Ashleigh Hockley

My mum was taught to be afraid of the police. Whenever she saw a police officer come walking down the driveway my nanna would yell at my mum and her siblings to run and hide. Despite my great grand father being the first Aboriginal man to reach the rank of sergeant in the Australian NSW Police Force, my nanna would never trust his colleagues when they came to collect him for a case. My mum always laughs when she tells me it took her years to figure out why nanna would always tell her to run at the sight of a police officer.  My mum is black.  "It's your generation that is going to change things." - My Nanna. I've been pulled over a few times by the police... ·       Driving an unregistered car as a teen (Dad forgot to pay the bill.) ·       As a passenger for a speeding boyfriend ( Embarrassing I know.) ·       Once just because the police wanted to talk about my dad’s ugly car while I ...

This list has the coolest female protagonists line up. An anorexia survivor turned curve model, the former fattest teenager in America fighting back against bullies, a beauty queen trying to show every body is a swimsuit body and a curvy Slytherin bisexual. A group of ladies who are all about body positivity and not letting the opinions of others get in their way.  1. Misfit by Charli Howard. My first memoir in years and it was honest, raw and beautiful. Charli Howard is a misfit. She does not always fit in and goes to drastic lengths to achieve her dream of being a model. Charli develops an eating disorder while attempting to toe the line of her modelling agency and their unrealistic view of what a model’s body should look like. Charli is a rebel and a warrior. Every single time I see her pop up on my   Instagram  I feel better knowing there are people like her to support survivors and fight for change. Charli wrote a viral post on social ...

WARNING: This contains minor spoilers. I have attempted to keep all information that I disclose in this piece just information that is readily available from the first few chapters of the book or from the movie trailer. I have been more careful than Lara Jean is when making chocolate chip cookies but read on at your own risk.  As an adult that regularly reads young adult fiction I often feel ridiculous reading cheesy plots about high school romance. I have never felt more ridiculous until now because this series is cheesier than my famous four-cheese mac and cheese recipe that my mum requests once a week. I am an adult that wears corporate pencil skirts to work and during my hour-long commute I started listening to the audio books of To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before series. A book series about a teenage girl who has written secret love letters to every boy she has ever had a crush on throughout her life and keeps the letters hidden in a teal hatbox. Then one day the let...

Please be aware that the themes and events in all these novels are difficult. Horrible things happen to the characters in these books. Mental illness, sexual assault, self-harm and bullying are just some of the difficult things the characters face in these pages. So please read on only if you believe you can face the plots of these books.  If you do pick up one of these books then read at the pace best suited to you and stop when needed. Remember these books are supposed to bring awareness and if they cause pain at all to stop immediately. Look after yourself first and foremost.   All these books have one tragic thing in common. All these books start with a suicide or suicide attempt. Some of the protagonists survive and some do not. Each book is heart breaking and at times it is difficult to read.  These books all reached inside me, pulled out my heart and had me sobbing on my porch steps. Some people avoid material like the following four books because they don’t...

When I think of some of the happiest times of my life many of these moments involve travelling. I think about the time I spent $32 on gelato in one sitting in Venice, watching my love pretend to be a security guard at the Trevi Fountain while whistling at anyone who dared sit down along the edge, spending hours in Shakespeare and Company bookshop looking for the resident cat, discussing the art in The Louvre with my love while we make up elaborate stories of the men and women in 18 th century portraits, shopping for vintage dresses in every market place in London with my beautiful German bestie, eating Magnolia Bakery’s cupcakes with my girls in New York, being stranded alone at L.A.X and having my favourite celebrity see my Instagram post and offer to show me around Los Angeles on a push bike… and honestly I can spend all day telling you about my favourite adventures while travelling. Some of the people I love most are scattered across this world in beautif...