This Week In Recommendations - 18.06.23

Glorious weather, almost out of a reading slump? A new intriguing show, two juicy podcast episodes and a new beauty must have

👋 Hello & welcome to this weeks edition of “You Should Check Out” formally known as The Low Down. Coming to you live from a sunny Scotland? For context, we get a few sunny days in the summer but never a long stretch of consistent sunshine. Alas, it has been three weeks of constant sunshine - it may be a little TOO hot but, this is what summer is meant to be like?! As I write this mid Saturday afternoon, the sun has gone but it is still so warm.

❤️ This week I have been playing this Tarantino-esque playlist I found on Spotify that has been the perfect sunshine mixture of that vintage music he normally has in his movies. I have also LOVED the return of one of my all time favourite Youtubers! I have followed Grace Denny on there for years and she took a break and she is back. So I’ve been watching her new vlogs. Highly recommend if you like girly chit chat vlog videos.

Reading

📚 Remember last week I said I thought I could be saved from the brink of a reading slump? Well it has been such a mixed bag this week that I’m on dangerous territory.

So you may remember I bought Yellowface by R. F. Kuang and two chapters in I really thought ok, this has major potential. The internet is flooded with tons of good reviews and praise. But I was left disappointed. I mean don’t get me wrong it was SO readable. I flew through this as the writing was great. It follows June who is a writer that hasn’t had much success. Her fellow university friend Athena is a global literary star with bestselling books with one opted for Netflix. But when June watches Athena die in front of her, she snatches Athena’s manuscript for her new novel and pitches it as her own work. It is a satire of the publishing world with quite funny remarks on that world plus views on bookstagram and Good Reads. But it was just ok? Nothing special.

After being underwhelmed by Yellowface, I cracked on with Sylvia by Leonard Michaels that is a short, memoir style novel about a young married couple in 1960’s New York. It is from the perspective of the husband as he deals with the rapid decline of his wife Sylvia’s mental health. This one has some of the sharpest, most stylish writing I have ever read. It was a heavy read with lots of trigger warnings especially when it comes to mental health so if you want to read, I would urge you to check this out before going in blind. I want to read the only other novel Michael’s wrote now after finishing Sylvia as the writing was so sublime.

And after this, I dived head first into my next read thinking “SLUMP DEFEATED” but, instead I ended up DNFing it. It was Y/N by Esther Yi. I got 65 pages in and had to give up. It is a strange, fever dream like story around a character obsessed with a Korean boyband member called Moon. I just didn’t click with it sadly.

📖 A book from the archive this week I want to share is a super short read by an author I really like. It is called I Would Be Doing This Anyway by Jia Tolentino that is free on Amazon if you have a prime membership. It is only 31 pages but it is a sharp look at the life on an influencer doing a “luxury quarantine” in 2020 observing class, wealth and privilege. A fast read!

Watching

With the weather being so nice, I have been outside in the evenings but I did manage to watch two things I do think are worth checking out.

📺 A new show landed on Apple TV called The Crowded Room and I wizzed through the first three episodes in one go. It is a mini series starring Tom Holland centred around a young man committing an awful crime in 1979 New York who is protesting his innocence. I am enjoying it so far although I did have a theory half way through the second episode that ended up being the case. But worth checking out - and nice to see Tom Holland in something other than Spiderman.

📺 I also watched Girl, Interrupted. I posted an article within ‘Internet Reading’ a few weeks back on how the book is 30 years old in 2023. I loved the movie when I was younger but I didn’t know if revisiting it later, I would find it too triggering. My husband had never seen it though and I was like whaaaat?! So we watched and I remembered why I loved it so much. Not only an incredible story but a brilliant cast too.

LISTENING

🎧 I listened to Niall Horan on Unfiltered with Oli Dugmore podcast and I really loved this interview. I’d saw a snippet on Tiktok were once the interview was over, Niall turned and said “wow, I think that’s the best interview I’ve ever done” that had me so intrigued. It was so engaging and Niall dove into detail about his time with One Direction, how his life changed over night and moving onto doing his own solo work. I think these questions really probed how instant fame completely changed Niall’s life and he answered so in-depth and honestly. A must listen!

🎧 Last week in my watching recommendations, I shared that I had watched The Curious Case of Natalia Grace so when I saw one of my favourite podcasts covering it as one of their topics this week, I put it on immediately! I have spoken about recently discovering the Every Outfit podcast lately but this weeks episode was great. Not only did it discuss Natalia Grace but Kristen Davis’s interview with The Telegraph, thoughts on The Idol, fashion pieces and more. I love this one and look forward to it every week.

INTERNET BROWSING

👩🏻‍💻 I liked this article in The Stylist this week called The pill wreaked havoc on my life and hormones – so why don’t we talk about its side effects more? I think we are getting to such a refreshing space seeing more and more women talk openly about contraception and the negative impacts it can have on their physical and mental health. It is interesting to know that out of 4,000 women surveyed, 77% noted side effects from taking the pill. This article was posted to go alongside a new Channel 4 documentary that aired this week called Pill Revolution that I now have on my list to watch next week.

👩🏻‍💻 This Refinery29 article titled I Took A $700 Class To Learn How To Be An Influencer - Was It Worth It? was something I clicked when I saw the headline. I’ve always found these classes you see floating around polarising because 1) I do think there can be some value? More so from a marketing/pitching/industry perspective but I do believe that the key to success in that field in if people actually like you? Or you produce really engaging content that makes people want to follow you. I think this was an insightful take at the content these things usually offer and wether they are of any value. With 1 in 4 Gen Z’s wanting to be a full time influencer, these courses will likely soar in popularity in years to come.

ETC

🧴With the sunnier days, I have been SPF conscious as the older I’m getting, the more emphasis I have on making sure I am protected in the sun. A few months back on my wish-list that I shared, I ended up eventually buying the Innisfree Hyaluronic Acid Water Gel Sunscreen. It’s an SPF 50 and the texture of this is amazing, especially if you want a lot of coverage and protection minus the smothering feel of some sunscreens. This is now a must have for me and I highly recommend it!

🛍️ New on my wish-list this week is these New Balance 574 Platform Trainers, this Etsy print and this Carat London Marquise Necklace in gold.

And that is it for this weeks You Should Check Out! Wishing you a lovely Sunday ❤️ thanks for reading xx