No excuses, and Sara was chasing me. As usual, my life is hectic. As I write, I’m taking a brief break from work, following a weekend jaunt to Paris. It was my first time on the Eurostar!
September was a pretty busy time, that culminated in my final birthday celebration in Dublin. I’m still on the grief journey, and every day is a lesson, in good and bad ways.
I’ve also started uploading daily tarot pulls on my Instagram and TikTok (@thefemininearcana), and I’m taking online and in-person bookings if anyone wants a personalised reading. I’m here to help!
My playlist is below, and my books follow. It was a quiet month, but I read some really great things.
Tell Me the Truth About Love: 13 Tales from the Therapist’s Couch by Susanna Abse
I bought this ages ago, and I wasn’t super excited to read it for some reason. I’m not even sure why I picked it up to read now. However, it ended up being a really relatable and interesting book about the issues that keep us all addled in our romantic relationships, told through the stories of Susanna Abse’s clients, all kept anonymous. It’s great to know that I’m not the only one who can find it difficult, and that there is light at the end of the tunnel. I don’t know how psychologists and psychiatrists manage to keep their clients business private. They must have so many amazing stories.
Grief is for People by Sloane Crossley
Another grief book. Groundbreaking! This is a beautiful and sensitive telling of the author’s life following the suicide of a close friend, that closely coincided with a break-in at her apartment that resulted in her having heirloom jewellery stolen from her. Even though our situations were very different, I really related to how she experienced a slow fade and distance with her friend, as it felt similar to having lost my mum to mental illness, addiction and finally, cancer. It’s a really moving book, and I listened to it on audio, which was great.
Females by Andrea Long Chu
I initially bought this as a present for Sara, then I picked it up for myself at a later date. It’s an extended essay on the concept of “females”, which Long Chu argues is the state in which anyone of any gender can enter once they self-sacrifice for the benefit of others. She frequently references Valerie Solanas, which I enjoyed, but I wasn’t convinced of the central thesis of the argument. It was definitely a worthwhile read either way, and reminded me of how much I enjoy cultural criticism.
Colored Television by Danzy Senna
This was our book club pick for September, and the first one in a while that I really devoured. It’s about a novelist and adjunct lecturer, who’s taken a year out from teaching to finish her difficult second novel and to secure tenure as a result. She’s house-sitting for her rich TV writer friend, and begins to think about if she should make the change from novels to TV. She writes about her own biracial identity, as the child of a white woman and a Black man, and that of those around her. It’s probing, and the main character isn’t necessarily likeable, but that weirdly made me enjoy the book even more. Danzy Senna is also married to Percival Everett, so I’d kill to go to their house for dinner.
Rejection by Tony Tulathimutte
This is genuinely one of the best books I’ve read recently. I’m still processing it. It’s a collection of short stories (the first of which, The Feminist, is available to read online!) involving interconnected characters as they navigate our current society. It deals with online culture, woke-ness, and our personal relationships, with a razor sharp perspective. I think Tony Tulathimutte is one of the most incisive writers working today. I want to go for dinner with him and pick his brain. Maybe he, Danzy Senna and I could get together. This is essential reading for literally everyone.
Fundamentally by Nussaibah Younis
This is a super buzzy book that has been everywhere, and is shortlisted for this year’s Women’s Prize. I was excited to read it, and it was on 99p Kindle offer, so I grabbed it and read it pretty quickly. It’s about an academic who takes a posting in Iraq to set up a deradicalisation programme for ISIS brides. It’s inspired by the author’s expertise on contemporary Iraq, so the world within the book feels real, and her critiques of these programmes feel well informed. I’m unsure about my criticisms of this book, because I think it’ll make me sound like an insufferable snob, but it felt really… simple? It deals with really heavy topics but is written in a really “online” style. I think it might be my own dislike of books that feel more informal and conversational in their writing, so maybe it just wasn’t for me. However, it’s very readable, so I’d recommend it if you want a slightly different beach or holiday read.
