Went to see the amazing Yael van der Wouden this evening.
She is a huge Miranda July fan for all you All Fours enthusiasts!
The pictures of me are all terribly unflattering, but here we are 😄
A few treats this weekend from Waterstones. My daughter and I adore Legami pens and stationery.
pickI know this book was on many best of lists but it was only a soft pick for me. I felt the underlying themes of memory of the events of WW2 and the Holocaust and personal complicity were important and well done. I also enjoyed the exploration of LGBTQ relationships in mid-20th century Europe. However, I felt some of the interactions were just… not real? Something just felt off. A soft pick.
I don‘t want to wish the month of July away, but I‘m also excited to see which books make the list. I‘m sure there will be a few gems, like last year‘s tagged book. Excuse me while I go down the YouTube rabbit hole hearing what others think will make the Longlist….
#MadeInUSA a nation made of diversity, is in our history….…diversein culture, race, sexual diversity…colors…opinions…but I hope will continue offering us love..respect…acceptance…safety…with free expression…the land that we used to know…of opportunities, made in USA ❤️Love the speech I have A Dream…To be proud that our diversity make us stronger if we are united.
#JulyJazz @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs
pickI didn't read much of the blurb around this and so went in almost blind.
I found the story line very readable, it kept me guessing and imagining all the way through. I liked how self punishing Isa could be, her determination to simply not have fun yet her curiosity about those that do.
The brothers are really rounded characters and I liked the small amount of background we learnt. Eva was awesome! The history was unknown to me and very sad.
so-so#UnpopularOpinion
I appreciated what the author is trying to do here but for me she wasn‘t successful. I didn‘t buy the central relationship - there was too little to show how they came to care for one another. It‘s a trope I rarely enjoy or find convincing so maybe it‘s just me. The writing is good and the background story is really important. I‘m extra critical when I think a book could be truly great but misses the mark, so only a so-so.
Also, CONGRATULATIONS to The Safekeep for winning the Women's Prize for Fiction 2025!
This book is special.
Eerie, erotic, moving, unsettling... it was one of my absolute favourites of last year and I'm thrilled to bits that it won 🥰
pick(no, I did not have any pears around)
So. This book. I'm lacking the words to describe what it did with me. To me. It totally drenched me, it drowned me, it spit me out. It took my heart and ate it. How am I possibly going to describe this feeling? I simply can't. Impossible. And maybe that's okay. Because sometimes we don't need words, we just need to feel.
We took almost nothing when we left. Mum kept saying, Don't worry we'll come back we'll come back so soon, and it was a lie. I think now to how they found that house with everything still in it, Papa's book still left open on the page where he stopped, and I am sick I am sick to my stomach. Whose stuff did they think that was? They must have known I can't imagine they didn't know. Who doesn't know a thing like that? They must've known.
