Bakeries, bums, and books
Links, Listens & Likes for April
Okay, everyone, there’s been some discourse around ‘recommendations culture’ on the internet lately… (if that’s news to you, keep living your life!). I’m here to say that one of the things I love most about having this newsletter is the ability to share what I’ve enjoyed with you all, so here goes for this month! 🥁
This is a long, full-of-links, email which might get cut-off by some email providers - I can recommend downloading the Substack App, which puts all your Substack newsletters in one place. I use it myself and really enjoy it.
Alternatively, you can read on my Substack webpage; Substack is the service I use to send out these emails; think of it as a blogging platform hosting my one-woman magazine.
Links
I’m a millennial, of course I love to queue at a boujie bakery for a fancy pastry and coffee! I loved this piece from Thea Everett at Delicious magazine about why millennials love queueing at bakeries now. I think there’s another aspect, too - during the lockdown periods, the only time I got to see other humans was when I was in those, safely distanced, outside queues. Shout-out to Nice Times Bakery for keeping me sane in that months-long winter-to-spring lockdown of 2021…
A paperback book is a relatively new invention - and a recent episode of Shelf Love podcast explored the history of physical books and personally curated libraries. I thought this piece from Isaac Fitzgerald at Esquire on the transience of paperbacks was excellent. I rarely keep my books once I’ve read them - I’ll post them on to friends or sell them on Vinted. I’m also trying to build a similarly transient wardrobe, letting clothes flow in and out of my wardrobe.
Now, two links about bums (I’ve got range, gang). Firstly, the sad truth that women are taught by society that our bodies don’t really belong to us…
I’ve shared my own story about this before, but a conversation recently reminded me of the time I was in the students’ union nightclub and some guy walked past and casually grabbed my bum. Outraged, I took to Facebook (it was 2012) and wrote something about how it wouldn’t have been acceptable, had I been holding a box of Maltesers, for him to grab one of those as he went past, but somehow my body was public property. No idea why Maltesers were the sweets I went for…
For a second butts-related link -
has been a key part of helping me get myself outdoors and enjoying fresh air, with her influence including (but very much not limited to) helping me find outdoors gear I can actually fit my bum into.
Moving away from bums and into the kitchen, I’m a big fan of Ali Slagle’s
newsletter here on Substack - and I loved this issue featuring climate journalist (and not just because her approach to climate-friendly eating is very similar to my own - if you ignore my love of proper salted butter).
For a great example of a climate-friendly dinner that doesn’t feel like missing out - I made this broccoli and braised white bean pasta dish yesterday and it was gorgeous.
Staying in the food world for a moment - make time to put your feet up and read this gorgeous piece by Danny Wallace about onions (trust me).
Isabel Berwick writes the FT’s Working It newsletter and hosts the podcast of the same name - and wrote this fantastic piece about the role of kindness at work (if you hit the paywall, Google the title, and click through from the search results - I don’t know why this works for the FT, but it does!). She was recently in Hong Kong, and among other things, spoke to Dr Bonnie Hayden Cheng.
The key point she’s making — and it’s one that authoritarian and top-down business leaders find hard to grasp — is that kindness is not the same as niceness.
This is a drum I’ve been banging for years and I can’t wait to read Dr Cheng’s book, The Return on Kindness (ad - affiliate link).
Thinking about kindness, and caring, Chris at
wrote extremely well about the questions that those of us who like to look after other people should ask of ourselves:
If that piece made you, too, say ‘oh wow’ and stare into the middle distance… proceed straight to
’s newsletter.
And for a reminder of how we can look after each other without burning out…
And now, for something completely different (trust me on this):
Listens
Firstly, I’m going to assume we’re all enchanted by Beyoncé’s version of Blackbird. That moment when the other voices come in - truly transcendent.
Going back to the links above about bums, the fab
had a whole episode of her Culture Study podcast about bums: what we call them, how we treat them culturally, the whole nine yards. Another podcast taking a cultural deep dive that I found super interesting was Smart Podcast Trashy Books’s exploration of the coverage and frenzy around the Princess of Wales/ Kate Middleton’s absence and illness this spring.Plus I will never not, given the opportunity, scream-sing Natasha Bedingfield’s Unwritten - so I loved this about how it was written and produced.
Likes
I love a little good thing, and this is a wonderful roundup from designer
Also - I can’t disagree with this:
It was of course International Women’s Day in March - I loved this from The Nora Podcast on Instagram (and I will restrain myself from writing about how much I hate that I kept seeing the rather insipid #InspireInclusion hashtag instead of UN Women’s official #InvestInWomen slogan…):
Anne Hathaway reflecting back on Princess Diaries is one of the loveliest videos I’ve seen in a while:
Also, click through for the best World Book Day costume I’ve ever seen.
Plus, what I read in March
A bunch of wonderful books, but also this glorious poem by Chloe Grace Laws (I will never not read a poem written after Mary Oliver’s The Summer Day).
Now for the book list (all Amazon affiliate links - I get a few pence kickback which helps pay for the time writing these):
Hither Page by Cat Sebastian: Ahhh. I love Cat. Her fiction is glorious. The most wonderful ‘Hurt/Comfort’ (iykyk).
Maurice and Maralyn by Sophie Elmhirst: Astounding non-fiction about seamanship and the human condition. (If not duffers, won’t drown…)
Better Hate Than Never by Chloe Liese: The Taming Of The Shrew, brought into 2023, with a generous hat-tip to 10 Things I Hate About You.
Second Chance Summer by Phillipa Ashley: Great fun - and really heartfelt and poignant too.
The Summer Skies and Studies by Jenny Colgan: Glorious as ever. ‘Nuff said.
Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross: I can see why this is flying off the YA shelves - a variation I could never have imagined on the You’ve Got Mail premise.
Not The End of the World by Dr Hannah Ritchie: Dr Ritchie is one of my favourite climate communicators and this book is fantastic.
The Persephone Code by Julia Golding: The Da Vinci Code meets Bridgerton. Glorious. (And at the time of writing only 99p on Kindle!)
Speak soon,
Lily
It’s so funny what “discourse” is happening in different areas. I keep seeing posts saying we need human curators (and recommenders) because the algorithms aren’t really that great at showing us what we’d like to see.
Keep doing your thing! ☕️
Your poetry recommendation is absolute top notch here - thank you for sharing!