Tag: good books

women in black walking through a grain field

Why Women Walk: A Reflection on Gender and the Great Outdoors

Posted on by cococatani

I recently spent a weekend on the Norfolk Coast enjoying the beach, the sunshine and copious amounts of ice cream. As usual I spent much of my days (when I was not eating ice cream) on long walks. Norfolk has some great long distance walking paths, with the Norfolk Coast Path a firm favourite of mine, and I find myself returning to the prettiest sections again and again. This time I also explored some terrain more inland and racked up over fifty kilometres over the weekend.

To accompany me I brought a very appropriate book that had caught my eye in the library. Windswept: Why Women Walk by Annabel Abbs is part memoir (about Abbs own mixed feelings about walking) and part biography of several famous women who walked. The rota includes Simone de Beauviour, Gwen John, and Georgia O’Keeffe, and I was curious to find out more about their lives and the role walking played in it.

Think Python: A Review

Posted on by cococatani

About a year and a half ago I started learning how to code, inspired as I was after meeting some very skilled creative coders. The journey that followed has, so far, been equally exciting and challenging. Unsurprisingly, trying to learn something new and alien can be fiendishly difficult at times, especially when you’re also juggling a full-time job, a martial arts practice, and learning two human languages. Luckily there are some good books around to help you manage the long and winding road.

Coco Reads a Classic: Moby Dick by Herman Melville

Posted on by cococatani

It’s one of those books everyone knows and many are too scared to actually attempt: Herman Melville’s Moby Dick. Even with an American Studies PhD under my belt I’m not ashamed to admit that I’ve never gotten round to reading it. It’s a very long and very difficult book about whales, after all. Not exactly an easy sell.

But with the nights drawing in and more time on my hands I decided to give it a go.

An Escape from the Unkindness of Life: Exploring the Works of Alfred Wainwright

Posted on by cococatani

One of the joys of reading is that there is always more to be discovered. Earlier this week my mum messaged me to ask if I had ever heard of Alfred Wainwright, and if not, that I would probably like his work. She’d heard him mentioned in a TV show she was watching and sent me a link to his Wikipedia entry without further context.

I had never heard of Wainwright, which seems odd given my recurrent interest in nature writing. Wainwright, as I soon discovered, is well known for having written a long list of guides to the Lake District. Perhaps that’s why I didn’t previously know of him. I’ve never been to the Lake District (although, now having read The Eastern Fells, I do want to go there) and as I discovered when I started reading one of his first books, it is not nature writing in the traditional sense.

Surrounded by Idiots (Review)

Posted on by cococatani

During a recent spell of bad weather I went into one of my reading frenzies. This time I focused on books about management and coaching, hoping to learn some tricks I could apply at work. While many management books are nothing but self-indulgent waffle, Surrounded by Idiots by Thomas Erikson is a pleasant exception to the rule. It has given me insights I have instantly been able to apply to my job and, dare I say it, have even made said job a little easier.

Reading Pride: A Book Review

Posted on by cococatani

One great way to celebrate Pride month if you’re an introvert is by reading a book. I initially picked The Intoxicating Mr Lavelle by Neil Blackmore for purely aesthetic reasons. Its racy pink cover seemed appropriate for the time of year. I don’t normally like historical fiction very much – I don’t know why, it’s just one of my blind spots – but this seemed like a good time to leave my usual comfort zone.

Until We Fall by Nicole Zelniker – A Review

Posted on by cococatani

Fiction about frightening and undesirable societies offers great opportunities for women, people of colour, and LGBTQA+ people to unpack the dangers of the present and envision their potential consequences for the future. Although dystopias make good stories, they can be so much more than just a narrative device, and function as a powerful socio-political tool. In her new novel Until We Fall, published by Jaded Ibis Press, Nicole Zelniker demonstrates just that.

The Great American Novel?: A Brief Look at the Work of T.C. Boyle

Posted on by cococatani

‘ve liked T.C. Boyle’s books ever since I first saw him perform at the UEA Literature Festival in 2012. I had just moved to the UK and had just started my PhD. I was excited, not just because of all the changes that had recently happened in my own life, but also because I felt as if I was now in the middle of it all. Whatever “it” was. A place where world-famous others magically appeared in packed lecture theatres to talk shop.

Brian Lumley’s Necroscope – A Vampire Novel, but Different

Posted on by cococatani

become a cliché to the point that they seem to have lost much of their ability to scare, I still can’t resist a good vampire story. For every boring, unimaginative Twilight rip-off, there’s a lesser-known gem lurking in the darkness somewhere, waiting to be devoured. Or, perhaps, to devour unsuspecting readers first. One such story is Necroscope by Brian Lumley.