Charity Shop & Car Boot Book Haul

Sunday 27 May 2018

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Typewriter teeth book haul image of stack of books

With spring finally arriving i've been mooching around the charity shops and the May Bank Holiday brought with it plenty of tat sold in a field from a car boot. So with my main goal always to add to my never ending to be read pile I couldn't resist a few books.

Typewriter teeth book haul  gone girl and 11.22.63 by stephen king

First up was my visit to The British Heart Foundation where I picked up Gillian Flynn's 'Gone Girl', (yeah I know - how have I not read it yet?) Stephen King's '11.22.63' about a time traveller in an alternate history who attempts to prevent the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Alongside Sara Pascoe's 'Animal,' an exploration of the female body alongside autobiography and history. 

Sara Pascoe is touring with 'Lads, Lads, Lads' at the minute and I am so excited as we've got tickets for two shows. Fancy joining me? Find out more here. 

Typewriter teeth book haul on the road by jack kerouac and before i go sleep

I also picked up Jack Kerouac's 'On The Road' and SJ Watsons' 'Before I Go To Sleep' in another branch of The British Heart Foundation. No charity shop favouritism here, they just had the best book selection this time. 

Typewriter teeth book haul Mindy Kailing's 'Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?,  Amy Schumer's 'The Girl With The Lower Back Tattoo' and Kurt Cobain's Journal

And the final bit of May's goodies I picked up a car boot sale whilst visiting my grandparents. I managed to get Mindy Kailing's 'Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?,  Amy Schumer's 'The Girl With The Lower Back Tattoo' and Kurt Cobain's Journals all followed by a lovely rhubarb gin ginger in the sun.

Book haul layout featuring all books from this post

Anyone else love a charity shop rummage? 





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Pin Collection Part Three

Sunday 20 May 2018

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Typewriter Teeth Bookish Pin Collection. Three pins including a book, a quote and a dystopian pin

For the third instalment of my pin collection I thought I would focus on bookish pins. I feel like I buy more bookish pins for others than I do for myself so this is a smaller selection than usual. 

Typewriter Teeth Bookish Pin Collection. Quote pin from The Perks of being a wallflower

The first pin is from the amazing Nutmeg and Arlo whose instagram I constantly lust over. I could easily buy all of their pins but there are not enough lapels in my wardrobe. This pin has a quote from the amazing 'The Perks Of Being A Wallflower' by Stephen Chboksy and is available to buy here. 

If you are unfamiliar with the book and love a coming of age story I recommend you check it out here

Typewriter Teeth Bookish Pin Collection. The Handmaids tale pin

The final two pins are from the incredible Literary Emporium who will always keep my home and wardrobe full of literary touches. The above pin is from their stunning Dystopian Collection but of course I had to have the 'The Handmaids Tale' pin.

There is a pretty old blog post about the book here too if you fancy a wee read. 

Typewriter Teeth Bookish Pin Collection. Book 'Go away I'm reading' pin

This last pin is actually the first bookish pin I ever bought hence why it is so lovingly battered from living on so many jackets. I couldn't resist the Penguin resemblance or the beautiful library card backing it came on. 

Fend off interrupters for life with the book lovers pin here.

Got any bookish pin recommendations? Give me a shout! 

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'The Power' by Naomi Alderman

Sunday 13 May 2018

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Image of Naomi Alderman's the power with flowers on wooden floor

Winner of the 2017 Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction ‘The Power’ depicts a future where between the collar bones of teenage girls, a ‘skien’ awakens an electrical energy. The young girls awaken it in older women and with a slight touch all women can now shock, torture or kill another person. ‘The Power’ following four characters as this changes the way the world works. 

Allie, an abused American foster child. Roxy, the daughter of a London crime family. Tunde, a Nigerian journalist and Margot, an American politician on the rise. These characters cross the globe and the power changes everything they’ve known. The wide geography of ‘The Power’ could have easily consumed the novel but these characters keep Alderman’s story grounded. This expansion across the globe reflects different cultures, religions, political, social and economic backgrounds. A world where gender expression aligns with power is perhaps not the principle of a better world. And it is through the four main characters that we the reader learn this. 

As each character’s story develops we follow them through this historical change that they have found themselves in. I say historical as there is a framework that surrounds ‘The Power’ counting down in years towards a mysterious event. This frame is a discussion between two authors, Neil and Naomi as he desperately accepts intellectual property theft in order for this book to be published under a well known female author. This suggests that men still remain the weaker sex in the future but also adds a new perspective of how we read the novel. 


The Power by Naomi Alderman, Book Review on Typewriter Teeth with flowers and a stack of books


As ‘The Power’ develops women who were brought up to instinctively be aware of their surroundings and of men have now got the chance to repel as men of the world struggle to come to terms with it. Yearnings for this new power are matched with the male struggle to understand it as internet forums and groups come together to violently vent their frustration and reduction in dominance. There is repeated talk of a cure, but if power was imbalanced before would genders ever become equal? As brutality persists and sexual violence that is horrific, public and graphic is committed it becomes clear that even after centuries of female victims ‘The Power’ is showing that women may not use this as a chance for an equal beginning. Across the globe women use it as a chance to be the dominant gender and avenge a lifetime of oppression whilst the rest of women witness the regression. 

Despite all of this women still manage to become fetishised. Men that now fear women lust over their energy, desperate for a zap from the skien in sexual moments, as if no matter what happens to a woman her body is still a fixation and regardless of power the male gaze is still ingrained. 

The Power by Naomi Alderman, Book Review on Typewriter Teeth with a cup of tea


‘The Power’ does not hold any answers but theoretically explores what it can do to a person and if gender would make difference. For me before I picked up this novel I felt everything I read about it leaned towards a gender war rather than a power war. But I felt it explored more about the temptation of power, illuminating how people abuse it regardless of gender.   

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