Tailor maid

It's not very often, these days, that I see something in Grazia and immediately think 'I MUST share this with the world' - well, not in a good way anyway (I swear it actually gets worse with every issue). However, that's what happened with this editorial from a couple of weeks ago, despite the cringeworthy title. It's autumn/winter and it's womenswear inspired by menswear: what's not to love? I simply can't wait for the shops to be filled with new autumn stuff, although it would also be useful if I could magically acquire some money. Either way I'm already compiling a huge new-season wishlist.

PS: If anyone's beginning to suspect that I've completely abandoned the idea of book blogging, I haven't. I just haven't had any time to write proper reviews, so I've been posting quick ones at (as always) Goodreads for the moment. I read Narcopolis by Jeet Thayil recently and it was pretty special but I'm struggling to find the right words to describe and/or review it.

Lana Del Rey x H&M

I've been dying to see the pictures of H&M's new season campaign featuring Lana Del Rey, and this week they've finally arrived. I love these images (the makeup! THE HAIR) but overall I've got to say I'm a little bit disappointed. It definitely feels like the clothes have taken a back seat to the styling and/or the fact that it's her: I'm also not convinced by pastel colours for autumn/winter (although I would wear those jumpers in darker colours, and of course I love the peplums). However, I could stare at her face all day and that's why these have still found their way onto my blog.

Treat yourself

♥ IN LOVE ♥ with my new bag. It's Edina Ronay via TK Maxx and is leather with a faux-fur bit, and I think it's going to go PERFECTLY with autumn/winter stuff (which, obviously, since it's the beginning of August, is all I'm thinking about at the moment). In the absolutely-not-autumn/winter-friendly category, I picked up the Topshop cut-out dress for £18 (down from £38) in the sale. It's a bit strange (I actually think I am going to wear it with that peculiar triangle at the back, rather than the front as it's supposed to be) and I'm probably not going to get an awful lot of wear out of it, but I'd had my eye on it for ages, so spotting it at less than half price felt like a nice bit of serendipity.

Reading round-up: July

44. Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt - 8/10 (full review). An unashamedly emotional tale about love, friendship and fitting in, framed within the story of a misfit teenager whose beloved uncle is dying of AIDS. I thought this might be overtly sentimental, but it was actually very touching and I loved the characters.
45. The Missing Person's Guide To Love by Susanna Jones - 6/10 (full review). Another intriguing mystery from Susanna Jones, this had a very interesting set-up, but I found it uneven, despite a brilliantly rendered setting. The ending was also extremely confusing!
46. The Spectacular by Keith Ridgway - 9/10. A very short, but brilliant, story. The style and themes reminded me a lot of Paul Auster with a more comical twist, and it's made me very interested in the author's other work.
47. The Teleportation Accident by Ned Beauman - 8/10 (full review). Beauman's sophomore novel is characteristically clever, funny and ridiculous. I enjoyed it a lot, despite disliking the protagonist intensely, but I didn't think it had the same brilliant impact as his debut.
48. The Last Weekend by Blake Morrison - 8/10 (full review). Disturbing and insidious, this is a classic unreliable-narrator tale. I found it unpleasant in places - the narrator is horrible - but it was also incredibly compelling.

Looking over these scores, I've realised I've actually had a pretty good month for reading. There's been no real letdowns apart from The Missing Person's Guide To Love by Susanna Jones, which I was expecting quite a lot of having enjoyed two of her other books. It seems a bit silly to say a short story was my favourite read of the month, but The Spectacular really was excellent, and I'm now very keen to read Ridgway's latest novel, Hawthorn & Child. As far as more substantial books went, Tell the Wolves I'm Home and The Last Weekend were both great, albeit very different: the former was more of a tearjerker, the latter very dark and twisted. The Teleportation Accident was also really good, but I think my expectations were way too high, and I didn't enjoy it anywhere near as much as I did Beauman's debut, Boxer, Beetle.

As usual, I have a HUGE list of books I want to read for the coming month. I'm actually pretty happy that nothing I really want to read is being released in August - should give me a chance to work through some of those I already have!