it's officially reading girl summer

thoughts on mieko kawakami, coco mellors, female friendships, what makes a book recommendable and more bookish things

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something deep within me comes to life at the same time trees begin to sprout new leaves on their branches. when little buds stretch their stems from the depths of the earth in spring, i too stretch my limbs as if i have awoken from a deep sleep and feel a surge of life through my nervous system when the sun starts to peek out a little earlier. when the world is quieter during autumn and winter, when the only sounds that exist are the soft crunches of footprints in the snow or taps of sleet on your windows or a candle wick flickering to life, i am as quiet as breath.

but now it is summer. now it is july. and soon, it’s my birthday! i feel like a firework. like a bird taking flight for the first time. i’m so engaged with the life happening around me, especially when it comes to my hobbies. last year, i raked in the most hours playing animal crossing in april and this july, i have already read three books. i love this version of myself. and i’ve come to love that this body i have to help me experience every part of this life, has it’s own yearly cycle. my mind may feel a little heavier in the colder months but now i know this is just who i am, that this will pass and soon i’ll be basking in the sunlight once again.

so now we’re here, basking. my nintendo switch is getting a lot of use. i’m wordsearching and crosswording in the park. i’ve also bought a physical dictionary (and thesaurus in one!) because i miss flipping through pages to find new words in all the books i’m reading. it’s very tiny and cute and i love it. my nose has been constantly in a book, fulfilling my “she’s constantly reading” bullet point on my 2025 ins list. i’ve been so wrapped up in my hobbies, however, i’ve forgotten to venture a little further out of my comfy place. i’m sure there is something bookish or crafty i can explore somewhere in the city soon.

but today, i want to tell you a bit about the books i’ve been reading.

the first book i finished up this month was blue sisters by coco mellors. if i had to say one thing about this book, it’s that this is the reason why i love reading. this is just a solid great book and i won’t hear otherwise. it didn’t make me ugly cry like some of the quotes on the cover said i would, but it was definitely moving and allowed me to get completely entranced into the lives of three women dealing with grief and finding their own very different ways to cope.

i took this book out with me everywhere, it was my friend for a while, a silent companion that always told me there was something new to discover, somewhere to get lost in and forget about the world around me. watching the three perspectives of each sister slowly morph into one story and the way their memories seamlessly flowed between present and past was like watching a movie. i felt like i was being invited into someone’s house and got to see how other people lived for a while; a silent bystander where sometimes i’d feel just as devasted as they did or just as angry or fed up with one sister as the other did, even though it wasn’t my life and i was merely a stranger. i gave this book 4.25/5.

the next book i read was so thrilled for you by holly bourne. now this was an interesting one. i wouldn’t say i enjoyed the writing style very much and i did very nearly not finish it altogether. but i am very glad i pushed through because every time i think about this book now i just have to laugh. it’s so absurd when it shouldn’t be at all. picture sex and the city but they’re all married with babies or babies on the way and samantha is still samantha and absolutely should be your favourite character of the lot. in fact, this is pretty much the four women from sex and the city. the “carrie” is a little annoying, the “miranda” is going through it and the “charlotte” is literally named charlotte, is a little neurotic and it was very difficult not to picture kristin davis the entire time.

despite the writing, this book is unputdownable. four women who have been friends since university come together for nicki’s baby shower/gender reveal that charlotte, who can’t have children even though she desperately wants to, throws for her. and, this is not a spoiler don’t worry, it all ends in the whole thing being set on fire. the house, the garden, even a good chunk of the surrounding countryside area, burnt to a crisp. who’s not going to keep reading after hearing that’s how it all goes down?

this is a perfect book to read after you’ve read something heavy and need something light and a little silly as a palette cleanser. i gave this book 3.75.

the next book i read was to the moon by jang ryujin. oh my goodness i loved this. i soon as i read the blurb, i knew i would like it. this is also originally written in korean and if you know at all you know i love japanese and korean literature so i was really looking forward to this. and the cover? 50% of my purchase was because of that i won’t lie.

i read this book over just two days, and i was so sad that i finished it so quickly. i had a glorious time following these three women in soul sucking corporate jobs (relatable) who find a portal into the impossible and discover the world of, wait for it, cryptocurrency. if you just rolled your eyes, stay with me. this book is worth it and doesn’t go into much detail at all about all the finance bro of it all. it’s just a story about friendship, our relationship with money, desire and the pursuit of happiness. but is it also the most tense thing i’ve ever read? absolutely. i found myself covering the crypto conversion rates with my hands so i didn’t spoil whether the price was going up or down. every time the value went down my heart sank, every time it went up i mentally cheered “come on girlies!! to the moon!! get that bag!!!” this was a rollercoaster ride of emotions and i want everyone to read it.

jang concluded the book with a note saying that writing this debut novel was very nerve-wracking and that “when i was young, i remember sucking my fingers after finishing a bag of snacks and thinking to myself, ‘not bad.” i hope i’m not being too presumptuous in wishing that that the reader who finishes the book will savour its last taste and think to themselves, ‘not a bad book.’ it is this feeling that i hope remains with the readers after closing the cover, even if they forget everything else.” isn’t that the sweetest thing you’ve ever read? and i can confidently say that i thought this book was so much more than just ‘not bad’, and i will remember these girls for a very long time. i gave this book 4.25/5.

the latest book i’ve read this month was heaven by mieko kawakami. i am still processing this one because it was a little hard to read. this one is about two middle school kids who are severely bullied at school but become friends when kojima, a girl who is bullied for being dirty and smelling bad, writes a letter to our unnamed protagonist, bullied for his lazy eye, asking to be friends. i say this one was a little hard to read because kawakami doesn’t hold back when it comes to describing the torment both of these teens go through and how they both suffer in silence.

i was left feeling utterly deflated after reading this and immediately wanted to forget the whole thing. it wasn’t a bad book, i enjoyed the prose, but it wasn’t a pleasant reading experience which is making me think about what it means to enjoy or like a book. i wouldn’t recommend this simply because i don’t want to pass on the feeling of despair i felt while reading it. it feels immoral. it would be like someone telling me they're really hungry and i recommend them a plate of brussel sprouts. sure, they’ll be satiated but it wasn’t a plate of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies, was it.

i’ve now read heaven, all the lovers in the night and breasts and eggs and i think that will be all the kawakami i will consume. i think this is an unpopular opinion but i’m not quite getting the hype with these ones, which is strange for someone who loves this type of literature. i rated this book quite low.

i’ve now started reading goodnight tokyo by atsuhiro yoshida to, hopefully, lift the spirits a little. i think we’re due another heatwave here in the south of england so i’m looking forward to befriending this book and taking it out for a little sunshine every so often.

joy (2025)

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hello quiet readers, thank you for reading this week’s post. sometimes i look at the amount of people who read this newsletter and get a little intimidated. i feel like i need to impress and bring out a perfect essay that says something substantial every week. but that is simply unrealistic and is an inevtiable road to burn out. sometimes it’s just okay to talk about books right?

i had an Excellent charity shop crawl the other day which i’ve written about on my very pink website !! (which is not mobile-friendly at all, desktop viewing only) and i got loads of books and other goodies so i’m just in a good bookish mood at the moment and fancied telling you about that this week. i hope you don’t mind!

also do let me know what you’re reading and what’s on your summer lists! have i persuaded you to pick up one of my reads? i hope you’re enjoying whatever you’re reading and you’re taking your books out for some sunshine.

i’ll see you next wednesday <3