce your plastic footprint on the earth. The message is simple: cut down on single-use plastic and help save the world. From opting for an ice cream cone instead of ice cream in a plastic container to changing over to a shampoo bar rather than the liquid variety…

Sep92018 by MeneeshaNo Comments

Sunday read: The ‘Adults’

Books

#SundayRead: The ‘Adults’ Many things give it away – the quotes in the headline, the definition at the beginning of the novel. This is a novel about people who believe they are adults – mature and perfected – but who, in reality, are not. And to be honest, how can you have “normal” family once parents divorce? Really? Really! Claire and Matt are divorced and have a daughter Scarlett. They decide that, in spite of their divorce, they would have a “normal” family Christmas together – along with their new partners and Scarlett’s imaginary rabbit friend, Posey (the irony of this name did not escape me). Claire arrives at Happy Forest Holiday Park with her new boyfriend, Patrick, and Matt joins them with Alex, the “love of his life”. And if you…

Sep22018 by MeneeshaNo Comments

Sunday read: Meet Me at the Museum

Books

Sunday read: Meet Me at the Museum I had two penpals when I was younger. Penpals? That’s a word I had to explain to my own Generation Z children, who only understand the world of emails and instant messaging. Every month I would receive a handwritten letter from Sylvia in Oldenburg, Germany, and Christopher in Paris, France. [caption id="attachment_2512" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Love stories happen every day.[/caption] The letters would arrive about two weeks after they were posted and I would respond immediately and it would take two weeks before they received my letters. A month - that’s how long it took to send and receive news between two people in different countries. Today, of course, I am able to chat with cousins in Canada, colleagues and students in France, and…

Jul152018 by MeneeshaNo Comments

Sunday read: Our House

Books

Sunday read: Our House Murder, property fraud, adultery, betrayal - Our House is brimming with suspense and twists. Fi arrives at her home to find a family moving into her house. The home she and Bram, her husband, had owned for years and had no intention of selling, suddenly belongs to someone else and Fi cannot account for how that happened. (more…)

Jul82018 by Meneesha1 Comment

Sunday read: indulge me an opportunity to reflect

Books

Sunday read: indulge me an opportunity to reflect Today, I want to reflect on why I read. I definitely have a “type” of novel I gravitate to. I definitely don’t read a book because someone says it’s a bestseller or because it’s been shortlisted for or the winner of a literary award. I read because I love the act. I read because it allows me to lose myself in a solitary space in the pages of a book peopled with characters that I can imagine as I wish them to be. I read because a book is “unputdownable”. (more…)