Stories: World Book Day

It's world book day, which is rather exciting because books and lingerie are two of my favourite things!

Clearly Emma, our designer and director, agreed, as she named our SS'15 collection "Stories", with each set named after a female character in popular books/stories. Penelope (from Homer's 'Odyssey'), Scarlett (from Scarlett O'Hara in 'Gone with the wind'), and the soon to arrive Elizabeth, named after the protagonist in Pride and Prejudice.  

Our Product of a Mischievous Mind campaign also played with literature, linking in to our Stories collection. We used quotes from classic books that sound a little bit dirtier when taken out of context and quoted by a lingerie model! 

There's nothing better than curling up with a good book and a cup of tea. I adore the aesthetic of a bound, beautiful hard-back book, and desperately try to stop spending all my money (and filling the little space I have, yay for London flats!) on more books. I've managed to control myself and only purchase hardbacks and special editions that are particularly beautiful and particularly of interest to me. 

A tiny part of my very slimmed-down collection. On the left are some of my favourite books, and some beautiful hardback versions including Everything Is Illuminated, His Dark Materials Trilogy, The Master & Margarita and more. On the right are some books that were handed down from my parents, which were the first copies I read (multiple times) of these titles, so now they are pretty much falling apart!

I'm currently reading Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane - I loved the film and I also love to read books that have film adaptations and be a smug twat about what "didn't happen like that". So far, it's pretty much exactly like the film, so I just wish I didn't know the twist!

Over the past few months I only just managed to read Fight Club, and shortly afterwards, Choke, both by Chuck Palahniuk. I'd consider them both must-reads if you don't mind sexual content and wondering what must have happened to Mr. Palahniuk to illicit such incredibly fucked up characters. 

For the fantasy kick, I love to read Neil Gaiman (American Gods shot to my favourites list when I read it last year), China Mieville and re-read Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, which I last read when I was quite young (I'm not sure how I got through the last book when I was younger, it dwindles). 

I also seem to lean towards books that are quite distressing - I'm not sure what that says about my personality. The Book Thief, The Fault in our Stars, The Lovely Bones, The Pianist (non-fiction).... My favourite book, which I've read many, many times, is Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer, which speaks to me because I have both Jewish and Ukrainian in my family. Although a fairly controversial author (some people seem to absolutely hate his writing), I find the style incredibly beautiful, and if a piece of fiction can make you feel that strongly, it doesn't matter whether someone else disagrees!

My aim for the rest of this year is to read more books by female authors, as my current selection is woefully short on female voices (and, to be frank, strong female characters outside of the few YA fiction I've read). I've collected a few lists to aid me on this mission:

18 Pulitzer Prize-Winning Books By Women

50 Excellent Novels by Female Writers Under 50

14 Great Female Authors Recommend Their 41 Favourite Female Authors

Do you have any more recommendations? What are you currently reading?