As someone building a new freelance career, it's next to impossible to turn down any work I get offered. And so, there have been times when I've worked for clients with very different viewpoints to my own.

But this afternoon, I found a line I would not cross.

As a straight, white man, nothing is quite as useful as finding the perfect resource to open my eyes to things outside my own experience. “Bi: The Hidden Culture, History and Science of Bisexuality” is a book everyone should read, no matter their sexuality.

Sometimes a “classic” is only a classic because uptight literary snobs have decreed it so. Other times, a novel becomes a classic because it tells a universal story that manages to be both readable and universally relatable. “The Remains of the Day” is the latter.

I've been on antidepressants for a year and a half, and it's time to bring this period of my life to a close. I've decided it's time for me to come off antidepressants.

I was recommended Will Storr's The Science of Storytelling as a book on writing. And while it did indeed leave me with a better understanding of storytelling, I wasn't expecting it to be accompanied by an existential crisis.

This was a book with a lot going for it. But where we were promised a dark, inverted twist on Cinderella, we're left with a story that ends on a flat, disappointing note.

For the last year and a half, I have been taking a daily 50mg dose of Sertraline, a common antidepressant. But why? How did I get to a point where I believed I needed chemicals to alter my brain in order to be happy?

I made a Key Kiwi Pie.

Did I mean to make a Key Lime Pie? Yes, I did. But my brain had other ideas.

You can always trust that any collection of stories by Junji Ito will be a wonderfully creepy and creative experience. And with this collection of some of his earlier works, The Deserter does not disappoint.

I absolutely loved My Best Friend's Exorcism. But I went into it thinking I wouldn't. As much as the author clearly loves the '80s horror aesthetic, the B-movie vibe of this book's packaging really undersells it.

The Bees is a well written and fascinating read, with compelling characters and clearly painstaking research. But while it pulled me in from the first page, I finished the book a little disappointed that it wasn't a little more powerful. 

Once more, Laura Purcell demonstrates she a master of the Victoria Gothic. With Bone China, she delivers yet another chilling story that creeps up on you, then leaves you wondering what is true and what is madness. 

I enjoyed Philippa East’s first novel, but I didn’t love it. But with Safe and Sound she’s taken what she had and built on it, hitting all the points that make it incredibly readable and almost impossible to put down. 

Jo Jakeman proves she is an author who just gets better and better. And with her third novel, she shows us she's a master of Domestic Noir.

“Forget what you think you know” is a well-known adage, but sometimes, if you truly want to improve yourself, it's actually bad advice. Because as Nova Reid's The Good Ally made me understand, sometimes we can't afford to forget what we know. Instead, we need to hold it and focus on how much of it is wrong

All my posts for Polyamory Week 2022 are now available to read at www.DiscoveringPolyamory.com

I knew nothing about A House of Ghosts or W.C. Ryan when I bought it. It was 100% a spur of the moment whim based on the cover. But boy, am I glad I did. Because while it’s not a book that’s going to change your life, it will nevertheless be an incredibly enjoyable read.

It’s almost that time of year again. Yes, it’s the week where we celebrate everything wonderful about polyamory and ethical non-monogamy in all it’s forms!