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In My Defence, I Have No Defence
Sinéad Stubbins has always known that there was a better version of herself lying just outside of her grasp. That if she listened to the right song or won the right (any) award or knew about whisky or followed the right Instagram psychologist or drank kombucha, ever, or enacted the correct 70-step Korean skincare regime, she would become her 'best self'.
In My Defence, I Have No Defence raises the white flag on trying to live up to impossible standards. Wild and funny and wickedly relatable, it is one woman's reckoning with her complete inability to self-improve and a hilarious reprieve for anyone who has ever struggled to be better. This is the comfort read of the year from Australia's most exciting new comedy writer.
In My Defence, I Have No Defence raises the white flag on trying to live up to impossible standards. Wild and funny and wickedly relatable, it is one woman's reckoning with her complete inability to self-improve and a hilarious reprieve for anyone who has ever struggled to be better. This is the comfort read of the year from Australia's most exciting new comedy writer.
288 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 25, 2021
29 people are currently reading
1138 people want to read
About the author
Sinéad Stubbins
2 books25 followersSinéad Stubbins is a writer, editor and cultural critic in Melbourne.
She writes popular TV recaps for Junkee, most notably on Game of Thrones, The Bachelor, The Bachelorette and Neighbours, and also writes about film, music and culture for The Guardian, ELLE, frankie, The Big Issue, New York Magazine, Pitchfork and others.
In 2016 she contributed to the University of Queensland Press anthology ‘Doing It’ and has also appeared in two frankie press collections, ‘Something to Say’ and ‘Look What We Made’. She has spoken at the Emerging Writers’ Festival, National Young Writers’ Festival, Melbourne International Film Festival and The Wheeler Centre’s Storytelling Gala.
In 2018 she was long-listed for the Richell Prize for Emerging Writers. In 2020 she sold her essay collection ‘In My Defence, I Have No Defence’ plus a second book to Affirm Press.
She writes popular TV recaps for Junkee, most notably on Game of Thrones, The Bachelor, The Bachelorette and Neighbours, and also writes about film, music and culture for The Guardian, ELLE, frankie, The Big Issue, New York Magazine, Pitchfork and others.
In 2016 she contributed to the University of Queensland Press anthology ‘Doing It’ and has also appeared in two frankie press collections, ‘Something to Say’ and ‘Look What We Made’. She has spoken at the Emerging Writers’ Festival, National Young Writers’ Festival, Melbourne International Film Festival and The Wheeler Centre’s Storytelling Gala.
In 2018 she was long-listed for the Richell Prize for Emerging Writers. In 2020 she sold her essay collection ‘In My Defence, I Have No Defence’ plus a second book to Affirm Press.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 77 reviews
July 5, 2021
I was sucked in by the hype only to be disappointed. This book is a collection of loosely related, mediocre blog posts that are neither witty nor insightful. I wanted to give up many times but persisted so I could say with some authority - DON'T BOTHER, IT DOESN'T GET BETTER.
May 26, 2021
CW: drug use, disability slur
It was sad to see Sinead Stubbins’ book launch was cancelled due to increased Covid restrictions in Melbourne. I had pre-ordered her audiobook when her agent - also my agent - recommended it recently. And I listened to it on the night it was released.
I love the pop culture sections - Dawson’s Creek; 2000s bands and fictional crushes made me smile.
I also related to being a millennial - the challenges, working as a writer, housing situations and personal growth - especially overcoming imposter syndrome.
Sinead used - and called out - the R word, and questioned its use in pop culture. More writers need to do this.
In My Defence, I have No Defence was genuinely funny, awkward and sweet. Congrats Sinead!
It was sad to see Sinead Stubbins’ book launch was cancelled due to increased Covid restrictions in Melbourne. I had pre-ordered her audiobook when her agent - also my agent - recommended it recently. And I listened to it on the night it was released.
I love the pop culture sections - Dawson’s Creek; 2000s bands and fictional crushes made me smile.
I also related to being a millennial - the challenges, working as a writer, housing situations and personal growth - especially overcoming imposter syndrome.
Sinead used - and called out - the R word, and questioned its use in pop culture. More writers need to do this.
In My Defence, I have No Defence was genuinely funny, awkward and sweet. Congrats Sinead!
April 5, 2021
This funny, joyful, deeply relatable memoir in essays has strong No Way! Okay, Fine vibes. I’m so happy to have found another book to love as much as that. Stubbins is funny and self-deprecating and a wonderful observer of herself, others and life’s many absurdities. And if you’re not comfort watching Gilmore Girls how are you getting through this life I ask you. This was quite delightful and the antidote to ennui.
June 6, 2021
As suggested by the intro and conclusion, the author is trying too hard with this book. Sometimes amusing but never hilarious, this book is ultimately forgettable.
August 15, 2021
I wanted to give up on this book so many times. Instead I just skim read entire chunks. There were a couple lines I enjoyed but overall these stories read like a bunch of stuff I might whinge about or tell anecdotally on my Instagram stories. Which is not good, no one wants to see that in a book. I don’t think they want to see it in an Instagram story either but I live alone so it’s not like I have someone to say it out loud to ya know? That’s how this book read.
June 2, 2021
I laughed A LOT. Like the definition of LOL all the way through and then bam like I tend to do when I’m feeling feelings I was crying. Crying through relatability. Crying cause “someone else thinks that? THANK GOD!”
Sinéad’s book was like reading something a friend of mine had said or sometimes felt like she literally scooped out my own thoughts and experiences and wrote them on the page. Thanks for making me laugh through a lockdown and feel less alone in all those thoughts I think are unreasonable or wrong. Congrats this is 10/10 xox
Sinéad’s book was like reading something a friend of mine had said or sometimes felt like she literally scooped out my own thoughts and experiences and wrote them on the page. Thanks for making me laugh through a lockdown and feel less alone in all those thoughts I think are unreasonable or wrong. Congrats this is 10/10 xox
May 29, 2021
Look, this partly came about because of Pacey Witter and that’s just straight FACT! Jacinta di Mase heard Sinéad Stubbins at a Wheeler Centre event, giving this fictional crush tribute to Pacey Witter himself, and Jacinta texted me then and there and said; “I have an author for you to sign.” Normally I’d say; “and the rest is history!” but what it actually is, is a joyous and fabulous journey where I got to witness this absurdly warm and connecting book take form
Sinéad is the author I've had the most queries from publishers and editors, wondering when I'd be pitching her manuscript, essay collection, memoir, grocery-list-on-a-napkin ... *anything*. And now here we are with this incredible collection that’s witty and wry, cringe-inducing and heart-healing.
Sinéad Stubbins will feel like a friend by the end. And I’m so incredibly proud to have had a front-row seat to the creation of this book.
Sinéad is the author I've had the most queries from publishers and editors, wondering when I'd be pitching her manuscript, essay collection, memoir, grocery-list-on-a-napkin ... *anything*. And now here we are with this incredible collection that’s witty and wry, cringe-inducing and heart-healing.
Sinéad Stubbins will feel like a friend by the end. And I’m so incredibly proud to have had a front-row seat to the creation of this book.
June 12, 2021
If you are a fan of; Samantha Irby, Rosie Waterland, Jia Tolentino, and Sloane Crosley then this is the book for you!
June 16, 2021
4.5 stars rounded down
Quietly brilliant is probably the best way I can describe this book. I love people who can laugh at themselves - and Sinéad’s self-deprecating humour is just my cup of tea. In IN MY DEFENCE, I HAVE NO DEFENCE, Sinéad reminds us of our own infallibility. Her collection of stories and anecdotes are designed to showcase that we all feel a little insecure and defective at times.
In the authors note that came with this review copy, Sinead mentioned that this book is also going to be an audiobook. Hilariously, in what I think sums up the overall motif, she said “I was asked to audition for the role of myself, something that I thought was extremely funny. Several weeks later I was told I didn’t get the part. Someone called Sarah will be playing me. This seems thematically important, somehow”.
I was really moved by one part, which is a poem by Frank O’Hara called Mayakovsky. This book reminds us that, in a world hell-bent on self-improvement, the ‘catastrophe of our personality’ is the best part about us. In revealing her hilarious and often embarrassing failures, Sinéad encourages us to “raise the white flag”on taking ourselves so seriously.
IN MY DEFENCE, I HAVE NO DEFENCE has been described as “the comfort read of the year” and I fully agree - this book really lifted my spirits in lockdown. I laughed audibly and loudly many times - my annoyed bf can attest to that as I shook violently from laughter at 1am while he tried to sleep. This will certainly be one I recommend to friends and family who need a bit of a pick-me-up.
Many thanks to Affirm Press for the review copy!
Quietly brilliant is probably the best way I can describe this book. I love people who can laugh at themselves - and Sinéad’s self-deprecating humour is just my cup of tea. In IN MY DEFENCE, I HAVE NO DEFENCE, Sinéad reminds us of our own infallibility. Her collection of stories and anecdotes are designed to showcase that we all feel a little insecure and defective at times.
In the authors note that came with this review copy, Sinead mentioned that this book is also going to be an audiobook. Hilariously, in what I think sums up the overall motif, she said “I was asked to audition for the role of myself, something that I thought was extremely funny. Several weeks later I was told I didn’t get the part. Someone called Sarah will be playing me. This seems thematically important, somehow”.
I was really moved by one part, which is a poem by Frank O’Hara called Mayakovsky. This book reminds us that, in a world hell-bent on self-improvement, the ‘catastrophe of our personality’ is the best part about us. In revealing her hilarious and often embarrassing failures, Sinéad encourages us to “raise the white flag”on taking ourselves so seriously.
IN MY DEFENCE, I HAVE NO DEFENCE has been described as “the comfort read of the year” and I fully agree - this book really lifted my spirits in lockdown. I laughed audibly and loudly many times - my annoyed bf can attest to that as I shook violently from laughter at 1am while he tried to sleep. This will certainly be one I recommend to friends and family who need a bit of a pick-me-up.
Many thanks to Affirm Press for the review copy!
July 22, 2021
An entertaining and relatable collection of thoughts and short-form essays, Stubbins is an interesting voice. 3.5 stars
Read
October 6, 2021Something about this book just really clicked for me in the last 50 or so pages - Stubbins dives beyond the anecdotes and funny stories, to speak truth to things like friendship and career aspiration in your late twenties and thirties.
March 6, 2023
Any millennials who have struggled with trying to be “cool” and the transition to adulthood will resonate with these essays. Outside of that demographic, I am not sure how universal these experiences are. At times, the writing felt a little too specific, and at others, too vague. I enjoyed most of the essays, but quite a few needed to be more fleshed out. The tone is sarcastic yet earnest, a difficult balance that Stubbins gets right. A quick and enjoyable read.
March 24, 2023
While there is plenty of humor at play and good relatability factors, there definitely are moments when things feel too try-hard.
I read it during a time of personal confusion so there is bit of attachment to this book for me.
It is a book who's enjoy or lack of, depends very much on the reader's tastes and mood.
Final rating: 3/5
I read it during a time of personal confusion so there is bit of attachment to this book for me.
It is a book who's enjoy or lack of, depends very much on the reader's tastes and mood.
Final rating: 3/5
March 10, 2021
Sinéad is one of the funniest writers in Australia and this book of essays truly delivers. Her observations and memories are so accute, at one point I was trying to read a page out to my partner while I couldn’t breathe from laughing - very annoying of me but that’s how excellent this book is
July 3, 2021
(audio book )She wouldn't be a very good defense lawyer
August 15, 2021
The perfect circuit breaker for a lockdown affected attention span. Funny and relatable.
April 16, 2024
I wanted to care, I really did. In some parts it was very relatable and fun in others it felt like I was listening to a podcast or reading a blog.
February 18, 2025
An easy, silly read for a tired, sick girl
July 5, 2025
Last chapter got me good 😭
September 16, 2021
Absolutely loved this book. Such a fun and light read especially during lockdown.
August 9, 2021
I hope this gets a giant rollout in the US because it's hilarious and people would love it.
June 5, 2021
Sinead is funny is a way 99.99% of writers cannot pull off and such an endearing narrator. Luv it!
June 12, 2021
spot-on and super funny: I loved it
May 16, 2021
A hilarious, painfully recognisable book of short essays about the awkwardness and joy of millennial life, told through the prism of pop culture. Sinéad Stubbins is so fkn funny.
August 20, 2021
Really easy book to both lose yourself in, and also to just pick up and read snippets of at any given time. Honest, witty, and downright hilarious - read this book!
October 18, 2023
To say this book embodied humour and character, would be an understatement. Stubbins laid herself out through these pages, witty, vulnerable and archaically aware of her own emotions and thoughts.
The book felt like a series of long, craftily insightful conversations with a close friend. I found myself laughing out loud through many of the chapters, no, if I’m being honest, majority of the book. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so seen, and simultaneously !!attacked by the content of a book before.
Stubbins has mastered utilizing self-depreciation to in her writing, to make her relatable but also to maintain the readers empathy and interest in her case. Using humour (and a delightful amount of popular culture references) to address a myriad of topics from; drug culture, workplace expectations, media consumption, children and marriage amongst others, made their address palatable and bite-sized.
With lots to think about following this book, it’s safe to say that despite Stubbins having been called a try-hard, this book was executed with conversational ease, and a great read. Perhaps the colloquialism means the content of the book will not leave a Little Women shaped mark in my memory, however the feelings associated with reading it? Those aren’t going anywhere.
The book felt like a series of long, craftily insightful conversations with a close friend. I found myself laughing out loud through many of the chapters, no, if I’m being honest, majority of the book. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so seen, and simultaneously !!attacked by the content of a book before.
Stubbins has mastered utilizing self-depreciation to in her writing, to make her relatable but also to maintain the readers empathy and interest in her case. Using humour (and a delightful amount of popular culture references) to address a myriad of topics from; drug culture, workplace expectations, media consumption, children and marriage amongst others, made their address palatable and bite-sized.
With lots to think about following this book, it’s safe to say that despite Stubbins having been called a try-hard, this book was executed with conversational ease, and a great read. Perhaps the colloquialism means the content of the book will not leave a Little Women shaped mark in my memory, however the feelings associated with reading it? Those aren’t going anywhere.
July 25, 2021
So glad I chose this book to break my reading rut, I honestly can’t recommend it highly enough.
It felt like Sinēad reached in, took all the yucky, devastating thoughts and feelings swirling around in my guts and told me I wasn’t alone; all the while being freaking hilarious. I cried with laughter and validation.
Standout essays for me were ‘Narc energy’, ‘The perfect woman’, ‘Some things I know about boyfriends’, ‘Help’, and ‘Well, I guess it’s time to buy a dress’.
If you’re mid-late 20s or early 30s and wondering what the heck you’re doing with your life, or you just need a laugh in lockdown, this one’s for you.
It felt like Sinēad reached in, took all the yucky, devastating thoughts and feelings swirling around in my guts and told me I wasn’t alone; all the while being freaking hilarious. I cried with laughter and validation.
Standout essays for me were ‘Narc energy’, ‘The perfect woman’, ‘Some things I know about boyfriends’, ‘Help’, and ‘Well, I guess it’s time to buy a dress’.
If you’re mid-late 20s or early 30s and wondering what the heck you’re doing with your life, or you just need a laugh in lockdown, this one’s for you.
August 30, 2021
“A job can just be a job and not the measure of your worth and ambition? You don’t have to do it forever, it’s just something you get paid to do?
Seems suspicious.”
This was a wonderful and downright hilarious read! Like having a chat with that old friend who sees you for the slightly unhinged lunatic you really are. I wasn’t prepared to be seen like that, but god I’m glad someone understands my madness and put it in writing.
Seems suspicious.”
This was a wonderful and downright hilarious read! Like having a chat with that old friend who sees you for the slightly unhinged lunatic you really are. I wasn’t prepared to be seen like that, but god I’m glad someone understands my madness and put it in writing.
July 9, 2021
If you're an Australian woman in her early 30s of a certain Celtic background and a teenaged-affinity with the NME, you'll die.
April 28, 2021
A funny, self-depreciating memoir perfect for anyone who has thought : "if only I did x, y, or Z, like this other person does my life will magically get better". Whether it is following a convoluted skin care regime, understanding what "cocktail" attire actually means, or just being Cool - we are constantly bombarded with conflicting messages of what success and adulting looks like.
Chances are if you are like Sinead Stubbins (or most of us for that matter) you have looked around and felt that everyone around you seems to have it together better than you do. But the truth is most people are faking it as hard as you are! But what would your life look like it you tried to live up to all those self improvement regimes? Sinead tried to find out so you don't have to... Come along for one woman's funny and relatable failure to self-improve!
I feel like this one will appeal to any woman from 20 to 50 who has a sense of humour about herself and the ridiculousness of the "self-improvement" culture. Sinead offers us hope that watching TV will one day be recognised for the truly great past-time that it is, and we will no longer have to feel odd about planning an outfit weeks in advance because dress codes are super confusing. Her take on careers, dating, and scheduling time for friends as an adult (between 6.47 and 8.30 am 3 weeks from Tuesday work for you?) is utterly spot on and hilarious!
Chances are if you are like Sinead Stubbins (or most of us for that matter) you have looked around and felt that everyone around you seems to have it together better than you do. But the truth is most people are faking it as hard as you are! But what would your life look like it you tried to live up to all those self improvement regimes? Sinead tried to find out so you don't have to... Come along for one woman's funny and relatable failure to self-improve!
I feel like this one will appeal to any woman from 20 to 50 who has a sense of humour about herself and the ridiculousness of the "self-improvement" culture. Sinead offers us hope that watching TV will one day be recognised for the truly great past-time that it is, and we will no longer have to feel odd about planning an outfit weeks in advance because dress codes are super confusing. Her take on careers, dating, and scheduling time for friends as an adult (between 6.47 and 8.30 am 3 weeks from Tuesday work for you?) is utterly spot on and hilarious!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 77 reviews