I’ve laminated my Dorit Kemsley fan club badge

I can't pretend The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills is my favourite show from the long-running, mega-successful franchise. My heart belongs to New York. However, I watch most of the various different shows in the Real Housewives umbrella. Beverly Hills is often regarded and referred to as 'lifestyle porn' because it presents the cast in…

Do you feel the need for tweed?

There we were, laughing and chatting, when suddenly we realised we weren't alone. This isn't unusual in a public building, in our case the local library. I'd been put on a shift with Andrea and we were enjoying ourselves. I'd always found it easy to chat with Andrea, whose sense of silliness matched my own.…

He who lives by the sword, also lives across the street

The night my neighbour pulled a sword on me started off quietly enough, or about as quietly as it could living in a flat in a rundown part of town. There were always varying levels of noise. Arguments heard through thin walls were accepted and endured with all the grace I could manage. Boyracers tearing…

The New Abnormal

I haven’t been able to update my blog in a while for a few reasons. Chiefly, my beloved dog passed away. I knew it was coming, but that doesn’t make it easier, does it? I’m fine, but the world feels very strange. It feels strange anyway, with the Lockdown happening around me, but little moments…

When authors disappoint: a personal story

Last year I was at a launch of a new book when I had a conversation with a blogger, someone I like quite well. We were chatting about books we read when we were kids. If the early nineties belonged to Point Horror, then the late eighties were owned by Roald Dahl. However, as soon…

Fatale by Jean-Patrick Manchette

Truth be told, I've been wanting to talk about this book for a long time. It's one of those rare reviews I didn't enjoy writing, because I love this book so much that I don't think I can really do it justice. Of course, being my blog, I'm going to try to do it as…

Chemistry by Girls Aloud

One of my favourite hobbies in the early years of 2000 was trolling the pages of Channel 4's Planet Sound music page on Teletext. Every week I'd write in and upset people with my eloquent displays of bitchy brilliance. Oh yes, I enjoyed it. My favourite technique was to write really long letters praising Girls…

Lost In Space (A Diary)

It was only when I realised I'd forgotten my PIN number for the bank that I realised what was happening. When was the last time I actually went to the bank? The keypad made me stay away, fearing what might happen if I touched it after all those other fingers. I assumed the threat of…

Sonic Jihad by Snake River Conspiracy

Way back in 2001 when I was skinny and trying to find my way in the world, I used the freedom of my student loan to buy books and music and clothes. Really, that was my entire existence. Through these things and the newness of college, I was able to become...me, or a version of…

Life For Sale by Yukio Mishima

Originally serialised in Playboy Magazine (in Japan) between May to October of 1968, Life For Sale wasn’t available to read in The UK for decades. Thankfully Penguin Classics decided to turn Yukio Mishima’s stories into a novel and, with the help of Stephen Dodd’s translation which makes the story accelerate along, this classic by is…