Skip to content

Tenelle Ottley-Matthew

Arts and culture writer. Book reviewer.

Menu

About Me
Published Work
Blog
Review Policy

Menu

BalladOf3

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Follow Me

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Email Address

Search for:

Top Posts

Book Review: A Kick in the Belly by Stella Dadzie
Book Review: Who They Was by Gabriel Krauze
My Most-Anticipated Upcoming Book Releases (2020/21)

#BlackLivesMatter

Please check out my Linktree, which contains Black Lives Matter resources and a selection funds you can donate to that are by and for black people.

Read my Medium essay on representation in children’s & YA literature

Twitter

Tweets by misstenelle

Instagram

Slutever: Dispatches from a Sexually Autonomous Wo

Slutever: Dispatches from a Sexually Autonomous Woman in a Post-Shame World by Karley Sciortino
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Slutever is an entertaining & funny memoir about Sciortino’s journey towards slutty enlightenment. I’ve admired Karley Sciortino’s work for years, religiously reading her blog and watching her Vice TV show. In this book, she's frank and open about her colourful sexual experiences, discussing bisexuality, BDSM, open relationships, sex work, break ups, casual hookups and more. Sciortino notes that being a slut or sexually liberated doesn’t always = promiscuity. (Important as the two are often conflated.)
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
For sex-positive feminists, Slutever an enjoyable and thought-provoking read, but I found some parts questionable. At one point Sciortino suggests women need not feel victimised by negative sexual experiences because "there far are worse things in life than bad sex". I understood her point but felt it dismissed the impact of sexual trauma, especially in a world where rape culture is so normalised. Much of this book screams 'Choice Feminism', particularly Sciortino's views on women, porn and 'degrading' sex. I'm all for women being free to have whatever type of sex we want but that doesn't mean we shouldn't question our kinks/turn-ons and what might influence them. Some great points are made throughout but I often wanted to the author to go deeper.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Personal highlights for me were the chapters discussing disabilities and sex, Sciortino's dominatrix training and her sugar baby adventures. The latter includes an excellent section on the “whorearchy” (the hierarchy that exists within the sex industry) and she acknowledges the privileges that shaped her experiences as a sex worker. I love the way she writes about sex and relationships, especially when she examines the psychology behind her sexual behaviours and desires.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
[continued in the comments] ⬇️

✨ #GetToKnowMeThroughBooks ✨
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
These questions were tricky but here goes!
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
📖 Favourite books this year:
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Quite a few including
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
• Sensuous Knowledge by Minna Salami
• Bad Love by Maame Blue
• I Am Not Your Baby Mother by Candice Brathwaite
• Rainbow Milk by Paul Mendez
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
📖 Favourite classic:
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I’m not really into classics but I adore Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston and The Color Purple by Alice Walker
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
📖 A book that changed my life:
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Ain’t I A Woman? Black Women and Feminism by bell hooks 🔥
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
📖 Books I recommend to everyone:
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
• Take It Back by Kia Abdullah
• Here Comes The Sun by Nicole Dennis-Benn
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
📖 A book I didn’t really like:
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Honestly I don’t dislike this book but I have conflicting thoughts about Who They Was by Gabriel Krauze
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
📖 Books I obsess over:
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
• Full Disclosure by Camryn Garrett
• Women Talking by Miriam Toews
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
📖 Books I’m looking forward to reading:
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
• We Are All Birds of Uganda by Hafsa Zayyan
• Witches Steeped in Gold by Ciannon Smart
• Who’s Loving You: Love Stories by Women of Colour by Sareeta Domingo
• The Interest: How the British Establishment Resisted the Abolition of Slavery by Michael Taylor
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
📖 Currently reading:
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson (fiction) and Slutever by Karley Sciortino (non-fiction)
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Thank you @aishathebibliophile @readingwithkt @bookedupandbusy & @thebookalert for tagging me in this challenge. I’ve tagged some pals to join in (if they want to) but feel free to have a go regardless 💕

#LastNowNextReads: Translated Fiction ⠀⠀⠀⠀

#LastNowNextReads: Translated Fiction
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I went through a major reading slump last month and for a while, mainly gravitated towards novellas. It’s been ages since my last ‘Last Now Next’ post so I thought I’d share three translated novels on my radar.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
LAST: At Night All Blood Is Black by David Diop [gifted]
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
It took me a while to get into this heartbreaking, brutal and intense novel but it was worth sticking with. It follows two friends, Alfa and Mademba, Senegalese soldiers fighting for France during WW1. When Mademba is wounded and begs Alfa to kill him out of mercy, Alfa cannot and is overcome with guilt when his more-than-brother dies. Alfa’s narration chillingly portrays his descent into madness and growing thirst for revenge as he mindlessly slaughters German soldiers and chops off their hands.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I enjoyed this a lot. It’s beautifully written and starkly portrays the horrors of war and the trenches, while also exploring colonialism, racism, love, grief and familial bonds.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
NOW: The Fallen by Carlos Manuel Álvarez
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
This is kinda hard to describe but it's essentially about the disintegration of an ordinary Cuban family. I enjoyed the author's use of multiple perspectives and ambiguity in this story. The pages reveal so much while encouraging readers to draw their own conclusions at the same time. An addictive, unsettling and very smart read with brilliantly written characters.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
NEXT: Hadriana In All My Dreams by René Depestre
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I'm excited to read this magical, erotic, zombie-filled story set during Carnival in Haiti 1938. I haven't read any Haitian literature yet and figured René Depestre is a great author to start with.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Have you read any of these? What was the last translated novel you read and loved?

I like to experiment with my hair, and one of my l

I like to experiment with my hair, and one of my least favourite things about lockdown is not being able to visit the salon. However, I've played around with new styles this year and LOVE how big my fro is getting.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Two great books I’ve read in 2020 are Good Hair by Charlotte Mensah and Don’t Touch My Hair by Emma Dabiri. They both compliment each other well. Good Hair discusses the history of afro hair and styling/treatments in a similar vein to DTMH, but with the addition of expert advice and step-by-step instructions on how to achieve a range of styles.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I picked up Good Hair mainly for Mensah’s story rather than the haircare advice (although I really appreciate this element). The British-Ghanaian hairstylist became the first black woman to be inducted into the British Hairdressing Hall of Fame in 2018 and has probably worked her magic on (at least) one of your favourite celebs.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Both books explore why hair remains a source of contention, and even trauma, for black people as well as the more spiritual aspects and cultural history behind it.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
We are constantly reminded that black hair is never just hair. I often wish that it was but unfortunately that isn’t the world we live in. The policing of black hair remains a huge problem in 2020. For instance, black women and children are still being penalised for wearing natural hairstyles at school and work. The way our hair grows naturally out of our scalps is deemed controversial or a problem. It seems that black women’s hair is *always* up for debate even when we never ask for anyone’s opinion.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I better stop there because I could talk about this topic for ages. With afro hair so commonly misunderstood and treated with disdain, I'm glad these books exist.

Follow on Instagram

© All of the words and images on this website belong to me unless otherwise stated.

©2021 Tenelle Ottley-Matthew | Built using WordPress and Responsive Blogily theme by Superb