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Our Beautiful Mess by Adele Parks: Messy Families and Buried Secrets
This was my first Adele Parks book (a Goldsboro Books Crime Collective pick for me), and it definitely won’t be my last. Our Beautiful Mess centres on Connie and her family over Christmas – a time that should feel warm and familiar, but very quickly spirals into something far more complicated. Her daughter Fran returns…
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The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami: A Chilling, Clever Look at Surveillance, Freedom and the Data We Give Away
A clever, unsettling speculative novel about surveillance, freedom and the data we give away. A thoughtful 3.5-star read from the Women’s Prize 2025 longlist.
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The Finest Hotel in Kabul by Lyse Doucet: A Moving People’s History of Afghanistan Through the Doors of One Hotel
A sweeping, humane and deeply informative history of modern Afghanistan, told through the remarkable story of the Kabul Inter-Continental Hotel.
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Men Who Hate Women by Laura Bates: A Harrowing Deep Dive into Online Misogyny
A chilling and necessary look at the manosphere, incels and online misogyny. Not my favourite Laura Bates book, but still a powerful four-star read.
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Babylonia by Costanza Casati: Power, Passion and a Woman Who Refuses to Stay Small
It took me a while to get round to reading Babylonia but having seen the reviews I was expecting a rich historical retelling. I kid you not, I came out of it completely obsessed. This book was bold, brutal, and utterly addictive storytelling at its finest – I genuinely could not put it down. Set…
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The Five by Hallie Rubenhold: Reclaiming the Women Jack the Ripper Erased
This book came highly recommended by my sister, so when I got round to reading it I wasn’t sure what to expect (we don’t normally have the same taste in books). However, The Five by Hallie Rubenhold was such a welcome surprise. I went in thinking I knew the infamous Jack the Ripper story –…
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Tart by Slutty Cheff: Raw, Unfiltered and Deliciously Fun
I picked up Tart by Slutty Cheff without knowing much about it (aside from some buzz and those cheeky cover quotes from Lena Dunham and Dolly Alderton), and I’m so glad I did. This memoir is an absolute riot – a no-holds-barred through the life of an anonymous young chef in London’s restaurant underbelly. It…
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July Reading Wrap-Up
I’m not entirely sure how we’ve reached the end of July already, but somehow here we are – and I managed to read 7 books, and a grand total of 2,326 pages along the way. There was true crime, feminist non-fiction, memoir, forensic science, historical fiction and bit of literary fiction for good measure. A…
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The New Age of Sexism by Laura Bates: A Powerful Call to Action
From page one, Bates’ warm-yet-urgent tone pulled me in like a late-night conversation with a friend – a friend bringing some serious truth bombs. (If her name sounds familiar, it’s because she’s the bestselling author of Everyday Sexism and Men Who Hate Women). I thought I was pretty informed about misogyny, but nothing prepared me…
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All Fours by Miranda July: Wild, Weird and Unapologetically Honest
You know when you finish a book and just sit there like…huh. That was a lot. That was me with All Fours. It’s sharp, messy, clever, and undeniably Miranda July – which is to say, it will either completely click with you or leave you frustrated. For me, it was both. I gave it four…
Books With Megz 