all the books i have on loan from the library
i've gone yoga mad with a touch of witchiness, weird girl lit and triggering corporate tales
i used to watch movies with characters who had a home away from home–a favourite place in a park, a supermarket rooftop car park, a café with friendly owners–and i longed for the same. but honestly, nowhere seemed to come close to just being at home. the library could have been a close second, but my local one was so rundown it was uninviting, and the next closest one was a 25-minute walk away which sometimes was just a bit too far away. they also stripped it down to about a quarter of its size later on. it wasn’t the same after that.
libraries have always sounded like a sanctuary to me, but i think you have to find the right one. and i think ever since moving away from the city, i finally have.
unfortunately, it’s closed for about three months for refurbishments. but, that meant you could take out as many books as you could and keep them until they reopen! so naturally, i went home with a very full tote bag.
here’s everything i’ve borrowed from the library to keep me company during the spring and summer of 2026.
thank you for being here and supporting me in the sun room <3
the roots of yoga by nikita desai
i’ve been on a bit of a spiritual journey as of late. after an insanely long hiatus from the dentist’s office and him knowing that i grind my teeth by just looking at the inside of my cheeks, i realised that i had been heavily neglecting my body. i know that i have always struggled with anxiety but it was something that only ever existed in my head. i never really thought about how it could be eating away at me on the inside, literally where my cheeks are concerned.
i’ve always had an affinity for yoga but treated it more as a workout rather than an opportunity for inner growth and something that could aid my mental health as well. i wanted to learn more about it, deepen my practice and ensure it was authentic and respectful, so i’ve started reading the roots of yoga by nikita desai, recommended by a lovely friend of mine hey girl, and i’ve already learned so much. operation calm candice down is going really well. (if you want to read more about how that’s going, you can read my blogs here, desktop viewing only)
meditation for the real world: finding peace in everyday life by ann swanson
along with yoga, i have started a daily meditation practice (as i write this, it has been 50 days straight!) and i’m already starting to see a difference in my thinking patterns. i don’t ruminate so much anymore, it’s easier to let things go, my anxiety has eased significantly, especially at night when it seems to be at its worst. but i didn’t want to go into it blind so i found this book at the library that explains what meditation actually is, the different types and how to incorporate it into your everyday life. again, i’m learning a lot!
the circle by dave eggers
this was the book that accompanied me during that mini heatwave we had in the uk a couple of weeks back. this one is about a young woman landing a coveted position at the world’s most powerful tech and social media company. as she rises the ranks of the company, things get eerie and so incredibly triggering for someone who used to work in corporate and hates how we’ve normalised sharing absolutely everything online nowadays. it was like reading the script of a black mirror episode at times (the hr scene? i nearly threw the book across the room iykyk).
i sat in our garden on our sun lounger and absolutely devoured this ~500 page book in a matter of days under a beating hot sun. i was in heaven. although the writing wasn’t anything to jump about, the story had me so utterly captivated i struggled to put this down. also turns out that i had seen the movie adaptation and had no idea until a friend mentioned it to me when i was yelling at them to read it. definitely going to give it a rewatch.
room by the sea by andre aciman
i’m still getting through this one but honestly it might be a dnf. this book is about a man and a woman who have both been selected for jury duty and to escape the mundanity of it all, pretend they are on holiday in sunny italy grabbing cappuccinos and perfectly baked croissants together. but in reality, they’re both married, to other people.
much like andre’s novel find me, this one isn’t gripping me at all. call me by your name was incredible so i’m disappointed that two of his other novels haven’t had nearly the same effect on me. the font is huge in this one so i feel like i could probably finish it but i’m lacking the drive.
vanishing world by sayaka murata
i haven’t started this one yet but given how much i liked convenience store woman, i’m really looking forward to it. this one is about a world where being conceived through artificial insemination is the norm and our protagonist was conceived through the taboo act of procreation and struggles with fitting in because of this. sounds weird and exactly what i’d expect from sayaka. i have high hopes.
homebodies by tembe denton hurst
this, unfortunately, was a dnf for me. mickey is let go from a job as a writer for a glitzy magazine and suspects it’s something to do with her race. she posts a strongly worded notes app screenshot rant about it and the issues with the publishing industry as a whole on twitter and then you never hear about it again. or maybe you do, but i couldn’t bring myself to care about the character enough to read what it seems like is the very end of the book to find out. it was one of those this character keeps making bad decisions and complains all the time but doesn’t do anything about it stories and i had to put my sanity first and close this book without a bookmark inside.
the theory and practice of taiji qigong by chris jarmey
this one was more of a flip through and skim around sort of read. on the rare occasion i open tiktok other than to watch the memes my friends send me, my feed contains lots of yoga, wellness tips and now the odd working in retail meme which is fun and intrusive. so after coming across qigong, i wanted to learn more of the theory and history behind it and was so happy to see a book on it in the library!
i did get a bit freaked out when i read that there are certain types of qigong that are life threatening if done incorrectly, but i think me waving my arms about and twisting my spine a bit in the morning is safe enough. i’ve renamed my morning practice as free movement instead, just in case :)
fascial fitness through yoga
another flip through book for me. naturally i came across a lot of fascia content on my feed as well which piqued my interest and also made me happy to find in the library. it’s interesting to read this book alongside the roots of yoga and see where things overlap and where things contradict. i am a little cautious of trying any intense fascia releases with foam rollers and tennis balls because unearthing any unknown traumas and trying to keep it at bay behind a till point doesn’t sound like a good idea right now. i am also sceptical regardless of the whole “trauma is stored in the body” discourse anyway. when the library opens back up, that’s something i’d like to explore further too.
yoga life: habits, poses, and breathwork to channel joy amidst the chaos by brett larkin
and finally, another book about yoga. i was going a little wild in this section of the library. this book ended up in my tote bag because i just so happened to flick to a random page and see a mirror before me. the author spoke about how once she changed her approach to yoga, she had a huge realisation about herself. she heard her inner voice and how harsh it was, and i had just had the exact same experience.
i always approached yoga with an intention to be the best, twist myself into the most perfect form of a pose even if it didn’t feel comfortable, which completely defeats the point of the practice. i heard my inner voice say go on, stretch further, do the more challenging stretch, when i have no business doing that on beginner 2. this book is probably going to teach me a lot about myself and help me on my journey to a more authentic yoga practice and reach my new overall goal this year to calm the heck down.
hello hello thank you for reading this week’s post! i’ve been a little here one minute gone the next but i think i’m ready to come back to substack on a more regular basis. maybe not every week without fail, i’m trying to stay mindful of not posting just for the sake of posting you know. anyway it’s nice to be back.
do you visit your local library often? if not, why not? what library books do you have on loan at the moment? tell me all your library secrets.
thank you for being here, i’ll see you again soon in the sun room <3