I can't help but begin by pointing out that I love that the publisher chose Nigel Slater's (author of Toast) comment to print on the back. A 70-year-old man is definitely not the target audience of this book, but I love the allusion. Once again, this is a book that is the subject of pretty universal praise, replete with food puns ad nauseam. The blurb accurately states that it is a 'vivid, unsettling exploration of misogyny, obsession and the transgressive pleasures of food i

-related issues So the trigger for this one was hearing the phrase 'second-order consequences' for the first time in connection with GLP1s. My mother is on some kind of them. No, she hasn't said anything, but these are the clues: She relishes telling me about which of her friends have gone on it (and it seems most have) Extremely dramatic weight loss that has been sustained and could now be said to have gone too far (and could now be said to be accompanied by Ozempic face Whi

Being a teacher makes it hard not to be overly critical of Miss Jean Brodie. It also makes it hard not to admire Sandy for what she achieved, given the paucity of her education (becoming well-known for writing a psychology book). Miss Jean Brodie seems to be viewed with admiration generally, noted for her glamorous, convention-defying ways, with general acknowledgement paid to her flaws - her manipulative nature, her way of being somehow 'above' morality and having an "exces

Reflections post-reading The first few pages of this book are full of rich praise: "remarkable", "brave", "powerful, moving, true", etc. So to heap more broad praise on feels obsolete. Three things stood out to me. First, I haven't read any proper 'literature' for a while. Unless you count the prep I do to teach English Literature A-level. I've read some truly fantastic paranormal fiction (eg Kate Golden's Half City) and some classically pleasing romantasy (eg Devney Perry's

The first time round, it was in winter and full of big excitement and little knowledge of what was to come. As I approach my second maternity leave (in 3 weeks' time), it feels like I've never left the transitional space that I found myself in last time. I will have returned to work for a total of 9 months in between leaves and for 3 days a week. The one-foot-in, one-foot-out existence has encompassed some of the best parts of both spheres of living, but has also come with pl