"Doing It For The Smile Is In"
August's round-up of recommendations
One of my favourite monthly pieces to share with you all is this round-up of things I’ve found over the course of the month that I wanted to share with you.
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.
Poems(!) of the month
We’re back to Mary Oliver, and one of her beautifully simple short poems, Three Things to Remember. As I embark on this next stage of my life (I just wrapped up work at the company I’ve been employed at for almost a decade, to go back to university next month - which I’ll tell you all about soon!) I really appreciated this reminder that there don’t have to be rules. I’m not breaking any rules as I take a turning off where I thought my life would be, I’m just setting up a life that works for me.
And then to
, known on Instagram as Mary Oliver’s Drunk Cousin (her book* comes out next month!), with a similar vibe - let’s do it for the smile! (* Ad - Amazon affiliate link)
And yes, some trains in Boston really do have googly eyes now. Delightful!
Emily Henry: “She’s a romance novelist, full stop.”
I loved this profile by Elisabeth Egan in the New York Times of Emily Henry, author of Funny Story* and You and Me on Vacation* (which confusingly has a different title in the US). There’s a great quotation from Amanda Bergeron, Emily Henry’s editor at Berkley (her US publishers), about her adult debut, which came out in the early days of Covid lockdowns:
“A lot of people were looking for something that was going to bring brightness, comfort and warmth and also not shy away from grief … ‘Beach Read*’ was doing all those things.”
That describes exactly what I love about this genre - Emily Henry is a real star writer of romance novels with real heart and guts spilled over the page. (Of course, I can’t say that without referring to Jasmine Guillory, who to me is the OG Queen of this type of book - and I can’t wait for her next book, Flirting Lessons. It’s not yet available to pre-order, so I’m linking you to my favourite of her books, Party of Two*).
The new ‘core’ I’m loving
Move over ‘tomato girl summer’ and ‘cottagecore’, I’m going for oatmeal aesthetic:
As Lauren described it on Instagram,
I call myself a “granola girlie”, but let’s be honest…I’m much more of an “oatmeal girlie”. 🏔️📖🌲🏡☕️
Have you heard of “oatmeal aesthetic”? It’s similar to being a granola girl, but you’re also a homebody (and it’s 100% meeeee!)
I love being outdoors. The thought of going on a long road trip living out of my car and jumping in alpine lakes to “shower”, cooking meals on my camp stove, and hiking as much as I can is an absolute dream! 🏕️But coming back home afterwards and cozying up with a cup of tea and a good book in my favorite reading chair is also a dream. 📚☕️
As a side note, I saw a great interview with some the Team GB quadruple women’s sculls boat after they’d won a gold medal at the Olympics earlier this month. When asked about how much they have to eat to power through training and racing in the sport, one of the team used a great phrase: oats move boats.
Happy-making videos
This Instagram video from meganmakesbubbles just made my senses happy - of course I watched on repeat:
Meanwhile, this video felt like it was healing me (my body image has been especially wonky since I last had Covid… maybe I’ll write about that at some stage):
On the subject of how we feel in our bodies, a podcast recommendation
I’m a massive fan of
’s work: she’s primarily a food writer, but, because we all contain multitudes, she’s also been getting into competitive powerlifting and has written about how that’s been healing for her:
On her podcast, Keep Calm & Cook On, she’s recently launched a series of episodes all about lifting. I especially want to share her episode with Laura Khoudari, author of Lifting Heavy Things*. In it, I really valued hearing Khoudari talk about how what we love doing can change over time, and how that’s fine. After 18 months or so of going hard on dance classes, I’m feeling drawn to other forms of movement lately, and that’s just fine, as long as I’m moving my body and enjoying it.
Just a lovely painting
I’ve shared how happy getting back into a routine of going swimming has made me - so I loved this painting from Elizabeth Lennie.
Obligatory Taylor Swift content:
Once again, confirming that I really need to read more Emily Dickinson poetry…
Plus, what I read in July (all Amazon affiliate links - I get a few pence kickback at no extra cost to you):
My Name Is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout
Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld (a re-read)
Match Point by Katherine Reilly
What We Need To Do Now by Chris Goodall
Lovelight Farms and In The Weeds by B.K. Borison
Float My Boat by Harri Beaumont
YOU AND ME ON VACATION is such a better title than the US version of that book, PEOPLE WE MEET ON VACATION, which has nothing to do with the book. I’m so curious about what happened in those meetings deciding titles.