Update from Kia
A few years ago, I wrote about the joy of mediocrity. At the time, I was taking horse riding lessons and had recently had an 11-year-old girl help me unbridle my horse. If there’s anything that will make you feel crap at what you’re doing, it’s having someone a third your age explain it to you.
It made me feel incompetent but it also reminded me that we don’t always have to strive to be good at something. Better, sure, but not good. This year, I have an unusually long stretch of time in London, which means I’ve been able to try new things that would otherwise be disrupted by travelling.
First up was a 10-week Introduction to Street Dance course. I was distinctly mediocre at the end but I had huge amounts of fun. Next up was a private boxing lesson, which I absolutely loved. I’ve since booked a block of 10 lessons and have become one of those people who try to enlist everyone they know into the cult of That Thing They’ve Just Discovered (sorry to everyone I’ve spoken to in the last month).
So, yes, I’ve been writing – juggling three books in fact – but I’ve also been having lots of fun doing things I’m crap at. In an age where we’re encouraged to ‘perform’ our skills online, this feels like a true luxury.
Until next month.
Kia
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New books by British-Asian authors
1 June 2023
Dadaji's Paintbrush
Discover that bereavement can be a beginning, not an ending, in this beautiful story of one boy's grief when he loses his beloved grandfather. Dadaji loves to teach others to paint, especially his grandson. But after Dadaji passes away, the boy can’t bear to use the favourite paintbrush his grandfather left for him. When a little girl knocks on the door, the boy discovers how many lives Dadaji touched […]
8 June 2023
Stolen History: The truth about the British Empire and how it shaped us
An accessible, engaging and essential introduction to the British empire for readers aged 9+, by bestselling author of Empireland, Sathnam Sanghera. You've probably heard the word 'empire' before. Perhaps because of the Roman empire. Or maybe even the Star Wars films. But what about the British Empire? Why don't we learn much about this? And what even is an empire, anyway? This book will answer all the important questions about […]
8 June 2023
Know Your Place
At four years old, Dr Faiza Shaheen was told by her mum that one day she would attend the University of Oxford. As the daughter of a car mechanic attending state schools, the odds were low, but she worked hard and succeeded. Today, she’s a leading statistician and standing for election as a Member of Parliament. Why do we glorify success as personal triumph like this? These narratives purposely erase […]
8 June 2023
The Race to the Top: Structural Racism and How to Fight It
Have you ever wondered why, as Britain becomes more diverse, so many of our leaders come from the same narrow pool? Can it be acceptable in 2023 that there are no ethnic minority chief constables, only one CEO in the top 50 NHS Trusts and no permanent secretaries in the civil service? Nazir Afzal knows what it’s like to break the glass ceiling, challenge prejudice and shake up predominantly white […]
15 June 2023
Brown Girl Like Me: The Essential Guidebook and Manifesto for South Asian Girls and Women
Brown Girl Like Me is an inspiring memoir and empowering manifesto that equips women with the confidence and tools they need to navigate the difficulties that come with an intersectional identity. Jaspreet Kaur unpacks key issues such as the media, the workplace, the home, education, mental health, culture, confidence and the body, to help South Asian women understand and tackle the issues that affect them […]
Books out last month
25 May 2023
Breathe: Tackling the Climate Emergency
A seven-step guide to winning support for tough action on climate change – the first book from the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan. For many years, Sadiq wasn't fully aware of the dangers posed by air pollution, nor its connection with climate change. Then, at the age of 43, he was unexpectedly diagnosed with adult-onset asthma […]
4 May 2023
Until Death
It was the wedding of the year. Millie Beaumont marrying billionaire playboy Oscar Hayat, the eyes of the world watching. But the dream turns into a nightmare when Millie and Oscar are brutally abducted while on honeymoon. Millie is killed, her body dumped in London. Oscar is still missing … Enter DS Mumtaz ‘Moomy’ Khan […]
18 May 2023
A Pebble In The Throat: Growing Up Between Two Continents
A Pebble In My Throat is two stories told in unison. Aasmah Mir growing up in Glasgow – the place of her birth – and the upbringing of her mother in Pakistan a generation before. It is an emotional and thought-provoking narrative on what it is like to live in two very different cultures whilst […]
23 May 2023
Winston Churchill: His Times, His Crimes
Winston Churchill has been repeatedly voted as one of the greatest of Englishmen. In this coruscating biography, Tariq Ali challenges Churchill's vaulted record. Throughout his long career as journalist, adventurer, MP, military leader, statesman, and historian, nationalist self belief influenced Churchill's every step, with catastrophic effects. As a young man he rode into battle in […]
25 May 2023
Sex Bomb
Sadia is a comedian who loves sex. She is also a hijab-wearing Muslim woman. The two are in a lifelong relationship, but it's complicated. Sadia Azmat has many different sides to her, she is the good Muslim sister and the loud and proud comedian, she is the quiet and loving friend and the horny and […]
25 May 2023
Mister, Mister
Idiot, poet, jihadist, son. Who is Yahya Bas? An exuberantly imaginative novel of Britishness and unbelonging from the prizewinning author of In Our Mad and Furious City. When Yahya Bas finds himself in a UK detention centre after fleeing the conflict in Syria, he has many questions to face. What was he doing in the […]
25 May 2023
The Final Party
Six friends. In a luxury villa set high in the hills above the glamorous town of Sorrento, southern Italy, three couples gather for the perfect 40th birthday celebration. One body. Before the week is out, one of them is dead. Countless lies Their perfect reunion quickly becomes the holiday from hell when one of the […]
25 May 2023
Savage Beasts
Calcutta, 1757. Bengal is on the brink of war. The East India Company, led by the fearsome Sir Peter Chilcott, are advancing and nobody is safe. Meena, the Nawab’s neglected and abused daughter, finds herself falling under the spell of James Chilcott, nephew of Sir Peter, who claims he wants to betray the company. […]
Editor’s choice
The book I’m most excited about…
As ‘diversity and inclusion’ became an industry in and of itself, I heard many different opinions on the race versus class debate. Which is a bigger barrier? Who is less represented? These were often pitched as ‘either/or’ scenarios, ignoring the fact that you can be a person of colour and working class. This cohort is particularly underrepresented across elite fields, which is why I’m always excited to come across people like Dr Faiza Shaheen, economist, activist and self-confessed ‘inequality geek’.
In her new book, Know Your Place, Shaheen says that social mobility is a fairytale. She argues that success stories like hers are an anomaly and that society today will not give most of us the chance of a secure and fulfilling life.
Part memoir, part polemic, the book is a personal and statistical look at what really defines our life chances and how our current system keeps us locked into an ugly hierarchy. It’s also a call for a collective fight to reinvent things as we want them to be. It’s about breaking out, finding hope and not ‘knowing your place’ after all.
Order it now from Amazon or Waterstones or your local independent bookshop.