In my not so humble opinion as a JAFA, that's just another fabulous Aucklander for anyone not in the know, the Auckland Writers Festival is a good time. As someone who likes reading you might think it'd be a sin for me to say otherwise. Truthfully though, I wouldn't be harping on about it now if I thought it was not worth anyone's time. This year they have one helluva lineup; Roxane Gay, Rupi Kaur, Chris Kraus, Ashleigh Young, Paul Beatty and more. Today I'm going to talk you through seven events I think you should know about, plus I have a very exciting lil' giveaway so stay tuned to the end of this post. 

Walk On High, free: One of the booksellers in Unity Books alerted me to this fun event taking place on High Street. From 6.30-8.00pm, a series of events will be happening. Insta-essays, poetry, theatre and games are just some of what can be expected. It sounds fun and like an unforgettable evening to explore the streets and get immersed in some unique experiences. 

Best of the Spoken Word, ticketed: Five of New Zealand's finest voices will come together to showcase their creative work, engage in a little improv. There'll even be a few guest appearances from the likes of Rupi Kaur, Paul Beatty and Ivan Coyote. If you are a poetry enthusiast then I imagine this one will be right up your alley. 

The Art of the Essay, free: As soon as I saw this event in the programme I was like 'yes please, I am there'. Roxane Gay+Ashleigh Young sharing their wisdom is enough to entice me. I don't think I need to say much more here. You get the gist.

Pop Up: Rupi Kaur, ticketed: I'm going to Milk and Honey, Kaur's Sunday session which has since sold out. Hence the addition of this new event. If you missed out the first time around, you cannot miss this one. Kaur is a voice to watch and I particularly loved milk and honey. In fact, I revisit it all the time. It's the kind of poetry that stays with you long after you've completed reading it.

The Book of Forgiving, ticketed: Mphu Tutu Van Furth co-wrote the aforementioned book with her father, Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Her session sounds fascinating and inspiring, as she'll be delving into her life and the place of forgiveness. I actually want to read this book now too so I'll be hunting that down in the local library. 

The Song of the Book, ticketed: Music lovers and lyricist enthusiasts, this one's for you. Four of our local songwriters were set the challenge of creating a piece of music, inspired by one of the books featured in this year's festival. As music is all about storytelling, this is the perfect marriage of creative mediums. 

Difficult Women, ticketed: When I heard that Roxane Gay was headed to Auckland for the Writers Festival, I knew I could not miss out. She's one of my favourite people on Twitter to follow and I love reading her writing whenever I get the opportunity, especially her op-eds. I cannot wait to hear her speak about her work and everything really. 

Now for the fun part, thanks to the lovely folk at Auckland Writers Festival*, I have a double-pass to Rupi Kaur's pop up event on Friday May 19th to give away. To enter, leave me a comment telling me what you're most looking forward to at the Writers Fest this year and feel free to use the additional entry options in the box below. Please note; you must be able to get to Auckland for this event and will have to collect your tickets from the box office. If you are under eighteen, please get permission from a parent or guardian before entering. 

This giveaway closes Tuesday 9th May. Good luck!

This year has really rekindled my enthusiasm for poetry. When we think about it, poetry is just music without an audible melody so it's surprising in a way that it has taken me this long to re-immerse myself in it. It also seems to have really ignited my passion and enthusiasm for reading a wide range of literature as well. It's not a secret that I have always been a reader but this year it seems to have gone to a whole new level, when I'm not distracted by Parks and Rec and re-watching old series on Netflix of course. So for book club this month, I set aside two books to read. Both were highly anticipated, by me and both were ones I'd been hanging out to read for a long time. They did not disappoint...

Where Am I Now? by Mara Wilson-Like many a child of the nineties I was a fan of Mara Wilson. Matilda still is one of my favourite films and probably always will be and of course I have a lot of love for Mrs Doubtfire. In more recent times I found her blog on Tumblr and then discovered she had quite the amazing Twitter account. Where Am I Now? Is a series of essays from Mara on topics such as her accidental stardom, show choir, anxiety and depression and more. It also includes this poignant essay she wrote about Robin Williams which did the rounds in the weeks following his passing. Think of this book as less of a tell-all, scandalous read and more of a reflective, engaging collection of stories and experiences from Mara's life thus far. In amongst her stories of growing up on film sets, there are also snippets of her life that are really relatable and it is that connectedness which makes this book truly special. I loved this so much that I have read it twice already and will no doubt return to it again and again. It is fantastic.

milk and honey by Rupi Kaur-This is another book that is extremely special. As Laura put it in her post, "if there's only one book you read this year, make it this one. It will rip you to shreds." Kaur's collection of poetry is split into four sections; the hurting, the loving, the breaking and the healing. It deals with love, loss, abuse and the beauty in learning to heal and reemerge from moments of darkness. You will want to return to this regularly, dog-ear passages and underline lines that speak to you. Reading this is quite an overwhelming experience, in the best kind of way. milk and honey is a book I will be gifting and recommending for years to come.

-Have you read either of these books? What did you think of them?

Why hello and happy Thursday to you all. You may have noticed that there's been no book club review this month because I didn't finish the book. Yeah, about that. Life got in the way, assignments got in the way, I've been reading other things basically. I'm a serial reader or something like that. My bad. Anyway, I still wanted to talk about books and things today so I thought I'd give you a little overview of September's book, well what I've read so far anyway as well as the details on October's books...

So September's book was The Lonely City by Olivia Laing. It documents her experiences in New York City and discusses introvertedness, being comfortable in your own company and art among other things. It's beautifully written and while I've not given it much time yet, I've read about fifty pages or so, I am really enjoying what I have read so far. My aim is to finish this by the time I do my next book club post so I'll talk more deeply on it then. If you're like me though and are just as happy spending time by yourself or have ever adventured around a big city on your lonesome then I think you will really relate to and connect with this book. 

Next month is October, how/why/when?! In seriousness, October is so close which means Christmas and Summer are even closer. Instead of freaking out, let us celebrate those two joyous things. Anyway, enough reminiscence, October's books are by two amazing women and storytellers. First up we have Where Am I Now? by Mara Wilson. I've already read this. Waiting to read it was like being told you can't touch the biscuits that are fresh out of the oven. Painful and far too tempting. I loved it and am going to be re-reading it again very soon so I can do a more insightful review for you all. Secondly we have milk and honey by Rupi Kaur which is very popular among bookstagrammers and reading enthusiasts in general at the moment. It is split into four sections; each being intertwined with thoughts, poetry, ideas and illustrations. It's an incredibly powerful, emotional read. I've found myself getting quite overwhelmed with emotion and memories reading this. There's a lot of dog-eared pages and underlined passages. I'm not quite finished this as I am savouring it but again it is going to be getting high-praise around these parts next month. 

-If you're taking part in my book club next month, let me know. The more the merrier! If you've read any of these books, let us know what you think of them in the comments too. It's always interesting to hear everyone's insights on books, especially the more personal ones like these.