hey everyone! happy monday etc etc, i’ve had a gorgeous weekend of celebrating my anniversary with my bf which included swan pedalos and ABBA voyage and then last night ended the weekend by going to Swiftogeddon with some of my friends. i also went to a debuts event with Nussaibah Younis, John Patrick McHugh, Saba Sams and Lucy Rose on Wednesday, chaired by the incredible Julia Armfield - so it’s been a deadly week! let’s chat about the books I read…

West by Carys Davies

Wow, I’ve absolutely discovered a new favourite writer in Carys Davies. Her prose is subtle, elegant but so profound. She is so capable of telling such a powerful and moving story in such a short amount of words. This novel is about a widowed father who goes on a journey to seek out gigantic animal remains and leaves his daughter, Bess, behind with her aunt and looks at the effects it has on both of these characters. The writing is so beautiful! Highly recommend both this and Clear—easy five stars from me.

Waist Deep by Linea Maja Ernst, translated by Sherilyn Nicolette Hellberg

This was sensational! Sexy and sultry and simmering and smart. Easily one of my favourite reads of the year. Think Shakespeare meets Sally Rooney but very queer. About a group of university friends who reunite in a cottage in Denmark for a week and begin to realise their lives are deviating in different ways, aka with kids and marriage and comparing how their new lives affect their friendship and own identities. Funny too and very sexy. I loved this!

On The Calculation of Volume I by Solvej Balle, translated by Barbara J. Haveland

I’ve got about 20 pages left of this one and have to admit that it’s not done much for me and I’m kind of surprised about the incredible reception it’s gotten. The writing is good and emotive at points for sure, but I’m finding it to be very repetitive and quite boring if I’m honest - baffled to think there’s six more volumes in this series to come but it’s safe to say I’ll probably give the rest of them a pass…

And there you have this week! What have you been reading/loving/hating? Let me know and I’ll see you next week xo