elliemonks's reviews
36 reviews

What is History, Now? by Suzannah Lipscomb, Helen Carr

challenging informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

So, technically I still have a little bit to go on this book, but to me it’s more like an anthology that a linear book so my conscience feels already with marking this as read. Moving on…

This is a crucial work to understanding how historians do their job. It’s a fantastic rallying cry against the British government’s bs culture war and it shows us how diverse history must be in order to tell it faithfully. 

The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This book broke my heart. And I’m grateful for that. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Slavery

Queer City: Gay London from the Romans to the Present Day by Peter Ackroyd

challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.25

Black and British: An Illustrated History by Jake Alexander, Melleny Taylor, David Olusoga

informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

This is a wonderful book! The perfect balance between informative and entertaining and it contains a vitally important message for its young readers. 

Also the illustrations are AMAZING!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Slavery

Daughters of Chivalry: The Forgotten Children of Edward I by Kelcey Wilson-Lee

emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

3.75

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

4.0

Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell

4.0

So I started reading this - and then I had to write my dissertation so it got put to the side. but honestly, I picked it up from where I left off and wasn't lost at all - the setting of the story is brilliant in that regard.

The female relationships are the most important of the book - and are all so well written that you feel the emotions that all the women (from Mary to Agnes to Eliza to Susannah to Judith) feel as if they're your own.

However, Agnes' relationship with her husband is so interesting to me. They love each other, you can tell that so easily even if the reasons behind the beginning of their relationship weren't so pure, and if they had gone to London together things might have been very different. The grief changed their relationship, and him being with others (and although it's implied its never specified what exactly happens, especially considering how his room was described) is painful to Agnes - but does the grief make it more clear what happens in London? Or was it only that time between Hamnet dying and him going to and from London or had it happened before? It's never made completely clear and it's not made clear if it was a conscious choice or a bad decision made by grief...although either way it's not the good choice.

The Making of Man-Midwifery: Childbirth in England, 1660-1770 by Adrian Wilson

3.0

A good, comprehensive look at how the ground was laid for the men-midwives of the 18th century and as such the more medicalised way we treat childbirth in the 21st century.

Witches, Midwives and Nurses: A History of Women Healers by Barbara Ehrenreich

2.0

I read the second edition of this for my dissertation (which was the same as the first edition apart from a new introduction) and I honestly think that this is a fine example of 70s feminism - for good or for bad.

Animal: The Autobiography of a Female Body by Sara Pascoe

4.0

This is a book I dip in and out of all of the time. I have no shame about re reading this constantly.