Goodreads Winners Are In: Who were my favourites for 2018?

Posted on December 7, 2018 by Hope Lee • 1 Comment

The wait is over! Goodreads has announced its winners for 2018, which also marks the ten-year anniversary of the book awards. Readers get the chance to vote for their favourite books based on different popular categories like fiction, sci-fi, and Romance. It is basically the Oscars for books. This year, Goodreads recorded over five million … Continue reading →

Australian / Book Reviews / nonfiction / Opinion Pieces / The Latest

A Review of “Happy Never After”: owning our sadness, grief, and all those other uncomfortable things adults never talk about

Posted on November 9, 2018 by Hope Lee • 1 Comment

I am frustrated today. Honestly, the day could not have felt more shitty if it tried. Sure, there were lots of okay things that happened, but my general mood has oscillated between “Fuck this” and verging on tears. I am currently looking for work, an arduous task done in silence and solitude because heaven forbid … Continue reading →

Book Reviews / British / The Latest / YA

“Are We All Lemmings and Snowflakes?”: a review of Holly Bourne’s novel

Posted on September 4, 2018 by Hope Lee • Leave a comment

Writing about mental health and getting it right is tough. Writers need to understand and articulate what mentally ill people are feeling and it cannot read like a cliche. Readers, whether they have mental health issues or not, are going to see through platitudes, flat characterisations, and overly dramatic writing. And just like mental health … Continue reading →

blogging / Opinion Pieces / reading / The Latest

Easy and cheap ways for self-care with a book flair

Posted on January 18, 2018 by Hope Lee • Leave a comment

Self care was a buzzword for 2017 with a lot of articles floating around on social media talking about ways to look after yourself ranging from tips on meditation to weekly manicures. Self care has both emotional and medical aspects to it. Self care is ultimately about making time to put yourself first. However, there … Continue reading →

American / Book Reviews / nonfiction / Opinion Pieces / reading / The Latest

“Hunger”: reflecting on Roxane Gay’s memoir

Posted on November 2, 2017 by Hope Lee • 3 Comments

Every woman and girl knows what it is like to have their body judged by not just the people around them, but also by themselves. I distinctly remember being about seven or eight years old at my friend Amanda’s house playing dress-ups, when I thought to myself as I looked in the mirror, “Well at … Continue reading →

Australian / Book Reviews / British / The Latest

The Sheldon Effect: ‘funny’ books about mental illness

Posted on February 14, 2017 by Hope Lee • Leave a comment

In the past few weeks I have read two books: Brian Conaghan’s When Mr Dog Bites is about a teenage boy, Dylan Mint, and his struggles with going to Drumhill special school and battling tourette’s syndrome (amongst other mental health issues). On top of all of that, he thinks that he is going to die. … Continue reading →