‘The summer in the city's heart--

A July review of the reading, writing, and listening I've enjoyed this month

Photo by Lucas George Wendt on Unsplash

The summer in the city's heart--
That is enough for me.

‘London in July’ by Amy Levy 

It’s time for this month’s review of the best reading, watching, and listening!  This is an extra end-of-the-month post for all subscribers.  If you enjoy this post, please consider a free or paid subscription to receive weekly literary discussions straight into your inbox.

I can’t believe the summer is marching on (particularly seeing as the glorious June weather here in the UK has turned to rain-soaked days in July…) but here we are at the end of another month.

July has been a month of reflection for me.  I usually indulge in a re-set in September, once the summer holidays are over and everyone settles back into their own routines.  This year has felt different though.  I think possibly because my youngest child sat their GCSE exams in May and June, and so broke up early, meaning we have had to set new rhythms to our days in order to work around one another.  

But I also think that maybe I am coming into a new season of my own at present.

Since finding this platform and committing to expanding my MA research and love of literature in new ways, I’m finding myself having all the creative ideas!  Which is great!  But the trouble with all the ideas is my overthinking brain struggles to keep up or to hone in on one idea at a time, meaning I end up procrastinating.

Do you get this too?  

I remembered something that has helped me countless times before as I took a (rainy) walk on Saturday morning.  Way back when I first started getting back into my love of writing, I found immense pleasure in writing in a notebook.  Anything and everything that was on my mind, day or night.  This is something I haven’t done as much of for a while; it just seems easier and more efficient to work on the laptop, particularly if I’m also doing research.   

But this weekend, as I walked and enjoyed the feel of the summer rain against my skin, my feet walked me in the direction of the local stationers, where I picked up a cheerful lemon-covered notebook that reminded me of sunny days!

Author’s notebooks and writing table, photo courtesy of holthebluebell

Strangely - although perhaps not to other writers and stationery nerds out there - just carrying home the said notebook gave me a tiny tingle of possibility.  I couldn’t wait to crack open the spine and get writing again!

I love my laptop (especially as I have terribly messy handwriting) but I think there is definitely something about the tactility of pushing the pen across the blank page that connects with our humanness.  Just writing out my thoughts and ideas this way instantly made me feel I was taking back some control of my creative work.

This coming week, I’m also attending the first of four online writing classes hosted by Substack  writer Jessica Rose Williams (another excuse for purchasing a new notebook!) which I’m hoping will add to this summer of discovery and push me towards indulging in more creative writing.  

I’d love to hear what you’ve been doing this month to keep the creative spark alive!  Let’s chat in the comments 😀

With writing, reading, and creativity in mind, a few Substack posts around the ideas of the creative spark I’ve been enjoying this month have been this piece from Charlene Storey on Haver and Sparrow around creating a writing space, as well as this one around creative ‘failures’.  I always enjoy Charlene’s honest evaluations of her creative life.

I also enjoyed this piece also around space (for yoga and writing) on Yoga Culture, which always provokes me to dig deeper into my own practice of both.  And this on Art for Art’s Sake, a new discovery on Substack, all around the portrayal of ageing female bodies in art.

Photo by Rana Sawalha on Unsplash

Elsewhere on the internet, further research into motherhood and the creative arts brought me into contact with this review of a science-based book on the subject of maternity, Matresense by Lucy Jones. 

An interesting article discussing the 50th anniversary of Virago, which I wrote about a while ago in my ‘Feminist Presses’ piece, caught my eye recently.  This piece examines the need for the feminist publisher 50 years on.

A book I’m excited about getting my hands on is Art Monsters by Lauren Elkin (the author of another of my favourite non-fiction books, Flâneuse).  This time, Elkin turns her attention to the female artist and the feminist representations within their work.  I loved Elkin’s blend of criticism with memoir in her last book, and it continues to inspire my own writing.

After making our way through the Shetland TV series, I have become a bit obsessed with Scotland and island life, so was delighted to discover I Am An Island by Tamsin Calidas.  Calidas writes in a beautifully flowing narrative about her move to a remote Hebridean island with her husband in combination with her desire to start a family.  It is haunting, visceral, heartbreaking, and beautiful, in equal measure.  I also enjoyed Square Haunting by Francesca Wade, which examines five women of the early 20th century and their connection to Mecklenburgh Square in London, including Virginia Woolf, the poet H.D. and crime writer Dorothy L Sayers.  

What I’ve been watching this month 

After finishing the aforementioned Shetland, we hadn’t had enough of Scottish crime dramas and so started on the new series Annika, set on the Scottish waterways.  Interestingly, the series sees the title character breaking the fourth wall and conversing with the audience, and the links with literature and Norse mythology make it a really different show.  

On a totally different theme and setting, I just finished the third series of Valeria on Netflix, which is a kind of Spanish Sex and the City for the present day.  The four female friends are brilliant in the show, which is funny, sparky, and often quite racy!!  It made me long to sit in a pavement cafe in Madrid in cool shades…

As you can see, I’ve done quite a bit of watching this month…which makes sense of my procrastination!!  But sometimes it’s nice to kick back and enjoy the summer - rain or shine - and do things that let your brain get some rest 🙂

Listening

Finally, I enjoyed this interview on Podcast Do Good and Do Well with Substack writer Dr Victoria Powell, author of The Gallery Companion.  In it, she talks about trying out different ways of creating and the importance of finding commonality with others.  I found it really inspiring. 

That’s it for this month’s review.  I hope you’re having a lovely summer, and if you would like to support my work, please consider a free or paid subscription, as well as sharing this newsletter far and wide! 

Back Sunday with the regular newsletter - happy reading, writing, listening, and watching until then!