What I read in July (2024)

Our light hours down south are finally on the increase, so I picked this photo at random of the light coming in through our bedroom curtains sometime two summers ago.

I read some fantastic books this month —

Deep Work by Cal Newport - nonfiction about cultivating time and space to work deeply, and to aim for a less fragmented mind by spending less time on the internet, msging, emailing, wasting time on socials.

Digital Minimalism Cal Newport - nonfiction, similar to the previous one but more about internet use.

Intimations by Zadie Smith - nonfiction essays, her nonfiction voice hits me so hard. Short, vivid, searingly intelligent essays.

All Fours by Miranda July - fiction but written kind of like autofiction (I want to know if it’s real!) amazing story that put me through the wringer but I loved every minute of it. So, bold, wild and on point with being a woman, mother, artist etc

The Beautiful Afternoon by Airini Beautrais - NZ non fiction essay, love her work so much

Wifedom by Anna Funder - nonfiction about George Orwell’s wife Eileen, devastating, enraging exploration of what it is like to be devoted to a male artist. ‘Self-erasure’.

The Right to Sex by Amia Srinivasan - nonfiction, bold intelligentessays on contemporary being (feminism and philosophy).

The Cal Newport ones were interesting but the last five books were all incredible, powerful, compelling, intense, often devastating but worth it.