#tiny moons

HOW CAN THE IMAGES BE THIS CLEAR THAT FAR ZOOMED IN??????

It is tiring to be a woman who loves to eat in a society where hunger is not something to be satisfied but to be controlled. Where a long history of female hunger is associated with shame and madness. The body must be punished for every misstep; for every “indulgence” the balance of control must be restored. To enjoy food as a young woman, to opt out every day from the guilt expected of me, is a radical act of love.

BOY PARTS BY ELIZA CLARK Published by Influx Press

Truly like nothing I’ve ever read, Boy Parts is a completely original debut and one that compelled me, obsessively. 

Irina photographs average looking men in compromising, often sexual positions. She’s witty, bitter and beautiful and the more you read, the more you find out about her, and the less you trust her. As she begins to re-discover repressed memories she becomes more and more self destructive, hurting all those around her.

Irina is nasty, mean and twisted and also strangely likeable too. I really found myself thinking about the novel all the time when I wasn’t reading it and finished the book swiftly. WIthout a doubt the best thing I read in 2020 and I’m excited to see what Eliza Clark writes next.

SANATORIUM BY ABI PALMER Published by Penned in the Margins

I devoured Sanatorium in a single day, drinking in its beautiful, poetic prose, becoming desperate to get into water myself.

The story is completely surreal and follows the story of a young woman at a water rehabilitation centre in Budapest. It jumps back and forth between her time there and her return to London where she attempts to recreate the experience using an inflatable bath tub she buys online.

The story flowed so beautiful and left time to contemplate my own body and how lucky I am. Again, another incredibly original story, told in such a brilliant way.

THE LIARS DICTIONARY BY ELEY WILLIAMS Published by William Collins

The Liar’s Dictionary was my most anticipated read of 2020. Eley William’s is a terrific writer and I enjoyed her debut short story collection Attrib. (published by Influx) immensely. 

The story follows Peter Winceworth in late 19th century, as, disillusioned from his job at Swansby’s New Encylopaedic Dictionary, he begins writing fake entries in the dictionary. It switches between him and Mallory who, every day while interning at the same Dictionary, she fields threatening phone calls from an unknown man. Mallory is forced to check through the Dictionary entries, looking for Peter’s false word, as their lives begin to entwine.

To give away any more would be unforgivable but I truly encourage everyone to give this a go. There are specific scenes (one involving a pelican and a fountain pen and another an ice cream van) that will stay with me for ages. A really enjoyable read.

TINY MOONS: A YEAR OF EATING IN SHANGHAI BY NINA MINGYA POWLES Published by The Emma Press

Tiny Moons is a beautiful collection of essays I savoured as the weather began to get warmer last year, missing the beautiful Asian cuisine I usually enjoy going out for in London.

Nina explores specific dishes, our relationship with food, her childhood and belonging throughout these essays, and though a short collection, I was desperate for it to never end.

winter - season of baby mandarins, apples - pan fried dumplings

Having got on so well with a novella for my first #ReadIndies book, I thought it would be nice to keep going with slimmer volumes, especially as I have so many in the pile of possibles and on Mount TBR! So my second book of the month is a recent arrival, one of two from the publishers The Emma Press which were a Christmas gift from lovely blogger HeavenAli. Both of these looked marvellous, but in…