I was always quite quiet when I was a young kid. Riddled with fear, I remember taking naps in the Head Mistresses office of infant school, she could see I was a highly stressed child. The anxiety of academia was just too much. I sat on a table in my first year of school with … Continue reading
Tag Archives: books
Book Review: Them, Adventures with Extremists by Jon Ronson
Journalist, broadcaster and culture buff Jon Ronson describes Them as the first time he really found his voice, the book published in 2001 was born out of a Channel 4 documentary called Tottenham Ayatollah. This was where he spent a year with Omar Bakri Mohammed the Islamic militant who features in the first chapter of … Continue reading
Brave
This past week I’ve been spending some time with people suffering from a life threatening illness. A mixed bunch, some in remission looking forward to long futures and others told that this disease will eventually kill them. Besides this they had little else in common, except one thing that shone through each person. Bravery. In … Continue reading
Picking up the Phone
I’m going to come out and say it (deep breath) …. sometimes I find it awkward to be on the phone, even to people I’ve know all my life. Phew, there I’ve done it, feels good to get that off my chest. And even though this is something that is true I know it’s not … Continue reading
Book Review: Chavs The Demonization of the working class by Owen Jones
Game changer, these are the words I’d use if I only had two to describe this book. Chav’s challenges what Jones describes as the last acceptable prejudice, class hatred. In Britain you’re hard pushed to get away from class, however much we lean towards liberalism and politeness, if you’re in a situation with someone of … Continue reading
Book Review: The Casual Vacancy by JK Rowling
This was always going to be one of the biggest selling books of 2012. It was eagerly anticipated by potter fans everywhere; The Casual Vacancy had a great deal of hype to live up to. Before reading the novel, written for adults, I’d seen the onslaught of criticism from the right wing media spitting that … Continue reading