I hope you can smell the evergreen pine forest covered in frost through this playlist.

It’s “spring” in London, which means I’m wearing fuzzy sweaters and thick wool socks. However, I’m imagining that I’m on the beach, far away from the dirty Thames.

I am currently in a bit of a reading slump, so I made a video of some quick reads. I hope I come across more nice quick reads to help me out of my current slump. This list is in alphabetical order.

One of my favorite themes in books is the portrayal of female friendships, so I compiled a list of some of my favorite female friends in literature.

A while ago, one of my friends tweeted that she wanted recommendations for fiction centering sisters. I had many recommendations, so I thought I would make my reading list available for everyone. Books appear in alphabetical order by title.

The first book in the series is a pretty straightforward Beauty and the Beast retelling. I love fairy tales and fairy tale retellings, so I already kind of wanted to read this book. I got all of the books in the original series on Kindle immediately after listening to the episode of Sentimental Garbage on the series. It is a truth universally acknowledged that I must read every book that Caroline O'Donoghue ever mentions.

*Belle Weather* is another hidden gem I found in one of my favorite bookstores at home. My entire family loves this book and we will sit around in the evenings and read aloud to each other like something out of the nineteenth century. But with more profanity – thanks, Celia. My favorite chapter is definitely the one where she picks out granite for her countertops and then "visits" it before it is actually installed in her home.

I made a YouTube video where I talk about some of my favorite podcasts and make book recommendations based on those podcasts. I have listed these podcasts in alphabetical order by title and will go through them and list and link.

There is a reason *The Bastard of Istanbul* is my favorite book. Actually, there are several. My latest re-read of this have just solidified everything I love about *Bastard*, and Elif Shafak's writing.

I came across this book while I was procrastinating on studying for my exams in my first year of undergrad at the Waterstones in the O2 shopping center on Finchley Road seemingly a million years ago (but really it was 2015). I fell in love with the writing, the story, and the characters immediately and it became the thing that got me through the exam period. I read it on the night bus home (the N13 – wow, memories) as a reward for long days at the library. When it was over, my mind was blown and I was so sad that it was over. Not to be left in the miserable throes of Shafak-withdrawal, I inhaled many of her other writings. I have not gotten through her entire catalogue of books only because I worry for myself when I catch up and have to wait an agonizingly long time for her next book.

I just want tomatoes with real flavor and a deli sandwich. Is that too much to ask?