♡

Of all the times I've been to London, I had never been at Christmas time until last year. Ed and I were so excited to see the lights and soak up the Christmassy atmosphere, and I figured there was no point posting this last year AFTER Christmas, so here it is now!

I've popped a list below of the things - in my opinion - you absolutely cannot miss. Most of these we managed to see, however in 30 hours we didn't manage to hit everything, so I've added in the places that we wanted to go that are also fab. You can see more in my reel on Instagram of the lights in all their glory.

Christmas lights/displays:

• Carnaby Street/Soho lights
• Bond Street lights
• Regent Street lights
• Mayfair lights
• Covent Garden Christmas Village
• Annabel's Mayfair Swarovski Gingerbread House
• Trafalgar Square Christmas Tree

My favourite Christmas tree I have ever seen in all my days. Currently trying to convince Ed that tinsel is back. Pray for me people,

• The Ship, Soho (or literally any of the cute old man pubs with tacky decorations)
• The Miracle Bar at The Henrietta Hotel (Covent Garden) - this is a 70's Christmas-themed bar upstairs in the Henrietta Hotel and is the best, tacky Christmas atmosphere you will probably find in London

A MULLED WINE DONUT LADIES AND GENTS. Run don't walk.

Greetings, and welcome back! I'm just now noticing that there have been 3 book blog posts in a row - I hope you don't mind - shortly there will be a handful of travel posts in a row as I appear to have a backlog of those (New York, Antibes, London at Christmas that I never posted last year), so keep your eyes peeled if that's your kind of content.

1. Beloved - Toni Morrison

TW: racism, abuse, rape, infant death

This book has been on my TBR list for quite a while, and I managed to find this vintage edition in Chapters so I had to pick it up.

This story begins in 1873 and centres around Sethe, a woman - literally - haunted by her past. Sethe was born a slave but managed to escape "Sweet Home" where she was held and put through unthinkable things, and 18 years on she still doesn't feel truly free. Widowed Sethe's house in Ohio where she lives with her daughter Denver and mother-in-law, Baby Suggs, has been haunted for a long time by the ghost of her eldest daughter, who died as a baby without a name and whose gravestone is engraved with one word (all Sethe could afford), "Beloved."

When a man who was enslaved with Sethe at Sweet Home arrives to her home in Ohio, he drives the spirit of Beloved out, causing nothing but trouble when they arrive home that night to a sickly young woman sitting out front, calling herself Beloved. Paul is suspiscious, but Sethe and Denver immediately take her in and care for her, believing she is the lost baby returned. Paul soon finds out the dark secret about Sethe's past after Sweet Home, and flees. Beloved then turns on Sethe and Denver, and trouble ensues.

This is a dark but brilliant read, would highly recommend. 

2. The Great Believers - Rebecca Makkai

TW: homophobia

I picked up this book after seeing a TikTok of books you will like if you liked "The Hearts Invisible Furies" (review here) - which I absolutely loved and is definitely one of my favourite books of all time - so I was sure I would love this one too and I wasn't wrong!

The story is set between 1980s Chicago in the height of the AIDS epidemic, and modern day Paris, and follows the lives of Yale Tishman, his friend Nico, Nico's little sister Fiona and their wider circle of friends.

One by one, Yale's friends are dying around him, all the while the AIDS virus seemingly coming closer and closer to Yale himself. Soon, the only person he has left is Fiona, Nico's little sister, after Nico passes away, along with many members of their friendship circle. 

Jump to 30 years later and Fiona is in Paris, trying to track down her daughter who she is estranged from and whom she hasn't seen in years. In Paris, she stays with an old friend of hers who played a pivotal role as a photographer documenting the AIDS crisis in Chicago in the 80's, which brings it all back up for her, including Nico's death and how it affected her life and the relationship she had with her daughter.

The book takes us through the intertwining lives of the characters, jumping between 1980s Chicago and Paris in the modern day, from the heartbreak of the AIDS epidemic to the chaos of the world today, as they struggle to find light at the end of the devastation they have experienced.

This book is fantastic, very sad and heartbreaking, but beautifully captures the essence of friendship in the midst of deep despair. A must read.

3. Intimacies - Katie Kitamura

I won't lie, this was a bit of a random one. It has been on my TBR list for ages, probably since back when I got ALL of my book recommendations from Dolly and Pandora's The High Low podcast, and - get this BARACK OBAMA also loved it - so I'm wondering did I miss something as I was a little disappointed with this one. I do see how the metaphors and meanings of certain events in the book come through, so in that way it is well-written and clever, so maybe that in itself is the draw of the book. Other than that, I found all the events a little random and very loosely connected, but again, perhaps I missed something and it needs another read.

The novel follows an interpreter who has come to The Hague from New York, wondering if it will be the place where she feels at home, and has a new job in the International Court there. A host of kind of random, dramatic events occur in her personal life - she finds out her lover Adriaan, while separated from his wife is still very much entangled in his marriage, her friend Jana witnesses an act of violence just outside her apartment block on a seemingly unsuspecting victim whom the interpreter oddly becomes friends with the sister of, Jana also acts strangely when she is introduced to Adriaan (we never really figure out why, which is slightly irritating).

At work, the drama continues, as she is required to interpret for a former president accused of brutal war crimes, putting to the test her abilities to separate her personal views on what he has done from her professional relationship with him as his interpreter.

Again, it was well-written, but not my favourite book, and quite boring overall. But as I said, maybe I just didn't get it and missed something, as it comes so highly recommended from others. Do let me know if you read it and loved it, and tell me what you think I might have missed!

4. It Ends With Us - Colleen Hoover

TW: domestic violence, abuse, abusive relationships

Firstly, I feel this book needs an entire paragraph on these trigger warnings because I didn't know about them and I probably wouldn't have read it if I had as I found it quite triggering. I will say if you have been in an abusive/manipulative relationship of any kind - emotional, physical, mental, verbal - then just watch out for this one, it's quite a brutal read. 

When I was looking for a book to read in the airport on the way home from New York (didn't pack enough books for the 2 long haul flights), I saw this and had seen and heard SO much about it all over social media that I figured I would give it a try. Granted I did read the back but I feel like the blurb on the back makes it sound more romantic than problematic, which is problematic in itself. I digress.

This story follows Lily, from adolescence to young adulthood and the trials and tribulations that appear to follow her wherever she goes. Beginning with a difficult childhood and an alcoholic father who was abusive to her mother, Lily swore she would never forgive someone for treating her that way, criticising her mother for staying with her father. As this is going on at home, she meets Atlas Corrigan, and they quickly become enamoured with one another. Atlas goes off to the military, Lily moves to Boston and starts her own business and they lose contact.

In Boston, she meets Ryle, a neurosurgeon with whom she instantly becomes infatuated with all his fantastic qualities, and the feeling appears to be mutual, apart from the issue that Ryle is a notorious committment-phobe. They begin a whirlwind romance and Lily thinks things can't possible get any better for her. But when Ryle finds out about Lily's past with Atlas and how that links to her current life, a side of Ryle she never thought existed rears its ugly head.

It's a book you will devour in probably the shortest time you've ever read a book, it's definitely a page turner and you're dying to see what happens next, but please please be warned about the themes and content of the book - it is a tough read so put it down if you need to.

And those are my reads for the last two months! I'm currently reading Pew which is another very odd book. I appear to be at a gloomy section of my TBR.

I would love to know your thoughts if you have read any of these or want to. Feel free to leave a comment or DM me on Instagram. I'm also on TikTok if you want to follow over there!

Thank you for reading as always,

Sending lots of love for these darker months, I know they can be tough.

S ✗

July and August brought lots of great reading time due to the fab weather (catch me outside on my front path in the sun reading with my vino) on EVERY sunny day, also had a week's holiday in France (blog post coming on that soon) which involved PLENTY of reading time.

1. None of this is serious - Catherine Prasifka

TW: sexual assault

I read this directly after Beautiful World Where Are You and found the two very similar in a lot of ways (I've since realised upon reading this back that Sally Rooney is Catherine Prasifka's sister-in-law) - not only because they both have Irish authors and are set in Ireland - but also the characters are a similar age and are trying to find their way through the post-school/college years of their lives while encountering all the challenges that come with that.

This story starts with Sophie and her friends who are coming to the end of their student life in Dublin. As is often the case, Sophie feels as though her friends and her twin have got everything figured out and she will be left behind, particularly in the case of her best friend Grace. 

We follow Sophie and her friend group through the mundane to the dramatic, to the traumatic and uncertain aspects of young adulthood today. We see them attempt the difficult balance between living in the real world versus online, as Sophie drowns in her own self-scrutiny, social anxiety and isolation, not at all helped by her being immersed in social media constantly.

While I understand the aspect of highlighting the mundanity of everyday life, I did at times find it just a bit too banal and borderline boring. 

2. Conversations on Love - Natasha Lunn

I really loved this book.

While most books with similar captions focus only on romantic love, I really enjoyed how this book covered all types of relationships, from the romantic, to the platonic, to the parental.

The author offers intimate details of her personal life, while interviewing a wide range of people, from Alain de Botton to Dolly Alderton (I will read anything she writes, is interviewed in or reviews), on the topic of love from a range of types and perspectives. It covers what it is to be human, happy, alone, lonely, vulnerable, heartbroken, and the importance of friendships, love, loss, grief, parenting and change - in all forms.

The book is split into 3 parts - how do we find love, how do we sustain love and how do we survive losing love. Hard to say much more about this as it's so unique and relatable, other than it's an absolute must read.

3. Tender is the Night - F Scott Fitzgerald

TW: inappropriate patient/doctor relationship & underage relationship

I plucked this one off my bookshelves before we left for the South of France as it is set on the French Riviera - precisely where we were headed - and I always find it fun to read a book that is set in a place when you are there/have been there, as it helps me imagine it even clearer. 

This story - problematic in ways it may not have been noticed when it was first published back in the 1920s - follows the romance of a young actress, Rosemary, and an older, married psychiatrist, Dick Diver, who happens to be both husband and doctor (psychiatrist) to his wealthy wife, Nicole, who he met as her doctor during her mental breakdown (again, WTF).

Dick and Nicole Diver exude the atmosphere of being in the presence of greatness. Charming, gorgeous and filthy rich, there isn't a fancy part, restaurant or beach they don't attend. However, all is not as it seems with Nicole's seemingly good health, and as she begins to realise what is taking place between Rosemary and Dick, she begins to unravel.

An easy read, a nice setting and timeline, but as mentioned - obviously problematic for a number of reasons.

4. The Panic Years - Nell Frizzell

TW: miscarriage

Most people reading this are most likely in, or hurtling towards, the panic years - some time between 25 and 40 where a personal crisis and then a transformation occurs. There is no name for this time - unlike "adolescence", "menopause", so Nell has decided to aptly brand them, The Panic Years, During this time, we as women, are largely conscious that every decision we make about our lives, is ultimately impacted by the urgency of the body clock deadline decision we have to make: whether or not to have a baby (and the million micro-decisions that decision entails). And if your decision is to have one, then the clock just seems to tick ever faster.

This book could not have landed on my lap at a better time. I just turned 29 last week and safe to say I was most definitely SPIRALING in the lead up to it. This book helps you calm down essentially, how to stay sane during this stressful, decision-heavy time, to understand what you want and how to know if you're making the right decisions (spoiler alert: there's no right or wrong answer).

Hilarious, real,  relatable, comforting and brutally honest - if you are in crisis mode I guarantee this will help. If you are a woman or there is a woman in your life who you think may be panicking - send her this,

5. The Queen of Dirt Island - Donal Ryan

TW: sexual assault

As you may remember, I read Donal Ryan's other book, Strange Flowers (last year sometime, review in this blog post), and what I didn't realise when I picked this one up is that it's sort of a sequel, in that it involves some of the same characters as well as some new ones, and is essentially focused partially on a different family in the town than the one Strange Flowers was based on (but the original family do -play a big part in this book too).

I find Donal Ryan's books so easy to read and comforting in a way. The Aylward women have seen tragedy, loss, sadness, as well as love and peace. Four generations of the Aylward women live under the same small roof - Eileen, her dead husband's mother, her daughter Saoirse, and Saoirse's daughter Pearl - and have a deep love for one another, holding each of them together despite the tragedy they have endured in their lives. I loved how relatable this book was in how the family dynamic is in many households - tonnes of love disguised as its opposite. I also love how Kit Gladney and her family were incorporated in the story, who we meet and get to know in Strange Flowers (I will say though, that you don't have to have read one to read the other, they do make sense on their own). 

Loved it. An easy, comforting read. Would recommend.

6. At Night All Blood is Black - David Diop

TW: war scenes

My final book for this batch is one that has been on my list for what feels like years - one I could somehow never locate in any of my favourite charity bookshops, but when I picked it up for full price in a regular bookshop, of course I have seen it in no less than THREE charity bookshops since. Mercury, retrograde, etc. Don't wanna talk about it.

Anyway. This is a short, but quite dark and sad book, but the writing is beautiful and I enjoyed it nevertheless.

We meet Alfa, a Senegalese in the French army during WW1. His friend, Mademba, a fellow soldier, is seriously injured in battle, and begs Alfa to kill him to end his suffering. Alfa refuses, unable to kill his friend, and when Mademba does pass away, the guilt of not ending his suffering sooner eats Alfa up, causing him to go mad, eager to avenge the death of his friend, by whatever means necessary.

This is an important read as it is an aspect of war/historical fiction that we often don't see written about - the mental affects such horrific war experiences have on the soldiers left behind. A short but important read.

Those are my reads for July and August, let me know if you have also read any of these books - I would love to know your thoughts on them! Also tell me about your TBR list - mine is almost up to my hip.

Thank you for reading as always,

S ✗

I am aware this blog post is a little late - it is the END of July - but this month has been manic with work and life and I have not had a minute to sit down and pour out my thoughts on my recent reads. So, here we go.

1. The Most Fun We Ever Had - Claire Lombardo

This is one of those books that really makes you feel like you're IN the story and you know the characters, so naturally I thoroughly enjoyed it. It reminded be a bit of a few of Marian Keyes' novels in the dysfunctional family aspect, so if she's your jam then you'll love this.

This story follows the Sorensons - parents Marilyn and David are the picture perfect couple, still madly in love after 40 years together, while their 4 very different daughters are each in a different state of crisis. Wendy was widowed at a young age and self-soothes with alcohol and younger men; Violet used to be a litigator and is now a stay-at-home-mom battling anxiety when the darkest part of her life rears its ugly head; Liza is a professor, in a relationship with a man with serious clinical depression, when she finds herself pregnant and unsure she wants to be with him; while Grace - the youngest - is living a lie that nobody in her family knows about. The one thing the daughters have in common is the fear that they won't find a love like their parents'.

Loved this one - an easy read but with some unexpected twists and the relatability of chaotic family life.

2. My Year of Rest and Relaxation - Ottessa Moshleigh

TW: Addiction

This one was a JOURNEY and a half let me tell you. I'm still not sure what I really think but equally I feel like everyone should read it if that makes sense? Maybe not.

In ways relatable, this story follows the journey of an unnamed young woman and her efforts to essentially tap out of life and the troubles of the/her world via an extended period of essentially "hibernation" - which I think a lot of us have probably felt like doing at one time or another. However, in her corner she has one of the worst psychiatrists known to man who just keeps prescribing her drug upon drug to assist with said hibernation, one after another, until the woman is addicted.

The unnamed woman "should" be happy and seemingly has it all, but this book shows you that despite appearances and how things may seen, people can be extremely unhappy and affected. She is deeply troubled and has an unhealthy, toxic relationship with her "best friend" as a result - at times you will seriously dislike the main character.

Again, I'm unsure how I felt about this book but I do feel it's one you should read and see what you feel. It really leaps from one extreme to the next - at some moments tender and compassionate, and at others dark and ruthless, and at the end you're left thinking that maybe the hibernation was necessary. If you've read this please let me know what you thought!

3. The Paper Palace - Miranda Cowley Heller

TW: Sexual assault

I saw that this book was shortlisted for the 2022 Women's Prize for Fiction, so I picked it up with high hopes - I have loved some of the previously shortlisted, longlisted and winning books of this prize so I figured I was in for a treat. Unfortunately, I found it a little lack-lustre - kind of a dragged out read.

The story introduces us to Elle - a seemingly happily married mother of 3, waking up at her family's holiday home ("The Paper Palace") where she has spent every summer of her life. Her oldest friend Jonas has also spent every summer around the corner with his family, when suddenly they find themselves tangled in a passionate affair one night, while their families are unknowingly feet away.

The story then takes us through the next 24 hours and simultaneously back to her childhood while Elle is torn between choosing her childhood love and her beloved husband, Peter, while we learn about the events that have led Elle to this day.

4. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - Taylor Jenkins Reid

Now, nobody come for me, but the HYPE around this book was insane, and I was expecting to adore it as much as I adored Where the Crawdads Sing - another seriously hyped up book and quite rightly so.

Don't get me wrong, I did like the book, but I'm not sure if it's worth all this hype, or is there something I was missing? I found it quite repetitive until about half way through when we start to understand the secret life Evelyn Hugo was leading and the reason for the seven husbands - I did really enjoy that aspect of the story, and I loved the relationship between her and her best friend, Harry. 

The twist at the end involving the journalist writing the story, Monique, is definitely one I didn't see coming, so from that aspect that's always what you want in a twist! Another easy read - the perfect beach or holiday book, or one when you want a bit of escapism but not too much in the way of concentration.

5. Beautiful World Where Are You - Sally Rooney

I had high hopes for this one based on Normal People and Conversations with Friends, and while it didn't quite measure up to those books, it was an easy, enjoyable read - and very much along the same theme as her previous two. 

In the story we meet Alice, a writer, who meets Felix (online - it's very current). They meet and don't really hit it off at all... but within a matter of pages they are suddenly in Rome together. Alice's best friend Eileen, in Dublin, is recovering from a break up and finds herself going back to a former flame for comfort and maybe something else.

There are some lengthy letters over and back between Alice and Eileen in the book which are a bit tricky to get through at times (and to be honest, discussing the topic of religion in detail at points bored me to tears). Other than those chunky letters, overall an easy read, nothing ground-breaking, but I would say even more gazing-into-each-others-souls-and-analysing-the-state-of-the-world than Normal People. If you can imagine that.

If you have read any of these books I would love to know your thoughts! I am heading to Antibes, France for a week in a couple of days so hoping I will fly through my next stack of books and I promise I will be much more on time with my July/August books at the START of September.

If you want to purchase any of the books mentioned in this post, simple click on the title (affiliate links). Reel to go with this post over on my insta and TikTok!

Thank you for reading, 

S ✗

Greetings loved ones. Back again with the last two months of books and I am thrilled to say we had another epic reading two months - I loved them all. Let's get in to it. The titles of the books are clickable (affiliate) links to purchase!

1. Little Scratch - Rebecca Watson

TW - sexual assault

I loved this book and I adored the way it was written and how the story was told in such an important way, showing just how sexual assault affects every single aspect of a person's life from that point on, whether or not it seems linked or seems like an obvious trigger.

The story follows an unnamed woman going about her seemingly normal day to day life - going in to the office, counting down the hours until work is finished - in the wake of a sexual assault. We learn how she gets through the mundane, day-to-day things and how they are affected by what has happened to her.

The book is written in such a smart way - sometimes in columns and weaving lines - really cleverly depicting just what is going on in this woman's mind, every second of every day. She becomes more anxious as her day goes on and we see her attempts to distract herself and survive, which often ends up in endless questioning of herself and what has happened to her.

I imagine this would be very triggering (and relatable) to someone who has suffered a sexual assault, so do keep that in mind if you choose to pick up this book (and so much love to you if this has happened).

2. The boy, the mole, the fox and the horse - Charlie Mackesy

I wasn't going to count this because I read it in about 15 mins and it's not exactly a novel, but I thought it was such a gorgeous book and wanted to tell you about it. As the name suggests, the book's main characters are a boy, a mole, a fox and a horse - four unlikely friends who find each other along their journeys of life - sharing with each other the thoughts and feelings that are relatable to us all in life.

The illustrations in this book are also so gorgeous, as is the fabric hardback cover, it would be a lovely present for an adult or a child. It's the sort of book that each time you pick it up and flip through the pages, you will find a nugget of wisdom that you just might need that day.

3. Americanah - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

TW - racism, sexual assault

This has been on my shelf since Christmas and I've been dying to get stuck into it. It took me quite a while to get through (it's super long and the writing is tiny so my little blind eyes couldn't cope and kept falling asleep after a few pages) but I loved it. The thing about super long books is you get so into the story that you feel like you know the characters and are living in the book because you're reading about them and their day-to-day lives for so long!

The story follows Ifemelu and Obinze - first we meet them as the young, loved up couple who leave their home of Nigeria, which has come until military rule, to head West. Ifemelu heads to America, and despite her intelligence and academic success back home, she finds she is confronted with what it means to be black outside of Nigeria for the first time. The plan had been for Obinze to join her in America but he has problems getting a visa, so he ends up undocumented and illegally living in London, and the relationship falls apart due to an incident that Ifemelu experiences and shuts down as a result.

15 years later, a handful of relationship and life experiences later, Ifemelu decides to move back to her hometown in Nigeria, where Obinze is now wealthy and successful, and they meet again, reigniting their love for both eachother and their homeland. This is such a heart-wrenching but gorgeous story that everyone needs to read. Absolutely adored.

4. On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous - Ocean Vuongo

This book was recommended to me by a friend who has the same exact taste in books as me (shout out Eliza) and I could not have loved it any more. 

It's a heart-breaking book, written as a letter from a son in his late twenties (Little Dog, as called by his mother) to his mother who cannot read. In the letter, we learn about the history of his family before he was born, beginning in Vietnam. We also learn about parts of his life that his mother has never known,  the things she put him through as a child and how that affects him to this day. It touches on issues of addiction, violence, trauma, race and class, but written with compassion and love, as the author tries to learn how we heal from the past and help one another without losing ourselves. 

I couldn't believe this was a debut novel, it was written so beautifully and I can't wait to read more from this amazing author. An emotional but essential read.

5. Crying in H Mart - Michelle Zauner

Funnily enough, this book was also based around a mother-child relationship and I read these back to back, without realising the content, however this story is different in many ways, and is also a memoir.

Michelle writes about growing up Korean American in Oregon, USA, as she navigates and reflects on her youth, growing up and losing her mother, leading her to have to find a new identity outside of her mother. 

This is such an important book about family and grief, and what we can endure as humans, both in ourselves and in order to help those we love. It also shows how love can present in ways that don't always feel like love, in painfully high expectations from a parent to a child or in meticulously made meals and language, as Michelle experienced with her mother growing up. Their relationship ultimately centres around food and cooking, and this is where they bond and come together at a common ground. 

It's such a gorgeous and heart-wrenching story full of intimacies as she navigates her mother's illness, suddenly having to be the caregiver and cook, wondering if she is doing everything right. A must read for everyone and anyone.

Et c'est ca. 

Do let me know what you have been reading and loving recently, and if you want to purchase any of the books mentioned in this post, simply click on the title (affiliate link)! Reel to go with this post over on my insta.

Thank you for reading, 

S ✗