All posts filed under: Books

3 Books You Need To Read This Winter

Published by

As you may or may not know, this year I started a girls-only book club called Ladies Lit Squad. Since founding LLS in the summer, we’ve had three amazing meetings at The Hoxton Hotel, with sponsors like Urban Decay, Penguin Books and Pukka Herbs and we’ve read a lot of books. Follow LLS on Instagram to read along with us. Oh, and here are just three of the amazing books I’ve read recently that I think you should too… after all it’s hibernation season now. The ideal time to snuggle up with a good book. Living The Dream by Lauren Berry This was the book we read for our second Ladies Lit Squad book club and we were also lucky enough to have the author come and talk about the book. Living The Dream is a tongue in cheek title that will be a familiar refrain to those of us who headed to the bright lights of London for a career in fashion, media or, like the lead character in this novel, work in advertising. …

4 Books Recommended by Ladies Lit Squad

Published by

As you may or may not know, I recently started a kick-ass, all-female book club called Ladies Lit Squad – so I have a lot of books to read of late. Having a book club is a bibliophile’s dream as I get sent new books every week. Here are four I really enjoyed and which will be in the goodie bags for the next book club if you’re going! THE ROANOKE GIRLS The Roanoke Girls tells the story of Lane Roanoke, her cousin Allegra and a rather dysfunctional family tree. The beautiful girls in the Roanoke family all share a dark secret, and that’s what the book is about – I don’t want to give too much away. I read this in a couple of days as I just couldn’t put it down. This book reveals some killer plot twists within the first few pages, hooking you instantly… and it continues to deliver to the very end. Buy The Roanoke Girls by Amy Engel GATHER THE DAUGHTERS Set in a dystopian future (or maybe it’s …

Book Review: How to Murder Your Life by Cat Marnell

Published by

Cat Marnell is a polarising character, by that I don’t mean your either love her or you hate her. I mean she changes your own mind about her several times in one paragraph. To give this context, Cat, is a drug addict. Her memoir How to Murder Your Life was written, we presume, under the influence so it’s raw, erratic and sometimes hard to read (she’s a fan of a !!!!!!!!!!!). On the flipside it’s this honesty and vulnerability that makes her so likeable. Cat takes us through her very privileged upbringing, boarding school and then to the hallowed halls of Conde Nast where she was a beauty editor at Lucky magazine. So far, so good – but her parents are distant, damaged phycologists who put her on Adderall as a kid (to which she soon becomes addicted), at boarding school she’s high, has a failed relationship and traumatic abortion, and her years in New York are a crack-fest of mishaps, loneliness and tragedy. As enviable as her life from the outside is, Cat is …

Ladies Lit Squad: How to Start a Book Club

Published by

A book club was always something I’d wanted to join, I’ve been talking about it for years… but like many things I talk about doing, I never actually did it. I love to read, and I must say, I do read a lot. I have so many friends who say “I never have any time to read” or “I haven’t read a book in ages”. Well, I have, but I have no one to talk with about the books I read. So one day last month, for some reason, I finally put my money where my mouth is and started a book club. I contacted my coolest girlfriends, did a survey to decide what to call ourselves. Our name Ladies Lit Squad is a play on the title of THIS Skepta song. Literature and Grime, a match made in heaven. Then I asked around at a few hotels in central London to see if they would host us, The Hoxton in Shoreditch obliged. I created a Facebook group. Chose the book (How to Murder Your …

5 Books to Read on Your Holiday

Published by

I recently had a dreamy three weeks in Bali (read all about that HERE) and the first thing I did when I was holiday planning was compile a reading list. That’s honestly one of the best things about going on holiday, reading, it’s such a luxury to be able to get lost in a good book. To be honest at home I just don’t have the time, and if I do crack open a good book in bed I’ll be fast asleep before I’ve even turned a page. So yeah, holidays are my chance to devour a few good novels. These are the five I managed to get through this time around and I was so pleased that I loved all of them – it’s great when you pick winners though not always the case. Anyway… read on to see what I’ve been reading and to add them to your list. The Regulars by Georgia Clark You know how they say ‘don’t judge a book by it’s cover’? Well, I did, I bought this book …

You Need To Read… The Girls by Emma Cline 

Published by

This book had a lot of hype from the get-go, and a reported $2M dollar book deal for the first-time author (crayyyyyyy), so my expectations were high. Luckily they were met and exceeded, I finished this book within 12 hours, I honestly could not put it down.  The novel is set in the ’60s on the distant fringes of Hollywood, the main character has a famous grandmother – and I believe the author was a child actress so perhaps that’s where he insight comes from. Our protagonist is a bored suburban teenager with an absent father and absent-minded mother, so when she one day sees a group of girls unlike any she’s come across before she is entranced and desperate to get to know them. The girls in question actually belong to a cult, modelled on Charles Manson’s notorious ‘Family’ and you’ll recognise some of the minor stories as being taken directly from Manson and his followers. The cult soon sucks our young lead in and sex and drugs soon follow – with disastrous effects …