When I was 13, my friends and I would gather around a bench at lunchtime to tell each other horror stories. And, I’ll be frank, I often didn’t know any, so I kept fairly quiet during these storytelling sessions. However, I had one friend who seemed to have an encyclopaedic knowledge of scary tales: an impressively […]
The context in which we read a book can often heighten the experience – the words on the page become infused with the memories of when and where you were at the time. When I’m home I prefer to read in the Front Room, when everybody else is busy doing whatever it is they do; […]
Whilst sleet batters against the flimsy window of my bedroom, I sit under a duvet, blanket and hot water bag in an effort to revive my icy toes. Good ole’ Edinburgh winters. I’m not exactly the type to tackle things by halves, and neither is the author of the book perched before me. Unlike my […]
In an age where a digital face is able to hold our attention for longer than a real one, physically selecting your next read from the dusty shelves of a local bookshop is becoming almost a foreign concept. Even the pastime of reading for pleasure steadily declines in popularity as we speak…or text. As the […]
“Yesterday! What does that mean? Yesterday!”–”That means that bloody awful day, long ago, before this bloody awful day.” Endgame is a play about passing time. Unlike its prequel, Waiting For Godot, there is no person or event to wait for, except it all ending at some point. The characters talk at length about their death, […]
These are not times to relish. The coronavirus continues to spread and fear is still mounting; life is put on pause as we find ourselves confined indoors. There are positives, however, to be taken from the panic. With all this free time, what better opportunity could there be to tackle that mounting pile of books […]
I, along with the rest of the country, heck, the rest of the world, have a rising sense of panic that the next few months could potentially be completely wasted time, precious moments stolen from our lives that we just won’t get back. But perhaps this mindset is unnecessarily negative and in itself a waste […]
In an ever-connected world we are constantly surrounded by text – be that emails, news, social media or university readings. But amidst this bombardment of information, when was the last time you actually sat and read a book for pure enjoyment? Is there not still a desire to pick up a piece of fiction and […]