♡

Greetings folks, back again to bring you the books I read in March. I actually quite enjoyed all of these books this month - I hoped to get another one in but that giant one you see in the picture is actually 530 pages long so that took a little while... also I'm still on that "falling asleep while reading" hype for some reason, so that also contributed, along with wine.

Anyway, enough rambling Siof, let's get into the books.

1. When Light is like Water - Molly McCloskey

This book was a random choice in my Oxfam haul - Ed actually chose it for me as I wanted to pick a fourth book and couldn't decide on one, so he chose this one for me.

The story follows Alice - a young American woman on her travels in the west of Ireland - who falls in love with an Irishman in the local bar (quel surprise). She ends up marrying him and settling down with him in Ireland, in a place where she struggles to find where she belongs. One summer, she begins an affair that breaks her marriage and changes the course of her life.

A few years on, Alice has spent time working in war zones around the world, gone through the death of her mother, and finds herself back in Ireland, in an attempt to understand the route her life took and why.

This book was an easy read, not overly exciting but a nice story to follow Alice through the years and through her mistakes and losses.

2. The Midnight Library - Matt Haig

Trigger Warning: Suicide

I have heard so much about this book and everyone seems to love it, and it is safe to say I absolutely LOVED it too, it was so magical.

The book follows Nora Seed, who has attempted to take her own life and finds herself in a library - somewhere between life and death. In this library, every book shows another life you could have lived, and you have the chance to experience that life, to see if you would undo your regrets if you could, and what alternative life - if any - would have made you feel differently about staying alive, if you had made different choices.

I really adored this book, it is such a smart concept for a story and really makes you think about your own life, and how, even when we may think our life would be different/better if we had made this decision or that, ultimately we are on the path we are meant to be on, and that path can always lead to new and better experiences that are worth staying alive for. A really gorgeous book that everyone should read.

3. Everything I never told you - Celeste Ng

Trigger Warning: Suicide, racism, Anti-Asian racism

This book opens with the death of 16 year old Lydia (that's not a spoiler, it's on the first page) who is the beloved and adored daughter of Marilyn and James Lee - a mixed-race Chinsese/Caucasian couple living in Ohio in the 1970s, where such relationships were rare and thus frowned upon as a result.

The entire book is basically the family (parents and siblings) trying to find out how Lydia ended up at the bottom of the lake and why. We explore many different potential scenarios with them during the novel, and discover the nature of Lydia's relationship with her parents and the pressure she was under from them to be what her mother felt she never was. We also experience various methods each family member used to try and cope with their extreme loss - some of which were questionable and potentially problematic.

I really enjoyed most of the book as we went through the family's grief and attempting to understand what happened to Lydia, but by the end I felt like it was a real anti-climax when you find out what really happened, and it almost didn't make sense to me based on all the potential scenarios the book brings you through. So I liked the writing and the book in general, but I felt the end did not make sense at all.

I read this as I read another of Celeste Ng's books Little Fires Everywhere last Summer and loved it, and while this one was still good, the end was a bit disappointing.

4. All the light we cannot see - Anthony Doerr

I saw this book recommended on Beth Sandland's Book Club Instagram (a great follow if that's your jam) as one to read if you enjoyed The Nightingale, which you may remember was one of my favourite books of 2020, so I couldn't not try this one, and I was not disappointed.

This story follows a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths unexpectedly collide as France is occupied by the Germans during the devastation of World War II. The blind French girl - Marie-Laure - lives in Paris with her father, when, at 12 years old she and her father flee to her reclusive Grand-uncle's house in Saint Malo by the sea, as Paris is being claimed by the Germans.

Werner is a young German orphan, growing up with his younger sister in a children's home in a mining town, after their father is killed in the mines. He and his sister are transfixed by radios and what they can hear on the airwaves. Werner ends up being enlisted into the army (with Hitler at the helm) to fix radios and track down any French people illegally using them.

This is such a gorgeous story - albeit heart-breaking - and I loved that it was such a long book because you really feel like you're in the lives of the characters of Marie-Laure and Werner and you're almost on edge wishing the best for them in the circumstances. A gorgeous read, would definitely recommend, especially if you read and liked The Nightingale.

Et voila! Some amazing books to add to your list if they sound like your kind of thing. Always open to new recommendations too so please do send any on to me. You can DM me on Instagram if that's easier - I also have a books highlight on there which I update with what I'm currently reading if you're ever curious.

I hope everyone is doing okay with the new announcements re: restrictions/vaccines/the shit-show that is Ireland - I know I'm finding it very tough and I am so done with everything, so if you're feeling that way too, please just look after yourself and reach out to loved ones (or me) for any support you need.

Lots of love and stay safe,

S ✗

*some affiliate links used

I felt very Jane Fonda in her 1970s/1980s workout video mixed with Sporty Spice in this outfit - both with the shiny purple trousers and the colourful puffa (of course) on top.

Both of these pieces are from Nine Crows - a vintage store in Dublin - and I got them back in 2019 and haven't had much opportunity to wear them due to the... panorama. So when I found the trousers at the back of my wardrobe, I knew I had to dig them out to spice up my life/mood, and it did! Nine Crows is definitely my favourite vintage store so have a look on their website for some absolute gems.

Ed and I set out for - yes, you guessed it - yet another walk to get an iced coffee, HOWEVER, on the way we discovered that one of our favourite local bar/restaurants in Smithfield was doing iced cocktails and slices of pizza - safe to say the iced coffee plan went out the window. If you're around the Smithfield area or it is in your 5km, check out Oscar's for 'ice and a slice' (iced cocktail & slice of pizza which is actually a whole 6 inch pizza to yourself) for €10! It's the little things at the moment, but it did make our afternoon.

We sat in the sunshine and devoured our pizza and sipped our cocktails as we continued our walk and he snapped some pics of my outfit as I got blinded by the sunshine (not complaining, would rather be blinded by the sun than by a hailstone in the eyeball). These lilac sunglasses are more aesthetic than functional, as you can imagine, but I do love them!

As for the rest of the outfit - the top is actually the top half of a loungewear set that I got for Christmas - it's from River Island which is not somewhere I ever shop, but the loungewear set I must say is comfy.

On my feet, these absolute beauties (still available at that link!) are ones I purchased a year ago and ended up not wearing because I didn't know what I could wear them with - et voila, I figured it out. I originally saw them on ASOS but got them at Size? on sale, this link is the only place where I can still find them online!

(had to add a pic of my extremely patient photographer and creative director. Rings visible here are Daisy Jewellery, Chupi & Missoma)

Hope you all got to enjoy the nice weather on your daily walks and that you are doing okay. I know we are all at our wits end at this point, but keep holding on, I'm here for you and sending the largest virtual squeezes you can imagine.

Thank you for reading as always,

S ✗

*some affiliate links

Greetings all, back at it again with the books. I didn't get quite as much reading done in February as I would have liked to (the first book was a slow one and my exhaustion levels were high, meaning I kept falling asleep mid-sentence).

ANYWHO, here we go with the mini-reviews.

Theft by Finding Diaries Volume One - David Sedaris

This was my first read of the month and LET ME TELL YOU it was a bit of a long one to kick off with.

This book is an edited version of the real-life diaries David Sedaris kept between 1977 and 2002. For 40 years he kept a diary in which he recorded everything that happened and that caught his attention throughout his life in those years.

As with David Sedaris' books in general, it is of course full with comedic value and hilarious happenings. There were definitely some problematic parts/language throughout the earlier years that wouldn't fly these days, but apart from that I felt it just dragged on slightly. While there were funny parts and interesting memories throughout his younger years as a drug addict and right through to him writing about the 9/11 attacks, the inbetween parts felt like they dragged a bit.

Overall it was an easy read, I enjoyed it for the most part but felt it was a little longer than it needed to be. Not his funniest work - Calypso is still up there with my favourite of David Sedaris' work that I've read!

My Dark Vanessa - Kate Elizabeth Russell

TW: sexual abuse, rape

I would put a definite trigger warning on this for anyone who has experience sexual abuse and coercion of any kind, but especially at the hands of a person in power/person of authority who made you believe it was normal.

This book - while an uncomfortable read for the most part, is also an important one - really explores the dynamics of sexual abuse of a teenager at the hands of an older man - her teacher - and how his behaviour and treatment of her affected her for her life going forward. It explores the psychological dynamics of the relationship between the naive teenager, Vanessa, and her manipulative, older teacher, Mr Strane, who made her believe it was love.

As the years go by, other allegations come out against the teacher from former students, and Vanessa starts to question and recognise their affair and Mr Strane for what it really was, and wonders whether it is now time for her to speak up. The book alternates between Vanessa's past, as a 15 year old, and Vanessa as she is now, in her late twenties, reflecting on her experience and recognising it as trauma.

A Spark of Light - Jodi Picoult

TW: abortion

I was warned before I read this book that it would make me angry (full to the brim of "pro-life" - anti-choicers) and it sure did, but it is meant to.

This story follows the experience of a group of people in a women's reproductive health services clinic - all of them there for different reasons, some working, some seeking birth control, some needing oncology scans, others for abortions, and some who believe abortion should not exist. One morning, a man who has discovered his daughter has visited the clinic - known for providing abortion services - arrives to get revenge for his grandchild that never was, and comes into the clinic shooting and takes everyone inside hostage.

As the police descend on the scene and hostage negotiation with the gunman starts as normal, experienced hostage negotiator Hugh McElroy realises his daughter and sister are among the hostages.

I enjoyed this book - despite the rage - Jodi Picoult is a great writer (my mom has read her books for years but I also remember them having quite depressing storylines and I wasn't at an emotionally stable enough time in my life to be reading depressing things tbh) and tells a story in such a beautiful way, building each of the characters out to the point you feel that you know them personally are are there in the clinic with them.

Strange Flowers - Donal Ryan

TW: racism, homophobia

My mom posted me up this book recently - I hadn't heard of it but read the blurb and was intrigued, and it is written by an Irish author so I figured I would give it a whirl. I absolutely loved it.

The story begins in 1973 when a young woman named Moll Gladney goes missing from her home in the hills of Tipperary, leaving no trace or clue, and her distraught parents in her wake. Five years on, as her parents are beginning to come to terms with the awful thought that she is gone forever, Moll walks back through the door as though nothing has happened... but a lot has changed.

This book explores so many important topics and addresses them in a great way - from the hindrances of the Catholic Church and its devout followers, the rampant racism and homophobia of that time in Ireland and all that stems from these issues. The Gladneys - who are the last people you would expect to accept such ideas as normal, welcome Moll and her new story back with open arms.

This is such a gorgeous book in every way, I really loved it and would highly recommend. I can't wait to read more from this author.

Let me know what you read this month/recently and if you have any recommendations - I'm always looking for more to add to my ever-growing pile!

Thank you for reading as always,

S ✗