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How To Be Books

@howtobe247.bsky.social

189 followers 115 following 497 posts

Podcast and site from journalist Suswati Basu, reading incredible books and interviewing authors to explore life skills and social change. www.howtobe247.com

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How To Be Books @howtobe247.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

I wrote this poem after reading "The Nerd Reich" and "End Times Fascism" this year. Both books got me thinking about the relationship between #tech, power, and wealth, and what happens when human life is ultimately sacrificed in the name of progress. #poetry suswatibasu.substack.com/p/dr-strange...

suswatibasu.substack.com

After Prometheus

How To Be Books @howtobe247.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

52 for 26 Poetry Project: Suswati Basu - A Poetic Testament to Resilience and Adaptation #poetry liverpoolnoise.com/arts-and-cul...

liverpoolnoise.com

52 For 26 Poetry Project: Suswati Basu | Liverpool Noise

Suswati Basu’s contribution to the 52 for 26 poetry project - Hide and Seek - is a piece that sits quietly at first glance, yet carries a profound emotional resonance. It is a poem shaped not by abstr...

How To Be Books @howtobe247.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

It hurt because it mattered. And knowing how it ended, I would still choose to have lived it. suswatibasu.substack.com/p/non-je-ne-... #poetry

suswatibasu.substack.com

Non, je ne regrette rien

Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps

Reposted by How To Be Books

Fossil Free Books @fossilfreebooks.org · 11/08/2026

Are you taking part in the Edinburgh Festivals this year? Want to create a solidarity statement, raise awareness, or make a call to action but unsure how to go about it? We've made a support pack to help! Download here: drive.google.com/file/d/1wmEC...

How To Be Books @howtobe247.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

What does it take to belong in a society that doesn’t want you? This is one of the hardest essays I’ve ever written, in the wake of yet more violence on this small island. open.substack.com/pub/suswatib... #essay #writing #diversity #immigration #Belfast

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Persona Non Grata

How To Be Books @howtobe247.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

As I watch more riots unfold across the UK, I have been thinking a lot about identity. #poetry #identity open.substack.com/pub/suswatib...

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The Albedo Breach

How To Be Books @howtobe247.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

"The highest form of belonging is invisibility." Inspired by conversations with people who spoke to me as though I were not a person of colour. #poetry #immigration open.substack.com/pub/suswatib...

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How To Be Books @howtobe247.bsky.social · 07/06/2026

I recently watched Backrooms and was inspired by its eerie concept of endless, uncanny spaces. This poem is my interpretation of that atmosphere open.substack.com/pub/suswatib... #poetry #Backrooms #MentalHealth

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Dissolving inner-architecture

How To Be Books @howtobe247.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

If medication alleviates distress but also mutes emotional access, what happens to the creative process that depends on that access? #poetry #MentalHealth open.substack.com/pub/suswatib...

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Flattening and friction

Notes on emotional blunting

How To Be Books @howtobe247.bsky.social · 14/03/2026

I wrote this poem for a magazine that had the theme of ‘devour’ this month. I think I was inspired reading Hekate. #poetry #IWD #motherhood open.substack.com/pub/suswatib...

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How To Be Books @howtobe247.bsky.social · 08/03/2026

A special poem for International Women's Day. open.substack.com/pub/suswatib... #InternationalWomensDay #IWD #Iran #Gaza

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Liberté, égalité, sororité

The sisterhood beyond the rhetoric

How To Be Books @howtobe247.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

It's been a while since I wrote something rather tongue-in-cheek… open.substack.com/pub/suswatib... #poetry #ValentinesDay

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Valentine's Day

An oral tradition

How To Be Books @howtobe247.bsky.social · 01/02/2026

This poem examines the difference between shared origin and shared care. CW: abusive family dynamics #poetry #MentalHealth open.substack.com/pub/suswatib...

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How To Be Books @howtobe247.bsky.social · 11/12/2025

I need your help! I’ve had major writer’s block for a while, and I need your opinion on this. I have to read it at an open mic this weekend, and the theme is the 90s. I wrote this in 10 minutes. open.substack.com/pub/suswatib... #poetry #90s #music #nostalgia

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Be kind and rewind

A mixtape no one asked for

How To Be Books @howtobe247.bsky.social · 02/12/2025

I haven’t written in a while, but this was written in memory of a friend who recently passed. open.substack.com/pub/suswatib... #poetry #grief #loss #bereavement

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How To Be Books @howtobe247.bsky.social · 20/11/2025

Following on from my previous post, this is one of the side effects... open.substack.com/pub/suswatib... #Poetry #MentalHealth

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How To Be Books @howtobe247.bsky.social · 17/11/2025

“To be sick is to suffer in the hands of the living.” — Emily Dickinson open.substack.com/pub/suswatib... #poetry #MentalHealth #Trauma

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Requiem for a Lost Dream

How To Be Books @howtobe247.bsky.social · 11/11/2025

This is for all marginalised communities that have been hurt by hate. CW: emotional manipulation, extremist communities, trauma. open.substack.com/pub/suswatib... #HopeNotHate #essay #writing #trauma

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Beware of the Trojan Horse

How trust can become a trap

How To Be Books @howtobe247.bsky.social · 06/11/2025

This is probably relevant for every platform, but I can’t be the only one dying a death trying to keep up with social media... open.substack.com/pub/suswatib... #socialmedia #essay #writing

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Substack burns you out while pretending to be your mate

Welcome to the rat race

How To Be Books @howtobe247.bsky.social · 04/11/2025

Inspired by Van Gogh’s Irises, painted during his time at Saint-Rémy. The poem reflects on the body as another kind of study. CW: self-harm, mental health. open.substack.com/pub/suswatib... #poetry #mentalhealth #VanGogh

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A Study of Irises

How To Be Books @howtobe247.bsky.social · 01/11/2025

Well, it wouldn’t be Halloween if we didn’t have something related to the season. But I’ve been thinking about the idea of witches for a while and what women have endured for centuries when accused. open.substack.com/pub/suswatib... #poetry #Halloween #Witches

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An homage to witches

A survival spell

How To Be Books @howtobe247.bsky.social · 24/10/2025

Inspired by the strength of Virginia Giuffre’s memoir, Nobody’s Girl. There's a content warning with this as a result. open.substack.com/pub/suswatib... #poetry #trauma #mentalhealth #virginiagiuffre

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The Morning After

The echo left behind

How To Be Books @howtobe247.bsky.social · 21/10/2025

I came across my old journals from more than ten years ago, and they read like some kind of Shakespearean tragedy. But it got me thinking about alternate realities. open.substack.com/pub/suswatib... #poetry #mentalhealth #trauma

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Someone I used to know

Fragments from another life

How To Be Books @howtobe247.bsky.social · 17/10/2025

Another short poem to untangle something in my head. Apologies, as always, for the lack of filter. open.substack.com/pub/suswatib... #poetry #MentalHealth

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Collision with no recovery

How To Be Books @howtobe247.bsky.social · 15/10/2025

A short poem in response to our current climate, with a subtle nod to a classic dystopian novel. This has a content warning related to war and state violence. open.substack.com/pub/suswatib... #poetry #Gaza #peace

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Verses from the Ministry

How To Be Books @howtobe247.bsky.social · 08/10/2025

Following on from a previous essay on the meaning of life, this is another dark aspect of living with a strange condition. There's another trigger warning with this. open.substack.com/pub/suswatib... #mentalhealth #writing #trauma #essay

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The devil makes work for idle thumbs

Finding pleasure in the pain

How To Be Books @howtobe247.bsky.social · 05/10/2025

As a former long-term smoker, I find that the cravings never really go away... open.substack.com/pub/suswatib... #poetry #poem #addiction

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An ode to nicotine

A love affair with tar

How To Be Books @howtobe247.bsky.social · 19/09/2025

Sometimes, not having vices is its own kind of special hell. open.substack.com/pub/suswatib... #poetry #MentalHealth #Addiction

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I have no more vices

Notes from the underground

How To Be Books @howtobe247.bsky.social · 17/09/2025

After questioning whether online friends are real friends, I found myself wondering: can we also get trapped in the rabbit hole of obsessive groupthink? open.substack.com/pub/suswatib... #essay #writing #culture #cults #society

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What's a few 'cults' between friends

Avoiding the Kool-Aid

How To Be Books @howtobe247.bsky.social · 14/09/2025

This is a much darker, far more personal essay than my recent ones about what it’s like to leave your body in order to survive and never be able to return to it. Trigger warnings with this one. open.substack.com/pub/suswatib... #essay #mentalhealth #writing #trauma

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I’ve never understood the meaning of life

On the other side of the glass

How To Be Books @howtobe247.bsky.social · 11/09/2025

As a journalist, I faced the dreadful task of reporting on the Sandy Hook massacre in 2012, which still leaves me shaken. After seeing the words ‘thoughts and prayers’ once more, it set off an avalanche of emotions. open.substack.com/pub/suswatib... #poetry #ThoughtsAndPrayers #GunViolence

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Thoughts and prayers

Your silence is the killer

How To Be Books @howtobe247.bsky.social · 09/09/2025

As I’ve been writing a lot about friendships, the internet, and AI, this seemed like the next logical thinking point. open.substack.com/pub/suswatib... #writing #essay #ai #technology #friendship

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Are we really (online) friends?

Or is it just in our heads?

Reposted by How To Be Books

Lexi Coolman @lexicoleman.bsky.social · 08/09/2025

Looking forward to using dictionaries next week as I apparently further corrupt my students.

How To Be Books @howtobe247.bsky.social · 07/09/2025

This prompt was suggested by a fellow Substacker this week, hence I wanted to take a different approach to this and write something up quickly! This is inspired by having recurrent dreams with this theme. #poetry #climate #nature open.substack.com/pub/suswatib...

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A living landscape

How To Be Books @howtobe247.bsky.social · 04/09/2025

I feel this poem may resonate with many who have chased an illusion, only to realise it was not what they wanted. It was a reaction to societal expectations. open.substack.com/pub/suswatib... #poetry #MentalHealth

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Out of the frame

How To Be Books @howtobe247.bsky.social · 02/09/2025

Warning: there’s a bit of swearing in this. It’s hard to avoid given the subject. I wrote it in response to being confronted by someone impersonating another author on Substack. open.substack.com/pub/suswatib... #essay #writing #misinformation #socialmedia #fakenews

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Who the hell trusts the internet anymore

Drowning in digital bullshit

How To Be Books @howtobe247.bsky.social · 28/08/2025

Many people feel ashamed to admit that they’re lonely - I’m one of them. Perhaps it’s alright to find adulting a bit of a challenge. #essay #MentalHealth #Loneliness #friendship open.substack.com/pub/suswatib...

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I had dinner with five strangers

In search of a tribe

How To Be Books @howtobe247.bsky.social · 26/08/2025

This story is inspired by two horror-based writing prompts, which are explained at the end of the text. Trigger warning: Grief, parental loss, supernatural themes, disordered eating, and graphic descriptions of physical deterioration. #horror #trauma #writing open.substack.com/pub/suswatib...

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The body keeps the score

How To Be Books @howtobe247.bsky.social · 21/08/2025

I tried my hand at writing a personal essay here for the first time. It seems I can’t do abstract, philosophical meanderings. I’ve held off writing this for a while. Trigger warning: Eating disorders, #weightloss, and body image. #disability #mentalhealth open.substack.com/pub/suswatib...

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Living inside a body that feels unsolvable

How To Be Books @howtobe247.bsky.social · 18/08/2025

The words of a particular article stood out to me today. The italicised words in this poem are drawn from both actual dialogue and paraphrased communications used in the article. Another piece with trigger warnings. #poetry #Trump #deportations open.substack.com/pub/suswatib...

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Mass in-carnation

How To Be Books @howtobe247.bsky.social · 16/08/2025

This was inspired by a fellow Substacker's August writing challenge. The prompt is explained at the end of the text. #CreativeWriting #Writing #Horror open.substack.com/pub/suswatib...

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Case Number 010004

The missing woman: Susan Roberts, 23.

How To Be Books @howtobe247.bsky.social · 11/08/2025

I've been speaking about rage in recent times. I was fortunate enough to have my friend record this incredible audio to accompany this. Trigger warning: References to war, violence, and human suffering #poetry #Gaza open.substack.com/pub/suswatib...

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The manufacturing of apathy

How To Be Books @howtobe247.bsky.social · 08/08/2025

As part of a challenge, we were asked to write about the darker parts of people. I’ve attempted to do a slightly different take on the theme, mentioned at the bottom of the story. #CreativeWriting #Story open.substack.com/pub/suswatib...

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A strange kind of day

How To Be Books @howtobe247.bsky.social · 05/08/2025

I've been thinking about body horror recently, especially with the growing number of films in this genre. I realised that society’s expectations of people are truly terrifying. Trigger warnings for this one, as you can imagine. #poetry #horror #dysmorphia open.substack.com/pub/suswatib...

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The violence of standards

How To Be Books @howtobe247.bsky.social · 03/08/2025

Lilith is often depicted as Adam's first wife, who refused to be subservient. Trigger warning: sexual manipulation. #poetry #vawg open.substack.com/pub/suswatib...

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I am not your Lilith

A distorted myth

How To Be Books @howtobe247.bsky.social · 02/08/2025

I’ve been thinking a lot about attachment styles and how the way we were loved (or not) as kids shapes how we show up in relationships as adults. From anxious and avoidant, to disorganised and secure - do you identify with any of these? #mentalHealth #poetry open.substack.com/pub/suswatib...

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The architecture of attachment

How To Be Books @howtobe247.bsky.social · 29/07/2025

It's been a while since I wrote a story. This tale is based on actual events (well, in some places). I wanted to describe what it’s like to be a wheelchair user for some people. open.substack.com/pub/suswatib... #disability #storytelling #writing

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A sort of ghost story

How To Be Books @howtobe247.bsky.social · 22/07/2025

There’s nothing quite like walking alone, soaking in the world around you. Sometimes the things we notice are bittersweet. open.substack.com/pub/suswatib... #poetry #mentalhealth #grief #loss #bereavement

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Flowers by the seaside

A meditation on loss

How To Be Books @howtobe247.bsky.social · 21/07/2025

Sometimes, we experience an immense feeling of suffocation from unprocessed grief. I’ve tried to capture that here, and I hope it’s something others can relate to. #mentalhealth #poetry open.substack.com/pub/suswatib...

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Just take a moment.

How To Be Books @howtobe247.bsky.social · 20/07/2025

It’s always harrowing to revisit the past, but what if it was entirely something you had projected? (Or in my case, what I had projected?) #poetry #relationships open.substack.com/pub/suswatib...

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A love that never was

When memories lie