Not Working

Written By Omma Ahmed
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Not Working by Lisa Owens
Reviewed by Omma
📕📗

Recommended by Cosmopolitan and described as the Millennial equivalent of Bridget Jones, this book is actually the equivalent of reality TV. You get engrossed really quickly but you don't actually gain anything from it.

It's about a girl who decides to quit her dead end job to truly find her career. It started off well, written in sort of diary style entries but without any dates or times about her random train of thought, procrastination at its finest, her relationship issues with her live in surgeon boyfriend and mother. Initially I found it quite relatable (unemployed, lost career wise, queen of procrastination myself!), a nice fluffy read but then it ended fairly abruptly. It just left me feeling very meh. Reviews called Lisa Owens as a comedy genius but I really didn't get it. I'd pass on this.

Omma Ahmed

I’ve always loved reading as a kid because it was one of the few Asian-mum approved hobbies although she would have preferred ‘less novels and more school books’! I also grew up in the Harry Potter era so that’s when I really remember falling in love with reading. (Big up my Y7 English teacher for reading a few pages of Philosophers stone at the end of every lesson! You were a real one Mr Williams!) I love being part of this book page (even though I slack massively due to lack of energy and concentration!) because sometimes it felt like a lifeline to help keep me sane. We started it during the time I was feeling really shitty about my Crohn’s disease. It’s been a tough 7 years and the last 3 have probably been the hardest especially mentally so when Linda suggested putting this page together, without hesitation I was down and I’m so proud of us! Writing reviews helped me to organise my thoughts and even resulted in me creating a second Instagram page (@AnOstomateForLife) about my Crohn’s journey. Yes that was a shameless plug and I’m not sorry! Along with reviews, I’ve also loved the creative side of things such as having input in our logo, creating our bookmark and taking book pictures even though it’s awkward af in public! So a few of my fave books: The Godfather by Mario Puzo (made me love the film even more! I’m a self-proclaimed movie buff too btw), Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X and Alex Healy, The Harry Potter series (obviously), Jemima J by Jane Green, Moonlight over Manhattan by Sarah Morgan, Where’d You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple and We Should All Be Feminists Chimamanda Adichie.

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