Comforting Thought: Wild Geese by Mary Oliver

“You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miled through the desert, repenting, you only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.” – Wild Geese by Mary Oliver

Book Review: Something out of Place, Women and Disgust by Eimear McBride

Rating: πŸŒŸπŸŒŸπŸŒŸπŸŒŸ Genre: Non-Fiction, Feminism, Sociology, Philosophy, Sexuality. Publisher: Picador Review in one word: Provocative This is a fascinating, provocative and stirring book. It enrages and stimulates in equal measure and will make you think differently about the world if you are a woman or if you are a man then you will come to understand the disturbing waysContinue reading “Book Review: Something out of Place, Women and Disgust by Eimear McBride”

Comforting Thought: Your body is not just mineral and elemental. No, it’s vividly alive

Your body isn’t just mineral and elemental. No, it’s vividly alive, as anyone knows who’s ever danced, had a sore throat, made love or stubbed a toe.

All of the baroque variety of life on earth is considered to come from a tiny common ancestor who appeared about 4 billion years ago.

Still today, on a cellular level, basic functions like respiration look similar in plants and animals. So does your DNA -we humans share about half of our genetic material with plants. We truly aren’t very far away from anything.

Book Review: Mayflies by Andrew O’Hagan

Rating: πŸŒŸπŸŒŸπŸŒŸπŸŒŸπŸŒŸ Genre: Fiction, Coming of Age Novel, Historical Novel. Publisher: Faber & Faber Review in one word: Halcyon (and On and On) *Contains no spoilers This is both an unsentimental and deeply emotional novel, a book about past, present and future friendship set over the course of 30 years. It’s beautifully written, witty, funny and like a sweeping,Continue reading “Book Review: Mayflies by Andrew O’Hagan”

Comforting Thought: Eccentricity

“To live rooted on a changing earth is to create a new story. There are so few voices left that speak for wild nature first. It’s time to clasp hands (paws, fins, feathers, branches) and know where we stand.” Lyanda Lynn Haupt

Comforting Thought: Real love runs on a lower voltage than our culture leads us to believe

When we pay attention to the sensations in our bodies, we can feel that love is the energetic opposite of fear. Love seems to open and expand us right down to the cellular level, while fear causes us to contract and withdraw into ourselves. Yet so often, fear keeps us from being able to say yes to love – perhaps our greatest challenge as human beings.

Comforting Thought: Wild hearts breed protection of a wild earth

“We enter as pilgrims, as wayfarers knowing there is something we are seeking. Something nameless, beautiful, waiting and wanting.” ~ Lyanda Lynn Haupt

Comforting Thought: Love is the energetic opposite of fear

When we pay attention to the sensations in our bodies, we can feel that love is the energetic opposite of fear. Love seems to open and expand us right down to the cellular level, while fear causes us to contract and withdraw into ourselves. Yet so often, fear keeps us from being able to say yes to love – perhaps our greatest challenge as human beings.

Book Review: Elmet by Fiona Mozley

A dark, crepuscular and gripping Yorkshire thriller about family and loyalty that is timeless, lyrical and immensely satisfying. Rating: πŸŒŸπŸŒŸπŸŒŸπŸŒŸ Genre: Fiction, Gothic Noir, Yorkshire Noir, Thriller Publisher: Algonquin Books Review in one word: Stygian This debut book by Fiona Mozley was short-listed to win the Booker Prize in 2017 and it is easy to see why. This bookContinue reading “Book Review: Elmet by Fiona Mozley”

Book Review: Selfish, Shallow and Self-Absorbed. Sixteen writers on the decision to not have kids

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟 Genre: Non-Fiction, Psychology, Women’s Writing, Feminism, Family, Relationships. Publisher: Picador Review in one word: Provocative This book is designed to be confronting, provocative, emotional and stirring in all of the ways that many people don’t like to discuss in polite conversation. That’s because it tackles one of the most (ridiculously) controversial taboo topicsContinue reading “Book Review: Selfish, Shallow and Self-Absorbed. Sixteen writers on the decision to not have kids”