By Niamh Newman As someone who studied English Literature through the entirety of secondary school, I find it difficult to write without regularly reading! In my mind, the two are very much intertwined, with many of the most prominent authors of our time taking inspiration from books they have read in order to enhance their own work. Alex MichaelidesÔÇÖ psychological thriller The Silent Patient, my … Continue reading Being a Reader-Writer
By Laura Mae My favourite hate-read needs no introduction. The movies dominated basically every aspect ofsociety in the years that the franchise peaked; not only capturing the hearts of pre-teen girlseverywhere, but provoking strong criticisms from many people. The Twilight saga. I initially read the books in my teenage years and recently revisited them due to the recentrelease of ÔÇÿMidnight SunÔÇÖ. I donÔÇÖt recall what … Continue reading Our Favorite Hate Reads
By Emma Williams Truthfully, I used to think that wanting to know what books celebrities were reading was a strange trend; after all, celebrities are just normal people, arenÔÇÖt they? I did not understand that reading the same literature as the people who inspire them enables people to feel more connected to their idols, until one of my own, Harry Styles, began making recommendations. My … Continue reading Celebrities and Book Recommendations
by Alexa Price It goes without saying that the constant developments of the modern world is changing our reading habits, and that books have proven themselves to be pretty versatile! Today reading is much more accessible and can be done impressively with a simple touch of a button. While the internet gives readers a wider range of reading materials than your local bookshop, one has … Continue reading How is technology changing our reading habits
By Laura Mae All The Bright Places- Jennifer Niven All The Bright Places is a heartwarming Young Adult novel about unlikely friendships, love, and dealing with individual hardships. The book is written in alternating points of view of the two main characters; Violet Markey, one of the most popular girls in school, and Theodore Finch, a social outcast. The two are paired together for a … Continue reading Our Favourite Books Related to Mental Health
By Francesca Ionescu As we, readers, have become more socially aware, our standards for what we read have changed. A book could be brilliant, but if it ignores the diverse world we live in, it raises the question whether we should pressure authors into being more aware of their writing and their audience. Diversity needs to come naturally. A huge issue lately in media seems … Continue reading The Fault in our Fiction: Lack of Diversity and Representation in Literature
From QuenchÔÇÖs 2020/21 Literature Editors, Neus, Nicole and Ona: ItÔÇÖs been quite a year, but being able to read and talk about books is one of the things that helped us through. We want to thank all of our contributors and readers whoÔÇÖve made the first year of QuenchÔÇÖs literature section so phenomenal. To say goodbye, weÔÇÖve each recommended a book worth mentioning for our … Continue reading Our Goodbyes: the Final Recommendation List from the 2020/2021 Literature Editors
by Ruth Hoey. The Young Adult category has been around for many years, but it has seen an explosion in popularity over recent decades, doubling its sales between 2002-2012. This popularity has raised its perception in the media and general public, growing not only the number of readers turning to YA fiction but the criticism it receives. So, what makes a book YA? There are … Continue reading In Defense of YA
by Shivika Singh Tomboy – a term used to define girls who are not stereotypically feminine, with their tastes and behaviors usually associate with being manly or boyish. Tomboy has been a major archetype across a wide range of literary and cinematic texts. The history of the term ÔÇÿtomboyÔÇÖ dates back to 16th century when it was used as a reference to rude and boisterous … Continue reading The Tomboy in Literature and Film
by Catarina Vicente. Coming out is seen by many in the LGBTQ+ community as a huge milestone: a step to showing your true identity to the world, presenting yourself how you want to be seen. For others, coming out is not a big deal: their identities or sexualities are disclosed to a few close relations in a casual convo, and thatÔÇÖs the end of that. … Continue reading More Than a Coming-Out Story
by Amy Green. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo explores the life of a bisexual actor in the golden age of Hollywood. Evelyn, an effortlessly seductive actor, finds herself using her assets to leverage herself out of poverty. Being thrust into stardom in the 1950s, she quickly finds herself a male suiter and fell hard. … Continue reading LGBTQ+ Faces in Literature: Evelyn Hugo
by Sophie Revell As a proclaimed Weird Girl in secondary school myself, I look upon the Weird Girl trope with pride and affection. Unlike other portrayals of women in media, Weird Girls are much more nuanced and accepted in film and literature ÔÇô but it hasnÔÇÖt always been this way. To understand the Weird Girl further, I looked to ÔÇÿThe TakeÔÇÖ on YouTube who divided … Continue reading The Weird Girl in Literature and Film
by Jess Macaulay. If you’re at all involved in the side of the book world where fantasy and romance exist or have found yourself on BookTok or even BookTube at some point, then it’s highly likely youÔÇÖve come across or at least heard of Sarah J Mass. A best-selling author with over 12 million copies of her books sold worldwide and translated into 37 languages, … Continue reading How to Start Reading Sarah J Maas
by Leah Hocking. This March, to celebrate WomenÔÇÖs History Month, which highlights and commemorates womenÔÇÖs contributions to history and society, IÔÇÖve put together a (non-exhaustive) recommendations list of books, by women and about women, which are perfect to read this month: Hood Feminism – Mikki Kendall As the front cover of this feminist non-fiction states, ÔÇÿHood FeminismÔÇÖ is an exploration of the important issues and … Continue reading Celebrate Women’s History Month with These 6 Books
by Alice Friel. For a book lover, thereÔÇÖs nothing quite like the feeling of complete submersion in a fictional world. Hours seem to pass like minutes as you greedily turn the pages, excited to discover more. We all have our favourite spot where we like to curl up with infinite cups of tea, content to pass whole days unmoving until youÔÇÖve finished your current read. … Continue reading English Literature Degrees: Does Studying Books Ruin Your Relationship with Them?
by Shivika Singh Popular culture has very often represented men and women as complete opposites to each other, who have strong conventional gender traits attached to them. While the practice of gender binarism in the media is almost systemic, the light in which it represents men and women is different, too. On one side, the typical male protagonist is heroic and masculine, unafraid to undertake … Continue reading The Girly Girl in Literature and Film
Contributions by Neus Forner and Katie Waits. Neus Forner I am an avid merch collector for many of my book series, but as the huge Harry Potter fan I am, the majority of merch I own surrounds this magical world. IÔÇÖve collected a few bits and bobs from my travels to The Wizarding World in Universal Studios or the Studio Tour in London. I own … Continue reading Our Favorite Book Merch
by Clara Boon. This year I was a carer,This year I showed great strength,This year I was a worrier,This year I was scared to sit on a bench, This year I lost Clara,This year I didnÔÇÖt feel the same,This year I looked at who I used to be,Then tried to find her again, This year I was a hairdresser,A barber and a vet,This year we … Continue reading Auld Lang Sigh
By Shannon Bowes-Cavanagh When the first of the Twilight saga movies were released in 2008 many teenagers rushed out to buy the Stephanie Meyer books. Whether you were an avid fan or not, everyone seemed to be caught up in the Twilight phenomenon. But why was it so popular among this generation? I think the main the reason that the books were so enticing to … Continue reading Why Twilight Captivated a Generation
By Kimberley Jones To my lover,In my whole lifetime I will never be able to express how much you mean to me,And I hope that my efforts will make you believe in our forever.Strange times have taken their toll on you and me,And has made it difficult for us to find happy memories from the year,But I have not given up, eternity we will be.I … Continue reading Poem – Valentine’s Surprise
