August recommendations ☀️
On feel-good things to read, watch and eat.
This is that time of the year when you can see September just around the corner, and the anxiety about not having enough done all the things you wanted to do starts to creep in. With that in mind, I’m dedicating the August newsletter to all the things you can savour in this last stretch of summer (except no pressure to do any of it!).
📚 Read: a summer romance (or two)
Hello, Stranger by Katherine Center
Sadie is a portrait artist who loses her ability to see faces after an accident—just when she’s in the running to win a life-changing art competition. She also has family to deal with, a dog to take care of, and two very different men she starts to fall for quite inconveniently. Katherine Center is an insta-buy author for me because her books are so tender, funny and heart-warming and this one was no exception!
Much Ado About Nada by Uzma Jalaluddin
This second-chance romance was inspired by Jane Austen’s Persuasion. Nada Syed still holds onto dreams of her own start-up, Ask Apa, which faltered after a business deal gone wrong. Meanwhile, her best friend Haleema is determined to get Nada out of her funk and start dating. When Haleema introduces Nada to her fiancé’s brother, her past comes crashing back. Jalaluddin does such a fine job with Muslim representation in romance and I love how she doesn’t shy away from letting the characters feel the full spectrum of their feelings.
Same Time Next Summer by Annabel Monaghan
Sam is about to get married and brings her fiancé to visit her parents in their summer home in Long Island. As she starts to question her life decisions, she runs into Wyatt, the guy that broke her heart as a teenager. I enjoyed the dual timeline between Sam and Wyatt and loved how fleshed out Sam’s relationship was with her family. If you love Emily Henry or Carley Fortune, this one’s for you.
The True Love Experiment by Christina Laurens
Imagine your favourite romance author (Felicity “Fizzy” Chen) goes on a reality TV show equivalent of The Bachelorette and all the contestants are romance hero tropes. Except there’s just one small problem: the star of the show only has eyes for the producer (Connor Prince). I love it when a romance plays with the genre and its tropes in a fun and clever way.
Happy Place by Emily Henry
Every year, Harriet and Wyn head jet off for their annual group getaway, but this year is different. The couple broke things off six months ago and they still haven’t told their best friends, making for one heck of an awkward vacation. Banter is Emily Henry’s superpower, but I think the second is sense of place. She is so skilled at setting that her locations feel like another character in her books (in the case of Happy Place, it’s Maine).
🛍 Buy: a setting spray that does much more
I don’t use primers or setting sprays in my daily beauty routine, but Milk Makeup’s Hydro Grip Dewy Long-Lasting Setting Spray ($49) has quickly become a summer staple for me. I recently talked about why this product has become a cult classic on a segment I did about summer-proofing your beauty routine. Yes, it’s a setting spray, but this multi-tasking wonder also works as a primer and a mist you can use to refresh your makeup throughout the day. It gives you that dewy glow and prevents makeup meltdowns (tried and tested on a recent trip to the Caribbean where the general temp was either hot or hotter 💦). This is the only makeup spray you need in the summer.
🍴 Make: a summer 🍅 salad
I made Ottolenghi’s not-your-average tomato salad a couple of years ago and completely forgot about it until recently (not sure how because it’s absolutely delicious). It’s the perfect summery salad with plenty of flavour from the ginger, garlic and fish sauce dressing, juiciness from the tomatoes, and herby goodness from the coriander.
📺 Watch: wholesome YA romance
It’s the summer of coming-of-age series. We got a pitch-perfect final season from Mindy Kaling’s Never Have I Ever (I’m going to miss Devi Vishwakumar). Jenny Han gave us XO Kitty, a spin-off series following Kitty, Lara Jean’s sister on To All The Boys, followed by the second season of The Summer I Turned Pretty (Team Jeremy or Conrad?). The sophomore season of Heartstopper just dropped on Netflix.
Things I’ve bookmarked:
Yes, there’s Barbie everywhere, but I’ll never get tired of watching this Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling Puppy interview by Buzzfeed (Answering questions! While playing with puppies!)
I love this exploration of soft ambition and what success looks like when you have different priorities.
The hosts of my favourite podcast reunite to talk about the state of celebrity thirst!
Repeat after me: Stop multitasking. No, really — just stop it.
The joy of intergenerational friendships: “(It) enriches us and gives us a sense of connection that is life-affirming and energizing.”