This Week In Recommendations - 05.02.23

Feb 05, 2023

Hello and welcome to the second edition of The Low Down - the newsletter filled with recommendations from yours truly. I am thrilled to see the back of the most Januaryist January of my existence. In the last fortnight, I have been loving the slightly lighter evenings, tulips, The Velvet Underground (still), and iced chai lattes. And I have lots of recommendations! So let’s dive into them.

READING

I read a total of 14 books in January and tbh, it was a real mixed bag. I found two new all-time favourites and had a couple of disappointments. I also reached for my kindle for the first time in around 6 months. So rare for me to read strictly physical books as I adore my kindle.

One book I read this last fortnight that blew me away and joined the all-time favourites hall of fame was Solo Dance by Li Kotomi. This book was a book I didn’t know I needed. It is about mental illness, trauma, and suicide idealisation at its core. Translated from Taiwanese, it follows our main protagonist Cho Norie who is living in Tokyo and working in an office. She escapes Taiwan after a brutal assault. While her colleagues fret over life insurance, marriage, and the economy, she is hiding her true identity, her sexuality, and her past. She also has a fascination with death which leads her on a journey. This book was heavy with trigger warnings for suicide and sexual assault. But, I have never read a book where I’ve taken photos of so many passages. It was beautiful. It captured mental health and the depths it can go to. It resonated with me and made me cry. Haunting, deep, and beautiful, it is by no means an easy read but it will stay with me forever. What a start to 2023 to add both Carnality and Solo Dance to my all-time favourite reads - v, v lucky!

I also read Mouth To Mouth by Antoine Wilson and reeeeeaally enjoyed it. It gave me major Patricia Highsmith vibes who happens to be one of my favourite authors. This is a real treat. Our narrator is at the gate for his delayed flight to Berlin when he overhears a member of staff mention Jeff Cook - the name of an old school friend. It turns out it is thee, Jeff Cook. They spend the wait for their flight in the First Class lounge thanks to Jeff’s complimentary pass. But as they wait, Jeff tells our narrator a story. A story of the time he saved a mans life and the events that followed. It is only 179 pages but it packs a real punch. I kept putting off going to sleep because I wanted to know what happened. And that last passage? Crazy! This is definitely literary fiction with an element of thriller. So engaging, I loved it.

Lastly, I read Lie With Me by Philippe Besson. This is a highly adored book translated from French about the love story of two teenage boys. This was a beautifully put together story of queer love. I didn’t know too much about this other than it was highly rated. It was beautifully written and tender. I particularly loved this quote -

“This is important: he sees me in a certain way, a way he will never deviate from. In the end, love was only possible because he saw me not as who I was, but as the person I would become.”

A real beauty!

A BOOK FROM THE ARCHIVE

My book from the archive this edition feeds into Black History Month and that's If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin. I discovered Baldwin’s writing in 2022 and I am determined to read all his work both fiction and non-fiction. It is the story of Tish who is in love with Fonny. He is the father to her child and they have promised they will get married but when Fonny is falsely accused of a crime he didn’t commit, he is put behind bars. It is a heartbreaking but important story. Baldwin is the master of his craft. I am mesmerized by anything he writes but this was my first book by him and it sticks out in my mind.

FROM THE INTERNET

Some other things I’ve been reading this week -

WHAT I WILL BE READING SOON

One book that has been on my shelf for a while now that I plan to tackle is Beloved by Toni Morrison. I have heard this is a great, informative book to read during Black History Month. I have also been told that Morrison’s writing will blow me away.

New to my shelf is a book called Dogs Of Summer by Andrea Abreu. It is the story of two young vulnerable girls living in Tenerife. I’ve heard the writing is meant to be lyrical and poetic. It is a short book so I’m hoping to get to it in the next few weeks.

LISTENING

This week I listened to a podcast I dip in and out of. It is called Slow News and it is produced by Tortoise Media. Slow News presents one story a week that is well-investigated and put together. This week the story was called Snatched: A Mothers Quest To Find Her Child. It follows the story of one mother who went to collect her children from their father. They do not appear and she calls the police. It transpires that her children have been flown to the states and the podcast documents her story, her battle, and the complex difficulties of the different legal systems.

This next podcast is one I used to love and now tend to avoid. It is Call Her Daddy which I adored when it first launched but the two hosts ended up parting ways and Alex Cooper continued it on her own. I never liked the dynamic of just her hosting but I have to hand it to her, she has taken the podcast to new heights. It always usually has incredible guests and this week was JANE FONDA!!!! I adore Jane Fonda. I love her movies, her wicked sense of humour, and her activism. This episode is worth a listen. Jane makes for a great guest and the conversation gets quite deep. There is a trigger warning for eating disorders on this so please bare that in mind going in. She is an exceptional lady and it was a joy to listen to her talk. I could have done so all day.

I also ended up listening to an episode of Hashtag Authentic that resonated with me so much. Sara the host is a social media guru and has had her own book, courses, retreats, etc. She had this refreshing episode last year titled Why Niching On Instagram Is (Generally) Bad Advice. I feel like since I’ve returned to being more active on Instagram and launching my newsletter, working out who I am ‘brand-wise’ has been quite difficult. It talks about not pigeonholing yourself into one niche, understanding how your audience may not grow with you but how creatively, by selecting one thing, you are hindering your creativity in other areas. It gelled with me so much that I’m planning to write a piece soon on how I fit digitally and this gave me some food for thought.

Lastly just one last listen (I’ve done a lot of listening lately) is the Book Chat by Pandora and Bobby. I love Pandora’s book recommendations and miss her old podcast The High Low (holding out for a reunion). On this podcast Pandora and Bobby both bring one book to chat about each week but there is a rule. It has to be 2 years or older. I think it is nice to revisit old books and I really liked the episode which featured Convenience Store Woman which is a favourite of mine. Worth checking out if you are a reader and want to read some less recent titles.

WATCHING

One thing I have watched multiple times is David Harbour and Lily Allen’s home tour on Architectural Digest. WOW!! I am so stunned by how beautiful their home is. It is a Brooklyn property with the most stunning interiors, a double sided sofa in the living room and this gorgeous, plain but embellished with Italian features kitchen. It is simply chefs kiss!! I really recommend giving it a watch if you love interiors. I love David and Lily are a couple. Their wedding was simply so cute and their home is absolute goals.

I haven’t been watching TV that much. I’ve been focusing on writing, cooking and reading but I did watch two things that I wanted to speak about. The first is Pamela, A Love Story on Netflix. This was a documentary about Pamela Anderson in which she features. It documents her childhood, her rise to fame, her marriage to Tommy Lee, that leaked sex tape, being a mother, and her other endeavours. I knew who Pamela Anderson was but very surface-level information as she was at her prime when I was a toddler. I couldn’t help but leave watching the documentary feeling angry at how she was treated by the press and media at the height of her fame. I also didn’t know her tape was stolen and how big an effect that had on her and her marriage. She came across as genuine and I do hope she finds happiness one day. I read this piece titled Pamela Anderson’s Redemption: We Should Be Ashamed of How She Was Treated and it made me think how true. The way she was treated would not have existed in todays culture. It was a good watch and I learned a lot.

Movie wise I watched a film I’d never heard of before called Before Sunrise. It came out in 1995 and is a romance (not normally my fave movie genre) starring Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy. The pair meet on a train bound for Vienna but have different onward travel plans. They decide spontaneously to get off together at Vienna and explore the city together. It was so fun and I didn’t know before I watched that it is part of a trilogy. It is romance done right. I loved the connection between the two characters and the storyline. Highly recommend if you haven’t seen it and I want to watch the other two movies soon!

WHAT I’M LOOKING FORWARD TO

I have pre-ordered a book that seems to be all over my IG feed and that is Maame by Jessica George. It is a coming of age tale of a young woman from London with a Ghanian mother. It covers lots of different important topics like racism and mental health. This is out Valentines Day and I can’t wait to read it.

Like everyone on Instagram it feels, I can’t wait for the adaption of Daisy Jones and The Six to hit our screens. I adored that trailer and can’t wait to see the story play out on TV. I love the casting for this one, it is really bang on. Roll on March 3rd.

A more personal goal here but I am looking forward to dipping my toes into trying Pilates. I have tried it in the past but it has never stuck or gelled with me but I’m older now and want to give it a try. Try at home before I would consider venturing out. I have seen a lot of videos and press from an instructor with her own method called Tracy Anderson. I have also seen backlash too but I have watched her videos and I’m keen to give them a go. Do you do pilates? How do you find it and has it changed your body and mindset in any way?

WHAT I’VE BEEN DOING

One trend I have hopped on the wagon about and so glad I have is skin cycling. I somehow thankfully landed on Skincare Tiktok late 2022 at a time when my skin wasn’t in its best shape. I saw the skin cycling method and thought hmmm, I have all the products, why not give it a shot? Basically night one is exfoliation, night two is retinol and nights three and four are recovery. During the day you use Vitamin c and that is kind of it. It has drastically improved my skin. I don’t have as much texture, breakouts or dryness. It has been a massive all rounder for me plus my skin has never been so hydrated and glass like. Here is a little more information that goes into more specifics but I cannot recommend this enough.

ON MY WISHLIST

A book on my wishlist that is non-fiction is The Body Keeps The Score. It explores trauma and how this can effect you psychically too. I’m interested to read this from a mental health perspective. The reviews are mixed but I want to give it a shot.

Every year and especially in the last two, I have always wanted to grow my own herbs. Last year I bought seeds for tomatoes and chillis but didn’t get round to planting them. I saw this as an ad on Instagram and was like WOW. This is the thing I need to finally start growing. I do cook so much that having fresh herbs would be a joy but I’m not much of a green thumb. So this bit of technology looks like I could have the benefit of herbs without worrying about over watering, sunlight etc.

And lastly I have my eye on this Kerastase Styling Mousse.I am currently trying to conquer my Dyson Airwrap and I’m finally there but it needs more to hold it and this comes highly recommended.

And that is a wrap on the second installment of The Low Down! This is a meaty edition!! I’ve nearly reached the e-mail limit. Thanks for reading and I’d love to hear from you in the comments below! Lots of love, Amy xoxo