Annie Kapur
Bio
I am:
🙋🏽♀️ Annie
📚 Avid Reader
📝 Reviewer and Commentator
🎓 Post-Grad Millennial (M.A)
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I have:
📖 280K+ reads on Vocal
🫶🏼 Love for reading & research
🦋/X @AnnieWithBooks
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🏡 UK
Stories (2899)
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Book Review: "Eerie East Anglia" ed. by Edward Parnell
Full Title = Eerie East Anglia: Fearful Tales of Field and Fen by Edward Parnell I have been trying to catch up on one of my favourite series of books ever - The British Library's Tales of the Weird. As you can probably tell, I have been a bit here and there about it, hyping up anthologies like Out of the Past in my head only to be kind of disappointed. I thought that perhaps, I needed to get back on the folk horror wagon and delve deeper into my favourite subgenre and so, I sought out some writings on fields, weird coastal ghosts and remote places with haunting backstories. And so, I found this lovely anthology. Let's take a look...
By Annie Kapur11 months ago in Geeks
Why It's Shifty
Shifty = appearing deceitful or evasive Welcome to 'Why It's Shifty' - the anxiety-ridden cousin of 'Why It's a Masterpiece' in which we are known to do deep dives into some of the great books of the 20th century (I might be open to other centuries once I run out of books to analyse). I would like to introduce you to what will become the 'Why It's Shifty' series before I actually start giving it to you.
By Annie Kapur11 months ago in Geeks
Why We Read Books
Here is some context as to why I am writing about reading. It is based on something I saw on social media: Whilst perusing social media, I saw a post on Twitter (X) which discussed the point of reading. Whether ironically or unironically, the user had asked what the importance of reading books was and how it was probably a waste of time since AI could summarise the key points of a particular book after having machine-learnt about the reader themselves. This therefore meant it could give key insights into the book that would help that reader in particular to gain the knowledge that would be worthy to them from the book. Honestly, I have never seen something that has missed the point of reading so much in my entire life. I continued to make a snide comment about the user's lack of proficiency for reading, meaning it should not concern them. But let's take a look at why people read in the first place to attempt to tackle this issue.
By Annie Kapur11 months ago in Psyche
Book Review: "Out of the Past" ed. by Aaron Worth
I wanted to read more British Library Tales of the Weird and so, I downloaded tons of them that I had not read yet. The problem is that when I finish them, I'm not sure that I will have to wait for the next one or, whether it will already be out. I'm not going to lie to you though - I was thinking about this book perhaps two or three days before writing the review. One of the reasons was because I waited quite a while for this book and now, I have mixed opinions about it. Is it because I over-hyped it in my head or was it because the selection os stories are pretty standard and only a few really stand out? Let's take a look...
By Annie Kapur11 months ago in Geeks
Book Review: "The Memory Illusion" by Dr Julia Shaw
I really enjoyed reading Dr Julia Shaw's Making Evil even though I gave it an average review - it was still an enjoyable reading experience and a new writer to read. Now, I have moved on to her book The Memory Illusion which covers how we as living things, create memories that may not have even happened without ever knowing it. Drawing on cognitive psychology, neuroscience, and her own research, she dissects the ways in which memories can be distorted, fabricated, and manipulated. This has definitely made me look at my own memories a little bit closer but then again - most of them consist of books and the stories they tell...
By Annie Kapur11 months ago in Geeks
Under the Volcano by Malcolm Lowry
"Under the Volcano," a seminal work by British writer Malcolm Lowry, was first published in 1947. The novel, which had undergone numerous rewrites and faced multiple rejections, stands as a testament to Lowry's perseverance and literary vision.
By Annie Kapur11 months ago in Geeks
Book Review: "Simple Passion" by Annie Ernaux
This is one of those books that I saw was being talked about online and I kept putting off reading it. In fact, I've had it on my Kindle for an awfully long time and never bothered to open it. As one of my resolutions is to read more authors that I have never read before, I thought it would be a great idea to give this a go now in order to fulfil that. I have to say, I was more confused than anything else and I didn't think that an uninteresting love affair could be dragged out for several pages. However, I did like the writing style which definitely reflected the mundane qualities of everyday life juxtaposed brilliantly with her insatiable obsession. Perhaps this is going to be a good review after all...
By Annie Kapur11 months ago in Geeks
Plugged In
This article is based off something I heard whilst out in public. Here is the backstory and context: One day, whilst I was out and about around the city I had to take my Airpods out of my ears in order to recharge them in the case for about fifteen to twenty minutes. One of the conversations I managed to pick up from the people in front of me in a queue was regarding how people wear headphones everywhere in society and thus, it has become much more difficult to interact with people. This was followed by a discussion about whether headphones make people seem antisocial or whether it is just because with headphones on - people cannot necessarily hear you. It got me thinking (before I put my own Airpods back in) about how this has had its advantages and disadvantages for society. I will try to leave out my own opinion too much here because I think it is a fantastic thing.
By Annie Kapur11 months ago in Psyche
Book Review: "The Night Always Comes" by Willy Vlautin
I don't know how I found this book but I did tell you I wanted to read more books by authors I had not hear of before. This is one of them. This book was not on my radar at all. It was not something in my recommendations and it was not something on a reading list anywhere. Honestly, I have no recollection of how I came across it. All I know is that when I read it, it took hold almost immediately. Intense and emotional, this book seems to detail the most human feelings in the most incredible ways. I was astounded to find out how good it actually was. So, let's go through what I thought of it...
By Annie Kapur11 months ago in Geeks
5 Podcasts I Love
I'm starting to do a lot more about myself and that is because I feel like I'm getting a bit distant with my audience. Everything has become about something else and there's really hardly any room for me anymore. I know, I know, I'm probably not the most interesting of people - most of what I do is read and work, cook and watch movies. I know you're also probably thinking 'I actually do not care about you that much, I'm here for the book reviews.' And I apologise if that is you. I've been waiting a while to publish a list of my definitive podcasts. I think some time ago I said I would do ten in my list and I did try - but the article got so long that I considered that nobody would read it. I have since cut it down to five absolutes.
By Annie Kapur11 months ago in Geeks
Book Review: "Love, Poverty and War" by Christopher Hitchens
I used to read quite a bit of Christopher Hitchens, back when he had cancer and was dying. Honestly, I was still in my teen years at that time and I would have to read God is Not Great again to see his point. As a precocious teen with a certain amount of respect for religion, I liked to read other people's arguments as long as they were readable in book format and the author was a good writer (thanks for nothing, Richard Dawkins). This is perhaps the first time I'm reading such a large anthology of Hitchens' journalism and so, I took my time to process it. Here are my thoughts.
By Annie Kapur11 months ago in Geeks
Book Review: "The Picador Book of 40" ed. by Charlotte Greig
If you had told me that there was a Picador Anthology of stories last year then I would have read it, why didn't anyone tell me? Most anthologies are published at a milestone like fifty years or one hundred years, but forty just made me even more interested to read it. I was fascinated to see how many writers could write something compelling about the number, the publishing house or something to do with writing itself - especially one of my favourite writers, John Banville - who managed to write about turning forty and what it means. There are many things to celebrate in this anthology and I'm glad Picador didn't take the usual milestones to write about. Here's what I thought...
By Annie Kapur11 months ago in Geeks
