what i've been reading this week

14/7 — 20/7

hi everyone! is it bad that i always have to consult my calendar when i’m writing this intro to find out what i did in the last week? time just goes by so quickly, it all becomes a blur. but according to the calendar, i did have a nice week! i had two days off work in the middle and i went on a boat down the Thames, which was a lot of fun and very relaxing! other than that, i focused mostly on trying to get some writing done and i feel i’ve been successful. i hit 60k there at the weekend which really feels like a step in the right direction. it’s like i’ve been sat staring at a wall for the last month but i feel i’ve finally had somewhat of a breakthrough and aiming to get this second draft finished before the end of the summer!

if you want even more book recommendations, you can find me at @ReadsByRoss on Instagram or TikTok!

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Milk Fed by Melissa Broder

Really don’t know why it took me so long to get around to this. As funny as it is fucking strange. This is a novel about a lot of things: religion, queerness, sex, desire and food. You never know what to expect from Melissa Broder from page to page, maybe even sentence to sentence, and that’s the beauty of her. I still preferred Death Valley to this because I found that book so profoundly moving, but I still had a really great time with this one.

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Palaver by Bryan Washington

I was really excited for this one because I absolutely loved Washington’s first book Memorial, and although while I still mostly enjoyed this—particularly the setting in Tokyo that was so rich and interesting, and the complex dynamic and tension between the son and mother that was written so excellently, I just felt it never quite got *there*. It was always on the edge of it. I felt it didn’t really have a deserved conclusion either between any of the characters and their situations. Saying that, it’s still a book I enjoyed and would recommend and Washington’s such a great writer.

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Just those two from me today! But tell me, what have you been reading/loving? Dying to know. See you next week! xx