the quiet list - a library of things to help you pause and think

for my list lovers; why perfectionism is the enemy, dropping everything to run a bookshop on wheels, how your privacy online is at stake, what does a full life look like? and more

hello quiet readers, i hope you’re well. welcome to another instalment of the quiet list - a library of things to help you pause and think. this series is for paid subscribers only, but if you’d like a taste of what to expect in these letters, you can view a free instalment here.

this season we’ve got notes on the perils of perfectionism from the new yorker, disappointing books, cosy games overload with recommendations, drowning in stickers and lots and lots of links dotted around to help you take a moment to try something new, learn something new or find a quiet moment for yourself.

so go ahead, stroll over to the bookshelves to find some recommendations and what’s new in my commonplace book, or take a moment for yourself in the writing room and reflect with the provided journal prompts, or learn something new in the research room with the plethora of articles waiting for you.

grab some ideas and make time for a bit of quiet.

(also note that this is quite long and best experienced on desktop!)

hope you enjoy <3

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the bookshelves

what i’m reading, what’s on the tbr shelf, words i can’t stop thinking about, notes from my commonplace book.

anodyne - inoffensive but dull / a pain-killing medicine (can’t wait to use the word anodynic somewhere)

i’m currently reading white teeth by zadie smith, which is quite a long book so naturally i’ve read a few others since i started it. i’ve always subconsciously looked up to zadie, i don’t know too much about her, but i want to be her. i’d only read her little book of essays, intimations, that she published in lockdown but this is my first time (properly) reading one of her fiction books. and my god it’s detailed, but in the best way. will take me some time to get through this one.

one of the books i’ll finish while reading the above is heartburn by nora ephron. i am obsessed with 90s/00s film and media so naturally, i jumped when i saw this book by an icon of that period. i’m about halfway and i’ve been completely entranced by this (semi) fictional story of a woman who learns her husband is having an affair while she’s seven months pregnant with their child. also the cover is beautiful.

days at the morisaki bookshop unfortunately was a big disappointment. we spoke about this a little in our subscriber chat (which you should definitely subscribe to join to chat about books and personal websites!) and thankfully, i wasn’t alone in my disappointment. the book just felt very empty to me and i was very close to giving up altogether. a finding quiet reader has instead recommended welcome to the hyunam-dong bookshop by hwang bo-reum instead, similar vibes but better! maybe you could give that a go too.

adumbrate - to foreshadow/overshadow

vociferous - crying out noisily, clamorous, expressing opinions loudly

“And so it is that when we are unhappy we more strongly feel the unhappiness of others; feeling is not shattered, but becomes concentrated.” fyodor dostoyevsky, white nights

bloom by delilah. s. dawson was recommended to me by a close friend of mine who loves horror books. when we go to bookshops together, we spend time in the fantasy and horror sections for her and then move on to fiction and essays for me. this book brought both of our favourite genres together! if you’re looking for something sapphic and unnerving with a good plot and great writing, this is for you.

up next: little women by louisa may alcott, nausea by jean-paul sartre, you should be mother by meg mason, the age of surveillance capitalism by shoshana zuboff.

you can hear some more about the books i’ve read this summer here.

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