Everyday Sexism

TOP 5 WEDNESDAY: Non-Horror Books that Scared You

Top 5 Wednesday is a great feature created by GingerReadsLainey and hosted by ThoughtsonTomes. To find out more about Top 5 Wednesday and the upcoming topics, check out its Goodreads page. This week it’s about books that aren’t horror books but that scared you anyway, whether that was a certain scene or it was the whole book you found frightening.

Lirael by Garth Nix
I always mention this book when it comes to scenes that scared me. Lirael is the second book in a YA fantasy series and there’s one scene when Lirael encounters a monster, deep inside a magical library that scared the bejeezus out of me. My heart was beating so fast and I had to take a moment to calm myself before I carried on reading.

 

The Strain by Chuck Hogan and Guillermo del Toro
Technically The Strain is a horror, it has vampire-like creatures in it anyway, but the scene that scares me in it doesn’t feature any monsters. It’s at the start of the book when this plane lands but then it’s deathly still and silent, it doesn’t move, there’s no lights or sounds from the people inside it, just nothing. As the people outside try to figure out what’s going on it really creeped me out, it’s like there was something unnatural about the plane and the situation and it gave me goose bumps.

 

The Three by Sarah Lotz
This book has an air of “something isn’t quite right” throughout and as it progresses it very slowly amps up the tension causing it to be really quite scary and unsettling. The Three is weird and creepy and mysterious and it’s one of those books that put me on edge.

 

 

Everyday Sexism by Laura Bates
This is a non-fiction book about sexism in day to day life, the little things that often go unnoticed but build up. This book scared me because of how brutally real and honest it is about what an average day is like for a woman. The part that really scared me though, was the section on school age kids, the rise of social media and the pressure to send naked pictures of themselves. It’s both sad and scary reading the pressures this young boys and girls are under and I am glad that when I was a young schoolgirl there wasn’t the ability to see and share sexual images so easily.

Luther: The Calling by Neil Cross
This is the prequel to the Luther TV series so it’s a detective mystery but Luther has to solve an incredibly grisly and creepy crime. The thing that scared me about this book is it gives you an insight into the mind of some messed up people, who don’t realise they’re messed up and actually think what they’re doing is the right thing to do.

Are there any non-horror books that scare you?

TOP 5 WEDNESDAY: Books with “Hard” Topics

Top 5 Wednesday is a great feature created by GingerReadsLainey and hosted by ThoughtsonTomes. To find out more about Top 5 Wednesday and the upcoming topics, check out its Goodreads page. This weeks it’s all about hard topics which could mean books about mental health, sexual assault, terminal illness or other books you found tough to read.

FullSizeRender (96)The Hounding of David Oluwale – Kester Aspden
This is the true story about how the police didn’t bother to look into the death of David Olwale, a homeless immigrant from Nigeria and a former patient in a mental hospital, until eighteen months later when a lengthy campaign of harassment by two high-ranking policeman was uncovered. This is one of those true stories that are tough to read and it shows how racism and police discrimination has been around for decades and while some stuff has changed, it is not enough.

lost boi elenasquareeyesLost Boi by Sassafras Lowrey
This is a retelling of Peter Pan that really isn’t child-friendly. There’s a lot of BDSM elements but the view of it is still incredibly childlike it’s a little disturbing. It is a good book full of queer characters but it’s definitely full of hard topics including drug use.

 

everydaysexismEveryday Sexism by Laura Bates
This is a non-fiction book full of true stories and statistics about everyday sexism. It encompasses many things, school life, discrimination at work, street harassment and more. It’s a fascinating book but it’s tough to read sometimes because you can’t help but get frustrated by society’s gender expectations that fall on both men and women, and how women are discriminated against every day, even if it’s just small macroaggressions that many people have just learnt to ignore.

illustrted mumThe Illustrated Mum by Jacqueline Wilson
This features two sisters whose mother has bipolar and how difficult it is living with her but they still love her. It’s great at showing how you might still love your mum but you might not always like them.

 

 

FullSizeRender (78)Seed by Lisa Heathfield
Seed is often an uncomfortable book to read. There’s no two ways about it, Seed is a cult. As a reader you can see the signs but to fifteen year old Pearl, everything is normal and how it should be. It’s also a hard book to read because while nothing is explicit, sexual abuse of children is implied throughout and it’s a slow build for some of the characters to realise or react to what’s happening.

TOP TEN TUESDAY: Top Ten Best Books I Read In 2015

Top Ten Tuesday is a feature run by BrokeAndBookish each week – I’m thinking I might not take part every week but just see if a week takes my fancy. Where has this year gone?! As we’ve only got a few weeks left, here’s the ten books I’ve loved the most this year. In June I talked about my favourite books I’d read so far this year so if you want to know about some other awesome books and to see which ones made both lists shimmy over here.

For once I’ve put these in order, going from ten to my number one book of the year.

FullSizeRender (91)10. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
I love me some thrillers with unreliable narrators and The Girl on the Train certainly has that! I loved how Rachel wasn’t reliable or even likable a lot of the time and it was one of those mysteries that left me guessing till the gripping finale.

 
FullSizeRender (82)9. Fear and Loathing in La Liga: Barcelona vs Real Madrid by Sid Lowe
Barcelona and Real Madrid’s rivalry is legendary and Fear and Loathing in La Liga delves deep into both clubs history and looks at Spain’s history too. This was a fascinating read, it was sometimes a bit dense and a little dull when it was talking about players I didn’t know about but on the whole it was great read.

 
FullSizeRender (99)8. A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
I thought A Monster Calls was just a children’s book and I was so wrong! Yes it has illustrations and is about a young boy but it deals with grief and death and abandonment so well. It really makes you think and the beautiful passages go so well with the often scary drawings.

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TOP TEN TUESDAY: Top Ten Books I’ve Read This Year So Far

Top Ten Tuesday is a feature run by BrokeAndBookish each week – I’m thinking I might not take part every week but just see if a week takes my fancy. As we are now half way through the year (how has that happened?!) today’s Top Ten Tuesday is the ten best books you’ve read so far this year. If I’ve reviewed the book mentioned, its title will go to my review where you can see me gush even more about it.

The Martian by Andy WeirFullSizeRender (75)
I loved the humour in this book. Mark Watney has such a realistic voice, I can image him being on Mars and being like “Well now what? Guess I’ll grow some potatoes.” All the characters were interesting and flawed and the story was gripping and funny. I cannot wait for the film adaptation – it’s probably one of the films I’m most looking forward to this year.

FullSizeRender (90)Doubletake by Rob Thurman
It was great to return to the Cal Leandros series after so long. Robin Goodfellow was still his usual self – though a little on edge due to family stuff and it was nice to learn more about Nico’s side of the family. I’ve still got more books in this series to catch up on which I’m looking forward to doing.

Secret Avengers by Ales Kot and Michael WalshFullSizeRender (57)
Secret Avengers is a lot of fun. The characters are great, the story’s exciting and fun, and the art is wonderful. If you’re not sure where to start with Marvel comics – give Secret Avengers a go. (more…)