I've always had a love affair with Russia. Ever since my mother used to read me stories about the Firebird and Baba Yaga Bony Legs, I've been obsessed. The idea of deep snow, mythical creatures and onion domed palaces was like catnip to my childhood imagination. So imagine my excitement when I ...
Circe: A Feminist Retelling of a Classical Myth
If there's one book that I'd say you absolutely have to read, this is it. I was completely hooked right from the very first chapter of this epic work about the witch/demigoddess Circe (yes - the one who turned men into pigs). Madeline Miller’s retelling of Homer’s Odyssey recasts this ancient ...
Pnin: The Unfortunate Émigré
Most well-known for Lolita, Nabokov can be a difficult author to get your teeth into. Notorious for a) being a bit of a weirdo (Lolita is about a grown man's infatuation with a twelve year old girl after all) and b) toying with his readers by spinning clever double meanings into his prose, I admit ...
The Gift of Rain: Love in a Time of War
An easy read (despite some of the heavy themes it deals with) The Gift of Rain is a heart-rending tale of love, trust, courage, loyalty and despair in the bitter face of war. Set during the Japanese invasion of Malaya, the novel is centred around Philip Hutton, a young man of Chinese-English ...
Your Bucket List Guide to Thailand
From tropical islands to epic temples to flavour-punching cuisine, Thailand truly has it all. Often a victim of its own success, Thailand can also have a reputation for being overrun with drunken backpackers and leery old men, but many areas of the country are fighting back against this image and ...
