A deep social history that goes beyond the archives and trad narratives to rescue the real stories behind multicultural Britain and rewrite dominant discourse on Britishness. The subject matter is…
We Were There: How Black Culture, Community, and Resistance Shaped Modern Britain by Lanre Bakare (Book review)
The Blue Sky by Galsan Tschinag (Book review)
This is a really interesting and quietly powerful book set among the Tuvan people in Mongolia. It’s a memoir that explores the emotions and rites of passage of a childhood…
Women & Power: A Manifesto by Mary Beard (Review)
This was a lovely, slim read that had been sitting on my bookshelf for a while. Beard is a highly respected classicist, and in this essay, she explores how ancient…
Et la joie de vivre by Gisèle Pelicot (Book review)
Really pleased I read this in French: this is such an important memoir and one that I think will stand the test of time. This book is a great testament…
Naiset joita ajattelen öisin by Mia Kankimäki, trans. Douglas Robinson
This book was a bit of a publishing sensation when it came out in Finland 2020, and it’s been translated as: The Women I Think about at Night: Traveling the…
Naiset joita ajattelen öisin, kir. Mia Kankimäki
Ajattelin kirjoittaa muutaman ajatuksen tästä kirjasta myös suomeksi! Kuuntelin tämän vasta nyt äänikirjana Otavalta, mutta kirjan maine ja aihe olivat tuttuja jo ennestään. Kirjaa oli helppo seurata, ja se toimi…
A is for Arsenic: The Poisons of Agatha Christie by Kathryn Harkup
I read this after finding out about it on the Swinging Christies podcast and it was fun to switch things up with this relatively scientific non-fiction read about potions! Arsenic,…
Anne Boleyn: 500 Years of Lies by Hayley Nolan
This was my first non-fiction read of 2026 and I really enjoyed starting the year with this breezy and opinionated perspective on the much mythologised and maligned Anne Boleyn. I’ve…
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King
Never have read any of his books, this was maybe a weird way to start, but this honest take on a writer’s life is one that’s been on my shelves…
Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
Another November/December non-fiction book that I really, really enjoyed reading. I found this memoir deeply touching and raw. It’s a gritty memoir in the sense that it looks at grief…
Witchcraft: A History in 13 Trials by Marion Gibson
This was a really fascinating non-fiction read. I started this in November and finished in early December, and it completely held my interest. Pictured: the book in Lancaster Castle, in…
Seashaken Houses by Tom Nancollas
I bet I’m not alone in my endless fascination for lighthouses… I have this fantasy of staying in one and curling up with a good read while the sea lashes…
The Promised Party: Kahlo, Basquiat & Me by Jennifer Clement
This beautiful, articulate, and feverish memoir traces a Mexico City childhood and a New York city youth during an era that was iconic for both cities. Jennifer grows up down…
Sceptred Isle: A New History of the Fourteenth Century by Helen Carr
This was my first non-fiction read of November: a delve into the Plantagenets. This “new” narrative of 14th century England and the British Isles very much focuses on Kings and…
Julian of Norwich: A Very Brief History by Janina Ramirez
This slim little book was an interesting historical and philosophical look at the Revelations written by a medieval anchorite, Julian of Norwich. Little is definitively known about her, but she…
Jane Austen by Carol Shields
This felt like a really amazing book to be reading during a Jane Austen anniversary year in Bath. Plus, what a great #spinsterseptember2025 finale: arguably one of the most famous spinsters! Carol…
Books about Women’s Health: Medical Memoirs & History
I’ve got a bit of a thing for books on women’s health: whether that is an empowering memoir of dealing with pain and frustrating diagnoses, or hard-hitting reports on the…
A Body Made of Glass: A History of Hypochondria by Caroline Crampton
Ever heard of the glass delusion – the established fear of being made of glass? Did you know that before glass was commonplace, people used to think they were made…
Abortion: A History by Mary Fissell
Depressing to read that the Ancient Greeks took a more logical and enlightened approach to abortion care than many places today! However, it’s an important message that is worth considering…
Hijab Butch Blues: A Memoir by Lamya H.
This was a really powerful and engaging read: an anonymous memoir rooted in a very specific moment in time, marked by rising Islamophobia and increasing global mobility. The narrator, a…
The Peep Show: The Murders at 10 Rillington Place by Kate Summerscale
This was a true crime non-fiction read I found really compelling: it goes hard and tackles a horrific 1950s crime in the social context of a divided and down- on-its-luck…
The Ruin of All Witches by Malcolm Gaskill
Rather than focusing on witch trials as a form of sensational true crime, this book is rooted in theology, community dynamics, and the psychological and religious tensions of early New…
Men Who Hate Women by Laura Bates
This book and its author have been on my radar for a while. I was aware of Laura Bates’s work through her activism and the Everyday Sexism project. Since reading…
Poor by Katriona O’Sullivan
This is a powerful memoir, full of heart-stopping moments in a “wrong side of the tracks” childhood. It’s a topical book about what happens to children who grow up in…
7 Non-Fiction Biographies About Fascinating Historic Women
There are so many great non-fiction books out there about history’s unsung heroines: these are just a few of my favourites. These seven books bring together women who need to…
Deborah Levy’s Living Autobiography Series: Feminism, Writing & Space
Deborah Levy’s Living Autobiography series is a fascinating blend of memoir, essay, and narrative reflection. Comprising three books—Things I Don’t Want to Know, The Cost of Living, and Real Estate—the…
Unquiet by Linn Ullmann (Review)
This book was such a joy to read—thoughtful, intelligent, and surprisingly funny. I hadn’t been aware of Linn Ullmann before, but after receiving messages from people praising her work, I…
Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent by Judi Dench
This was a really great read that I hoovered up. I actually listened to it in audio, which was a really great way to appreciate Shakespeare’s language! Judi herself reads…
84 Charing Cross Road & The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street by Helene Hanff
Two books in one, and what a treat these are! These works are absolutely iconic, and the first one catapulted Helene to instant cult fame. I can really see why….
The Sculptor’s Daughter (Bildhuggarens dotter/Kuvanveistäjän tytär) by Tove Jansson
My first Finnish-language book in years, and what a banger to start with!! Reading this in snowy Helsinki and visiting Tove’s childhood street and looking up at the studio she…
Real Estate by Deborah Levy
The final instalment of the Living Autobiography series! These books have been super easy for me to read. Not necessarily always wholly relatable, they are beautiful, satisfying, and full of…
I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy (Review)
I’d seen a lot of hype around this book, and I was curious to see how the title and the story would play out. I’d seen some promotional material, so…
Strong Female Character by Fern Brady
Can you believe this was my first ever audiobook?! What a way to start. When I saw that Fern Brady had written a book about her autism diagnosis and that…
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
Wow, what a powerful read. Jeannette, New York journalist, tells us the story of her chaotic childhood with her charismatic alcoholic father and her depressive artist mother. With her three…
Slow Days, Fast Company: The World, The Flesh, And LA by Eve Babitz
I didn’t know I’d love this as much as I did! Eve Babitz is a bit of a legend, a Hollywood muse, and I thought it was really powerful to…
Aftermath: On Marriage and Separation by Rachel Cusk
Now, I love Rachel Cusk and have hoovered up a lot of her work. This one is more of a memoir than some of the other Rachel Cusk stuff I’ve…
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
This has become a book I recommend on a regular basis! An important piece of investigative journalism led to this book that intersects topics such as race, medical ethics, gynaecology,…
Things I Don’t Want to Know by Deborah Levy
The first book in her “living autobiography” series, this is a response to George Orwell’s “Why I Write” which I read so long ago that I don’t really know in…
1606: Shakespeare and the Year of Lear by James Shapiro
This is a relatively academic book with lots of close reading, but the chapters are well-organised and engaging, so it’s also a fun read for anyone who likes Shakespeare and…
Mr Atherstone Leaves the Stage by Richard Whittington-Egan
I finished this book, but honestly I wouldn’t recommend it. I respect the research and I know a lot more about Battersea’s grisly Victorian & Edwardian murders. There’s a few…
Ask Me About My Uterus by Abby Norman
I’ve read a few of these medical memoir/survival story/gyno pain narratives. It’s a weird thing to say you enjoy, but I do. It’s a really interesting and informative topic to…
A Life’s Work by Rachel Cusk
Reading this, I’m reminded how much I like Rachel Cusk’s writing. There is something very raw and relatable in all her books. This is a claustrophobic post-partum memoir where Cusk…
The Haunting of Alma Fielding by Kate Summerscale
Kate is a fab non-fiction writer; I loved The Suspicions of Mr Whicher, so picking this up from the library was a no-brainer! And I wolfed this one down… The…
What Writers Read by Pandora Sykes
Perfect little treat for book lovers like me (us). A very impressive rosta of writers share their favourite books, and there’s a real mix of entries! Some are serious, some…
Night Walks by Charles Dickens
A wonderful premise, this is a collection of stories, essays, and observations written under the guise of Dickens’s insomniac walking around London. Not so much an article of psychological self-exploration,…
A Month in Siena by Hisham Matar
My kind of travel memoir where the personal intertwines with travel, art, and politics. It’s a short book that I feel like anyone would enjoy, but my heightened interest in…
Elizabeth of York by Alison Weir
I pretty much love any historical non-fiction book by Alison Weir, so I was in my element here. Especially as we are talking about a biography of a Tudor woman!…
Love, Pamela by Pamela Anderson
This was honestly amazing! The sort of memoir that takes you all over the world, and I loved the poetry and philosophy interludes. It’s fascinating to see behind a cultural…
Zeus is a Dick by Susie Donkin
I think we can all agree on that one… Now, I read pretty much anything I can get my hands on when it comes to Greek myths, so books like…
Copenhagen Trilogy by Tove Ditlevsen
Three books in one, Tove Ditlevsen’s Copenhagen trilogy was a revelation! A well-known Danish poet and writer, Ditlevsen tracks her life growing up in Copenhagen, grafting, writing, and figuring out…