‘I call myself a feminist’ Victoria Pepe (and many others) – review + short essay

Is feminism still a dirty word? We asked twenty-five of the brightest, funniest, bravest young women what being a feminist in 2015 means to them. We hear from Laura Bates (of the Everyday Sexism Project), Reni Eddo-Lodge (award-winning journalist and author), Yas Necati (an eighteen-year-old activist), Laura Pankhurst, great-great granddaughter of Emmeline Pankhurst and an …

Shameless self-promotion – ‘Sweet Oblivion’ is out now, peeps!

'sappening yo! You see the book above? That's my baby and it is now available for FREE DOWNLOAD on Smashwords if you're looking for a quick but (hopefully) engaging read! I released it a couple of months back, but I've been a bit shit on the promoting side of things. I hate being pushy and didn't want …

‘The Little Stranger’ Sarah Waters

In a dusty post-war summer in rural Warwickshire, a doctor is called to a patient at lonely Hundreds Hall. Home to the Ayres family for over two centuries, the Georgian house, once grand and handsome, is now in decline, its masonry crumbling, its gardens choked with weeds, its owners - mother, son and daughter - …

Jazz’s first book…

...or, at least, one of the first books I ever received and still own. I was visiting my mum yesterday and while clearing out her house, she found this Beatrix Potter book that had been given to me on my first birthday (nearly 24 years ago!) What was one of the first books you ever …

‘Skitter’ Ezekiel Boone

Tens of millions of people around the world are dead. Half of China is a nuclear wasteland. Mysterious flesh-eating spiders are marching through Los Angeles, Oslo, Delhi, Rio de Janeiro, and countless other cities. According to scientist Melanie Gruyer, however, the spider situation seems to be looking up. Yet in Japan, a giant, truck-sized, glowing …

Jazz’s Top 4 Unexpected Horror Reads

Fuck zombies. Fuck ghosts. Fuck Godzilla and d'ya know what? Fuck Mothra, too. (can I just point out this is the metaphorical 'fuck' and not the, er, literal 'fuck'. Fucking a zombie would be classed as necrophilia, I do believe, and I really don't want you guys hanging out in cemeteries, saying Jazz from I …

‘The Art of Asking’ Amanda Palmer

Imagine standing on a box in the middle of a busy city, dressed as a white-faced bride, and silently using your eyes to ask people for money. Or touring Europe in a punk cabaret band, and finding a place to sleep each night by reaching out to strangers on Twitter. For Amanda Palmer, actions like …

‘My Best Friend’s Exorcism’ Grady Hendrix

The year is 1988. High school sophomores Abby and Gretchen have been best friends since fourth grade. But after an evening of skinny-dipping goes disastrously wrong, Gretchen begins to act different. She s moody. She s irritable. And bizarre incidents keep happening whenever she s nearby. Abby s investigation leads her to some startling discoveries …

500 followers!

Nothing remedies post-vacation blues better than being greeted by this upon my return. 500 followers, eh? 500 people who enjoy hearing what I have to say about books and writing...it's beyond surreal. I've met so many incredible people through blogging and I just want to take a moment to thank you all for your continued …

‘Fellowship of Ink’ Paul Magrs

Brenda is back! It's the 1930s, and Brenda (of Brenda and Effie fame!) finds herself in the old, medieval university town of Darkholmes in the North of England. She's a housemaid, and teams up with fictionalised versions of CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien, who are conjuring up monsters from other dimensions through their writings. Together, …