No I haven’t been indulging in heroin. I’ve been indulging in books. Namely Trainspotting, Citizen and This Modern Love. This is basically a ‘What I’ve been reading’ but with a clickbaity title, really sorry..!
This Modern Love- Will Darbyshire
I never thought I’d buy the book of a YouTuber, but low and behold, I did. Will put together a collection of love letters, and the books separated into Beginning, Middle and End, obviously End being post breakup letters and Beginning focusing on the crush stage. They’re all real submissions and honestly, it’s kind of beautiful. It’s a really intimate, personal book, full of people pouring their heart out. I can’t relate to most the letters but I’d imagine if you are currently heartbroken or falling for someone you’d share a lot of the emotions of those writing. But it’s the little touches that you’d never relate to, because they’re ~so~ intimate, that make the book special. Definitely recommend.
Citizen- Claudia Rankine
This book is so important. Split into different parts, Claudia writes about the micro-aggressions people of colour face every single day, that people don’t even realise happen. She writes of all the subtleties of racism in such a manner that you will rethink everything you thought about such issues. There are also parts in the book written as scripts of injustices against black people, and then also a part about Serena Williams and Zinedine Zidane. It’s hard to do justice to the book because it’s how brilliantly she writes that leaves the impact. The text is accompanied by poignant images and it makes for a feeling of a gallery as you work through the book.
Trainspotting-Irvine Welsh
If you’ve ever been put off reading Trainspotting because of the Scottish dialect- persist! It’s soOoOo good! Like incredibly harrowing and dark but good. Way more socially conscious than the film, addressing the issues of Thatcherism and AIDs in the late 80s. Not that I was alive then to experience those things first hand, but it’s good to know about the history of the UK! It’s a book that doesn’t conform to literature, in the best way possible and I love it for that!
So yeah, that’s what I’ve been reading! I’m currently reading Bechdel’s Fun Home, my first ever graphic novel and I’ve heard it’s very very sad so that should be fun. Thanks for reading, and as always, pleaseeee press that follow button!
