Annie Kapur
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I am:
🙋🏽♀️ Annie
📚 Avid Reader
📝 Reviewer and Commentator
🎓 Post-Grad Millennial (M.A)
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I have:
📖 280K+ reads on Vocal
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🦋/X @AnnieWithBooks
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🏡 UK
Stories (2894)
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The Magician by W. Somerset Maugham
Published in 1908, W. Somerset Maugham's The Magician was inspired by Maugham's fascination with the occult and his encounters with Aleister Crowley, a notorious figure in the world of mysticism and esotericism. Crowley’s eccentric personality and controversial reputation heavily influenced the character of Oliver Haddo, the titular magician in the novel. Maugham reportedly observed Crowley's mannerisms and lifestyle during their interactions in Paris, and these details contributed to Haddo's vividly unsettling character.
By Annie Kapur5 months ago in Geeks
Book Review: "Found You" by Sarah Jules
Sarah Jules is a pretty good writer. When I say 'pretty good' I actually mean I'm trying very hard not to become obsessed. She's written great books like You Invited It In (which I reviewed here) and You Need to Leave (which I reviewed here). I've often been reluctant from reading too many books by the same author in such a short time span but honestly, I don't think that Sarah Jules is going to disappoint me soon. With her fast-paced scenes, her brilliant alternating perspectives and her great way with character, I am pretty sure Sarah Jules is going to still go strong with this book.
By Annie Kapur5 months ago in Geeks
Book Review: "Freakslaw" by Jane Flett
So I've been reading thrillers lately, I love a good drama in which you know every character is inherently a bad person to some degree. But I've recently gone back to looking at horror, especially folk horror. Now folk horror can also include stuff like the carnival. Carnival horror is probably somewhere along the lines of Geek Love and then, it branches out from there. Many of these sub-genres intertwine and well, if are to only look at the story The Cask of Amontillado we can see clearly how one can influence the other. I was very excited the get stuck into this piece which, at the beginning, definitely gave me a flavour reminding me of American Horror Story Season 4: Freakshow. That is the superior season, I won't be taking questions.
By Annie Kapur5 months ago in Geeks
Book Review: "The Things We Keep" by Sally Hepworth . Top Story - August 2025.
“When you get to my age,' he says, his face softening, 'you don't waste time with regrets. In the end, you just remember the moments of joy. When all is said and done, those are the things we keep.” - The Things We Keep by Sally Hepworth
By Annie Kapur5 months ago in Geeks
Book Review: "The Guilty Couple" by C.L Taylor
If I've said it once, I've said it a million times: you will never get me out of a crime and thriller reading binge and if I go back to the British Library Crime Classics series then that was entirely my own doing. C.L Taylor's book It's Always the Husband was incredible and I read the whole thing in only a few hours, basically unable to put it down. I had to go straight back to the Kindle store to get this one titled: The Guilty Couple. Honestly I am so excited to get sucked into yet another drama and I would again highly recommend this author to all of you.
By Annie Kapur5 months ago in Geeks
Book Review: "The Other Side of the Wall" by Andrea Mara
Andrea Mara had a huge hit with 'No One Saw a Thing' and then a huge miss with 'Someone in the Attic'. I'm giving her books another chance by reading 'The Other Side of the Wall' and honestly, it's definitely a lot more enjoyable than I was antipcipating. As I write this introduction, I am perhaps a quarter of a way through the book. At the moment, I have a lot of backstory, the novel is packed full of lengthy and atmospheric descriptions and so, you can only guess that I am definitely of the belief that this is going to be a great book. Let's see what happened then...
By Annie Kapur5 months ago in Geeks
Book Review: "It's Always the Husband" by C.L Taylor
Online bookclubs are great but, once I found out that people were shitting on this one I checked out. I have wanted to read this since it came out because the title sounds so certain and yet, the book itself reads like a total mystery. Contemporary crime that one would normally find in the paperback bin of the W.H Smith travel shop is nothing to be sneezed at. Whether you're wanting some shifty mysteries in your life or, if you're just in a reading slump - these fast-paced books told from multiple third person limited perspectives that centre around social drama are definitely a go-to.
By Annie Kapur5 months ago in Geeks
Who Put Bella in the Wych Elm?
Welcome back to this week's episode of Why It's Shifty and today we're travelling near to my own hometown of Birmingham, England to look at a rather strange case in which a woman's skeleton was found in the the most unexpected of places. This is a story I didn't know was actually true until about ten years' ago. I thought it was just one of those random ghost stories that people tell each other. But, here we go. This episode is entitled Who Put Bella in the Wych Elm?
By Annie Kapur5 months ago in Geeks
Nostromo by Joseph Conrad
Published in 1904, Joseph Conrad’s Nostromo: A Tale of the Seaboard is a complex novel exploring themes of imperialism, greed, and moral ambiguity. Conrad was inspired by his experiences as a merchant seaman and his fascination with Latin America, particularly its tumultuous political landscape and the exploitative practices of European powers. The novel reflects his interest in the effects of imperialism on both individuals and nations, as well as his exploration of human nature under the pressures of ambition and power.
By Annie Kapur5 months ago in Geeks
Book Review: "Life with a Capital L" by D.H Lawrence
“The best we can do is listen to the dark hound of Heaven, and start off into the dark of the unknown...” - D.H Lawrence Five years' ago I became pretty obsessed with the anthology book Life with a Capital L by D.H Lawrence. In this summer of re-reads, I've chosen to revisit this classic in a bit more depth. Sometimes, when we return to a book we can discover new things and, rethink things we've highlighted in the past. Most of the things I had highlighted in this book before were related to laughing at Lawrence's incredible wit and tone. I will reinstate this however, I do hope more people consider reading this book. Lawrence is a brilliant writer and his novels prove that, it's true - but this anthology really solidifies it as an undeniable fact.
By Annie Kapur5 months ago in Geeks
Book Review: "Victory" by Joseph Conrad
I don't know how to tell you this, but this is my first time reading this one. Regardless of how long I've often spent pouring over Heart of Darkness, not matter how much effort I spent in my teens acquiring a nice copy of Lord Jim, I never even came across Victory. But whilst scrolling Twitter a few weeks back I saw that someone else had read it. The writing '...by Joseph Conrad' after the title was where I basically said that I was sold. Victory was a brilliant read and I hope that I can work this into my 'Why it's a Masterpiece' series soon.
By Annie Kapur5 months ago in Geeks
