• some books and tea

    Books I Liked Over the Holidays- A Recommendation

    Natalie Howarth The holidays are the perfect time to wind down from academic pressure and take some time away from studying; what better way would there be to wind down other than with a book? Here are some of Natalie Howarth’s recommendations from the festive period.   Anna Karenina by...
  • 5 Things: Anti-romance Novels

    It’s February, which means only one thing: Valentine’s Day. If you haven’t yet found ‘the one’, or are just sick of pink love hearts everywhere, then this list is for you. Here are five books that are certainly not romance novels – they’re anti-romance. You won’t find any happy...
  • Forgotten Gems: Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

    Anna Karenina is one of those undeniable classics that people tend to claim they’ve read, or have on their shelves to look a little more intellectual; in fact, it’s been on my own bookshelf for years before I finally picked it up this summer. Originally published in instalments in...
  • TV Review – War and Peace

    It’s no mean feat squeezing Tolstoy’s epic War and Peace into 6 episodes. However, the BBC series, which came to its gripping climax on Sunday evening, managed the task effortlessly.  Starring Lily James as Natasha Rostova, James Norton as Andrei Bolkonsky and Paul Dano as Pierre Bezukhov, War and...
  • The 2016 Cures For Your End Of Downton Abbey Blues

    Corsets, class and scandal – all the makings for a fantastic television series. For nearly six years now, audiences worldwide have been charmed by the characters and universal appeal of a particular well-loved show. For those of you out there, like me, who are devastated at the prospect of...