I was wowed by Margo Jefferson's memoir, Negroland, which is about growing up black and privileged in Chicago in the fifties and sixties. It was a window into an alien world. Obviously, I'm not black, but what was really alien to me was her family's focus on respectability. I was never taught when to wear white gloves, what length skirt is appropriate.

A difference in self loathing? Please. The only difference between a gun and a rope is the time it takes to tie the knot.

I re-read The History of White People by Nell Irvin Painter. It's a book every one should read, particularly Americans, as the USA is her primary focus. Her book demonstrates that white is not universal, that white is not neutral, that it has a history, which she eloquently delineates. It's not often you finish a book understanding how the world operates better than before you read it.

The only reason I've ever had to wear a hat is to avoid skin cancer.

Eating good food is my favourite thing in the whole world. Nothing is more blissful.

Iloved Ashley Hope Perez's heartbreaking Out of Darkness set in late the 1930s in a small town Texas. It should win all the YA awards.

My favourite vampires are all very scary indeed. So the idea of falling in love with one is just weird to me.