By Christopher Taylor. Restoring Arthurian Romance in the Twenty-First Century The overwhelming majority of Arthurian fiction since T.H. White’s defining The Once and Future King (published in 1958) has sought to redefine Arthur in the context of the 4th-6th century: from Sutcliffe’s Sword at Sunset in the 60s, Zimmer-Bradley’s...
Books
Books & film: Risen from the dead – the modern horror revival
By Laura McCarthy. The recent success of media in the horror genre is undeniable. During the very first opening weekend at the cinema this year, we have seen Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu become the top grossing film at the box office in the UK, grossing £5.2million and becoming Focus’ seventh...
What’s Coming Up In February At October Books?
By Laura McCarthy. Southampton’s beloved independent bookshop October Books will be hosting a variety of exciting events for lovers of reading, writing, and even cooking this February. Things get underway half way through the month, when they will be holding a poetry fundraiser on Saturday 15th February from 2.30pm...
BANNED! Does a rising trend of book censorship mean we’re destined for Orwell’s Oceania after all?
By Laura McCarthy. It is a well known fact that George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984 is the most banned book of all time. The irony of censoring literature which is prophetic of extreme censorship isn’t lost on most of us. You may well have heard of other past bans too, including...
Winter reads: turkeys, blankets, and fantastical flying hogs
By Laura McCarthy. Throughout the cold nights by the fire, you need a little something to accompany that hot chocolate in hand and nothing could be better than a book which captures the essence of the season. Personally, I’ll be looking forward to kicking things off with The Dead...
Book Review: Bridges Not Borders
By Laura McCarthy. Bridges Not Borders is an anthology of South Asian short stories, edited by Wales-based Aiysha Jahan and Susmita Bhattacharya, who lives in Winchester. The aim of the book is to celebrate unity and to act as a megaphone for a variety of voices. Overall, this a...
Calling all history buffs! Author Alice Hunt book talk and signing this week
On Friday 11th November at 6.30pm, October Books will be hosting a talk with renowned historian Alice Hunt. Hunt will be discussing her new book Republic: Britain’s Revolutionary Decade 1649-1660 with Professor Mark Stoyle of the University of Southampton. Despite spanning only ten years, the 1650s was an incredibly...
Vampires, demons, and ghosts with the most: reading for October
By Laura McCarthy. In October, we revel in the joys of pumpkin carving; autumnal walks on bright, crisp mornings; and, of course, in consuming our favourite Halloween themed media. When it comes to reading, I have some suggestions which I have listed here, organised by “creature” this time around....
Review: October Books’ open mic poetry
By Laura McCarthy. October Books’ open mic poetry evening is a monthly event, hosted by the Southampton bookshop on the third Friday of every month, with the next being on Friday 18th October. I went along to the September event. So, what can you expect? Initially, I had no...
If personalities were books, which would you be?
By Laura McCarthy. I’m sure some of you will admit to completing personality quizzes in magazines as a child or possibly an online Myers-Briggs questionnaire as an adult. Maybe you enjoy learning what your star sign says about you. Yes, there’s certainly something appealing about the idea of discovering...