the sunday morning coffee table

A while ago, I listened to a sunday scaries podcast episode where they described their ideal sunday coffee table — a place where they have everything they need to lie on the sofa and hibernate for a whole day, and every week since I’ve thought about mine.

FILMS

In the racially charged 1930s, twin brothers attempt to leave their old lives behind and set up a nightclub in their hometown, but evil is lurking underneath the surface… being called by the Blues. What a ride, what a film! I was delighted 90% of the time while watching this at just witnessing a director take the risks — and they pay off. A gothic horror that doesn’t rely on any cheap tricks, builds characters (carried by fantastic performances from an ensamble cast) and creates some of the most stunning scenes I’ve seen in modern cinema. In fact, I would say the horror is only the outermost layer of what Coogler is saying, which makes it genuinely interesting to watch. Loved it.

BOOKS

A very interesting read on the modern-day globalised autocracy, which terrifyingly is no longer as clear cut to spot as we were brought up to believe in through the lens of the twentieth century. I appreciated Appalebaum’s commitment to looking at worldwide orders, while still viewed from a western lens and not underestimating the global effect of a figure like Trump, she also clearly researched and understood the dynamics of countries outside of the western lens. I didn’t agree with everything, and like any non-fiction book of this kind, I don’t think you’re meant to — but it did help me understand and put words to a lot of the feelings that arise from the current political climate. And the only way to fight it is to understand it.

Whilst reading Autocracy, Inc, my fiction was a bit less heavy. I’ve recommended Emily Henry before when we get into chic lit is bad debates (chic lit is not a thing and even if you take the tropes people assume creates a chic lit, it’s not all Colleen Hoover). Henry is great at observing in a way that very few contemporary romance authors are, she’s good at observing in a Jane Austen kind of way. It’s not outward behaviours that drive her novels, it’s genuine character flaws — oh and do her characters have flaws. This isn’t my favourite Emily Henry, but it was entertaining. Think a combination of Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid and Henry’s own Beach Read.

ARTICLES

The mysteries and discoveries of cognitive decline as we get older have always been fascinating to me (unsurprisingly, when you have two grandparents that developed different types of dementia, it crosses your mind), and I found Carson’s take of Parkinson’s disease as seen from the change of your handwriting really moving. Handwriting is something that we were taught made you seem smarter or dumber at school - so what constitutes a “dumb line”? What does handwriting tell us about ourselves and when does it really become authentic? How much does it matter?

SINGLES

Leave it to Lorde to write a bop about devastating heartbreak. And leave it to all of us to love it. I’m on the side of history that loves Solar Power, but I am happy about the indications of Melodrama-Lorde coming through in this one.

Another breakup song in a very different tune from HAIM (new album June 20, how exciting!), this feels so quintessentially HAIM that it’s already become one of my most listened to of 2025, I can tell. Also, this whole PTA x HAIM aesthetic is one of my favourites in music currently because the artwork? the music videos? big yes.

The best Lana songs are the ones that leave the window just a crack open for us to look into the way she sees the world. Bluebird is definitely that. Inspired by a bird she once held in her hands (of course), it’s a beautiful lullaby. And while I liked her last single, Henry, Come On - I can’t help but feel Bluebird shows a lot more of what made Lana so important to me once upon a time.

PODCAST

Continuing on my O’Brien journey from last week and combining it with rediscovering my love for Desert Island Discs. Her interviews as she got older seem to have become more and more generous, with a very open view as to what her life was and what was meaningful to her. It’s a really soothing listen.