|
Here to keep you up to date with the goings on in the book world without doing any of the legwork.
We want this to be a cosy community so we’re always looking for book recommendations, guest reviewers, and just general chat! Although we love books, we’re partial to a good TV series or film recommendation too!
|
|
|
|
Welcome to a special edition of The Candid Newsletter!
As if you needed reminding but it’s March already! We won’t get all philosophical but we hope this year has been treating you all well so far and that your reading has been fun and inspiring. This month we are looking forward to World Book Day, International Women’s Day and the announcement of the 2021 Women’s Prize For Fiction Longlist!
|
|
|
To help you celebrate we are giving away a copy of
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo
(for UK entrants only)
|
|
|
|
Today is World Book Day, which was always an exciting time for us as kids. Who remembers getting their £1 book voucher and going to their local bookshop to spend it?
Modern conveniences have resulted in a natural decline in shopping at local bookshops but bookshop.org now allows you to buy from your local stores rather than Amazon and other large chains. However, it’s been many decades since £1 allowed us to buy anything significant!
Which book do you first remember buying? Hit reply and let us know!
Take a look at some of the books that marked our childhood!
|
|
Being in a book club and having access to books at the click of a button is a privilege that many amongst us cannot afford and one that we do not take for granted. For this reason, we’d like to shed the spotlight on the Free Books Campaign: a non-profit, community interest company dedicated to getting books by authors of colour to those who cannot afford or access them. You can donate here.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
On Monday 8th of March, it’s International Women’s Day! Started in 1911, it's a day not just to celebrate all women and their achievements but to continue the fight to accelerate gender parity and equality. This year's theme for IWD is #ChoosetoChallenge so do what you can to truly make a positive difference for women.
As five reading women, we naturally gravitate towards strong leading women protagonists in the literature. Whether you’re after some powerful voices in fiction or in non-fiction, we’ve put together a selection of some of our favourite books for you. Stay tuned to our Instagram and Twitter on IWD for more killer recommendations from us.
|
|
Adunni in The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Daré. This novel is a firm favourite here at TCBC and Adunni's character is a beacon of joy who will stay with you long after reading this brilliant debut novel set in Nigeria. We follow Adunni through many trials and tribulations and despite the hardship, Adunni always comes out on top. From little touches like the Nigerian Book of Facts or Adunni’s grasp of the English language, there’s a take home message for everyone! We reviewed it here.
|
|
|
Keiko in Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata. This book a quirky and wonderful gem about being your own person. Keiko is a brave, non-conforming, strong-willed and bold 36-year old woman working in shop in Japan. She's really true to herself despite all the societal pressures thrown at her. This one is a firm favourite of Jess and Tanya!
|
|
|
Trevor Noah’s mother in Born A Crime by Trevor Noah. Wickedly entertaining, Mimi read this in less than 3 days. It's no surprise that these memoirs from Daily Show host Trevor Noah are going to be made into a film (or so we last heard). It's compelling to hear the stories of South Africa transitioning to the rainbow nation but the thing I loved the most was the picture Noah paints of his mother. A definition no nonsense matriarch, she is an absolute firecracker. We reviewed it here.
|
|
|
Nahr in Against the Loveless World by Susan Abulhawa. Abulhawa specialises in shining the spotlight on incredible Palestinian matriarchs and Nahr, our fearless protagonist, is no exception. A descendant of Palestinian refugees, confined to an Israeli jail cell, having traversed across Jordan and Kuwait - you won’t find any stereotypes of submissive Middle Eastern women in this book. We reviewed it here.
|
|
|
Firdaus in Woman at Point Zero by Nawal El-Saadawi. This small but harrowing novel is based on a true account of a woman that El-Saadawi had visited on death row in one of Egypt's prisons. This is a story you will never forget and is feminist fiction at its finest. Often overlooked, this 1975 novel is one of the 20th century's most progressive books to come out of the Middle East and makes for urgent reading. We reviewed it here.
|
|
|
Afi in His Only Wife by Peace Adzo Medie. This book is out in the UK in April and is an absolutely dazzling novel which shines the light on cosmopolitan and rural life in Ghana. Despite her circumstances, Afi goes against the grain and does not wish to accept the life that has been predetermined for her by the elders of her family. Pre-order this!
|
|
|
- Calling all Line of Duty fans! It has just been announced that the 6th series will start on 21st March on BBC! Can we count on Hastings and his AC-12 unit to pursue their ongoing mission of finding and incriminating corrupt police officers? We will definitely be tuning in to find out.
- We are so excited to learn that filming has begun on Kit de Waal's debut novel My Name is Leon (BBC). Set in Birmingham, during the race riots of the 1980's, the film tells the moving story of 9 year-old Leon. A must watch!
- Did anyone else watch Malcolm and Marie on Netflix? With such a cool concept, we had such high hopes for this film produced by Emmy winner Zendaya, where she starred alongside Tenet star John David Washington (Denzel Washington’s son). In our opinion, the script was pretentious and unnatural and Washington’s acting was unconvincing. From the get-go it felt like he was doing way too much and his monologues were pompous and grandiose. Zendaya didn’t live up to her brilliance from Euphoria either (4/10)
- The Lara-Jean Covey and Peter Kaminsky trilogy came to an end last month with the final instalment of To All The Boys I Loved (Netflix). Honestly, the films really do not do the books by Jenny Han justice, but we still watched it to wrap things up! We reviewed it here.
- We've been intrigued by Modern Love on Amazon Prime over the last few weeks! Each standalone episode is inspired by an entry to the New York Times column. Episode 3 starring Anne Hathaway was a thing of beauty! Her accurate portrayal of a woman with bipolar was unreal. Some episodes are better than others but still highly recommend for some feel-good viewing.
- Set to premiere in May, The Underground Railroad is being adapted into a TV series. The novel by Colson Whitehead is absolutely incredible and this is definitely one we will be watching! We reviewed it here.
|
|
|
Thank you to everyone who joined us last month to share your musings on the wonderful memoir How We Met by @Humaqureshiwriter. As always, you’re all so insightful and open and we loved sharing this amazing story with all of you. Extra special thanks go to Huma herself for joining us! We are so grateful to have been one of the first to review your book and to have you there to join the conversation, hear our stories and answer our burning questions too.
|
|
Don't forget that we're back with another Candid Conversations event with the one and only Nikesh Shukla on 11th March.
We'll be discussing his beautiful debut memoir, Brown Baby.
Sign up for what will be a fantastic discussion!
There is still time to read it and get involved. If you are short on time then give Audible a go (Narrated by Himesh Patel).
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
