Books and stationery stuff

“We're so busy resigning ourselves to the inevitable that we don't even ask if it is inevitable. We've got to have courage, to take our future into our hands. If the law is oppressive, we must change the law. If tradition is obstructive, we must break tradition. If the system is unjust, we must reform the system.”
― Winifred Holtby, South Riding

Finally finished South Riding. It was hard going but beautifully written and I enjoyed it. It's set in the 1930s and scarily seems to echo how things are now. It's like we came so far, thanks in huge part to the creation of the welfare state, but seem to have slipped down the other side of civilisation and are almost back to square one. She talks about the horrors of the First World War a lot throughout the book and it's sad to think that a few years after the novel was written (and Winifred Holtby had died) the Second World War started and history tragically repeated itself.

I do feel the need to read something light and fluffy next!

The dinosaur notebook is for my Gaelic vocab and the one with the posh cover is where I brain dump, make lists, and make lists of lists ;-)