The Second Woman - Louise Mey Translated by Louise Rogers Lalaurie

A psychological thriller that shows ‘just leave’ is hardly that simple. This book digs in under the skin and lodges itself in the gut – tying knots and clawing at the lungs, zapping the breath out of you.

Tár: a story of rise and fall

A woman changes her name, dons a uniform of exquisitely tailored suits and, with genuine talent, sheds her old skin in order to become a world-class conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic – to become Lydia Tár.

Joan Didion: A most unique sculptor of the essay

I borrowed a bundle of books from a former colleague, the kind of sunny person who leaves David Sedaris’ ‘Naked’ on your desk. Her taste in other books was also very much to my liking. Yet, I returned them all…except one—a collection of works by Joan Didion. On the spine are the words ‘We tell ourselves stories in order to live.’

Zagara: a wistful scent on the cusp of jubilation.

‘A garden for the blind.’ This is how Don Fabrizio Corbera, the Prince of Salina, describes his backyard.

The Nose - Nikolai Gogol

In his short story The Nose, Nikolai Gogol wrote that, ‘The world is full of the most outrageous nonsense.’ And it opens with nothing less than that.

Am I the next American Psycho?

FORENSICS: THE ANATOMY OF CRIME BY VAL MCDERMID

Some people find comfort in the strangest of places; camping, IKEA, Love Island. I like dingy cobblestoned alleyways, with officers that are busy, arrogant and a bit self-righteous who spend most of their working life in some kind of transit.

Capernaum: Child Parents

Capernaum is a film about an 11 year-old boy (Zain) who, while serving a five year prison sentence, sues his parents for giving birth to him. 

Say Nothing - Patrick Radden Keefe (A Book Reaction)

Upon finishing Patrick Radden Keefe’s ‘Say Nothing’, a work of investigative journalism that pieces together the broken fragments of the “Troubles” in Northern Ireland, I was bursting with a sense of injustice and confusion about whether I was immorally sympathising with terrorists.  

SpectruM: John Pawson

Photographers and Architects both frame space and are selective when at work. In his book, Spectrum, John Pawson clarifies the distinctions between the two practices, despite also evincing a common sentiment.