The Awkward Thoughts of W. Kamau Bell
5.0
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You may know W. Kamau Bell from his new, Emmy-nominated hit show on CNN, United Shades of America....
Essays Politics Humour Social Issues
In the Shadow of Statues: A White Southerner Confronts History
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"There is a difference between remembrance of history and reverence for it." When Mitch Landrieu...
Norco '80: The True Story of the Most Spectacular Bank Robbery in American History
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In the spirit of Killers of the Flower Moon and The Onion Field, Norco ’80 is a gripping true...
It was interesting that a book has been written about a video going viral on the internet that the person who’s in it is mortified and ashamed about and didn’t post it herself. It follows the fall out with her family and her own struggles to come to terms with what has happened whilst waiting it out abroad before returning home to Scotland.
Su-Jin was adopted from Korea by a family in Scotland, who then found out that they were pregnant after years of trying not long after. We find out that Su-Jin struggled to find her place a lot of the time and wished that she wasn’t different to her family, and tried to make her parents proud by following all of the rules set out for her.
It is definitely thought provoking, the topics dealt with are racism, revenge porn and the most relevant at the moment is spiking drinks. It points out exactly how easy it is to accept a drink from a stranger in a bar, even when you know you shouldn’t, and the implications it can have.
It was sometimes quite predictable and sometimes a bit confusing with the timelines jumping in some chapters without it being explained or obvious.
A very interesting read about something that could happen to any of us at any point.
Black and Blue
Stuart Prebble and Parm Sandhu
8.0
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At the point of her retirement from the Metropolitan Police Service in 2019, Parm Sandhu was the...
Memoir Non Fiction London Metropolitan Police Racism
Small Mercies
10.0
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'Mrs. Fennessy, please go home.' 'And do what?' 'Whatever you do when you're home.' 'And then...
Historical fiction Literary Fiction
This is so sensitively dealt with, yet her feelings (physical and emotional), aren’t held back. After her initial physical pain and emotional numbness, comes the devastation of what has happened to her and the fact that she isn’t believed - or worse, the attack is trivialised by others. Not even her boyfriend believes her.
And the casual racism! Her job likes to think they’re diverse but they really aren’t, and they aren’t much help after her attack - especially when they learn who the attacker is.
In to the mix is the added pressure of a high-flying corporate job: the misogyny, power, politics and wealth.
Jaded is a debut, and the writing is captivating. I was drawn in to Jades world and felt outraged for her. There’s a lack of empathy from pretty much everyone that Jade knows.
Honestly, the writing is remarkable. If this is a debut, I can’t wait to see what comes next from Ela Lee.