Food (Writing) for Thought
Breakfast: Small Fires by Rebecca May Johnson Start your day with a healthy dose of domestic politics, linguistics and bodily autonomy. Johnson’s memoir blends humorous anecdotes with astute social commentary. She approaches the kitchen with the discipline of a...
Books by Black Authors to Add to Your TBR
By Lisa Gooding The theme of this year’s Black History Month is ‘Saluting our Sisters’ and highlights the crucial role that Black women have played in shaping history, inspiring change and building communities. I have been incredibly lucky to have worked...
Be Afraid: Spooky Season Viewing Recs from VERVE’s Editorial Director
Here’s a definitive list of what to watch over the next few weeks if you really want to get into the spirit of things, according to Jenna. Candyman (1992 and 2021) Inspired by a real-life serial killer operating in the US in the 1970s as well as Clive Barker's short...
A Divination Catalogue for the End Days
By Stephanie Feldman 1. Oneiromancy: divination by dream I used to have vivid dreams – different, in some unnameable way – about visiting with my deceased grandfather. I’m agnostic about the supernatural – like Fox Mulder, I want to believe, but like Dana Scully, I...
Sarah’s Top 5 Cli-Fi Recommendations
The term ‘cli-fi’ is a fairly new one. It was first coined by Dan Bloom back in 2011 and is the abbreviation of ‘climate fiction’, a genre which describes literature that is preoccupied by climate change. While ecocriticism has been a topic of discussion in academia...
Which VERVE Book to read based on your favourite Taylor Swift song
In celebration of today's announcement of 1989: Taylor's Version, we feel it's only fitting to alert you to the perfect VERVE Book to pair with your favourite Taylor Swift song... Karma If 'Karma' is your favourite Taylor Swift song, you love it when people get what’s...
Lost girls and finding the truth: the inspiration behind Wish You Were Here
The week my debut novel won the Authors’ Club First Novel Award, Madeleine McCann went missing. I sat in the bar at the Arts Club as a well-known broadsheet columnist and her friends discussed what had happened. I was only vaguely aware of the case at the time –...
The Best Indie Bookshops, as chosen by the VERVE Books team
In celebration of Independent Bookshop Week, the VERVE Books team want to shout out their favourite indie bookshops up and down the country. If you're looking for a way to support indie bookshops this week, why not visit one of the below - and improve your weekend and...
Sapphic reads from Sunburn author Chloe Michelle Howarth
Hello, I’m Chloe Michelle. I’m an Irish author living in Brighton. I absolutely love queer literature, especially with richly imagined, interesting settings and characters. My debut novel, Sunburn, is a sapphic story which details protagonist Lucy’s coming of age as...
Dark Academia 101: The essential reading list
If, like me, you loved Laurie Petrou’s Stargazer, are obsessed with The Secret History and cannot wait for Donna Tartt’s next elusive novel, you might currently be looking for your next great read to fill the void. Here are five more intense and twisty dark academia...