Hello friends, happy December!

I’ve decided to start a new series called “What I’m Reading This Week”, mostly to keep myself accountable with being intentional about reading. Every two weeks, I’ll pop on here to give an update on my current reads.

So what’s on my reading list this week?

‘There Goes the Neighbourhood’ by Jade Alia
Genre: Young Adult

This book follows a group of young friends on a mission to save their neighbourhood from gentrification. Old buildings are being torn down, new ones are being put up, and rich, white hipsters are infiltrating the neighbourhood. The changes begin to feel even more real when a member of the friend group faces the very real scenario of leaving due to an eviction notice in their building. Desperate to save their neighbourhood, the friends come up with a plan: use social media to create the illusion of gang violence to scare people from moving into the area.

I’m only about two chapters in and I’m looking forward to seeing the chaos that ensues, because surely there are going to be consequences for creating a fake gang. So far, I like the vibe of the characters, they sort of remind me of the netflix tv show ‘On My Block‘ (a show that I really loved.)

The second book that I’m reading is:

‘Some of It Was Real’ by Nan Fischer
Genre: Romance, Fiction

I picked this one up randomly at a bookstore about two months ago. I’m very much a ‘judge a book by the cover’ girlie so this title really screamed to me because immediately I wanted to know..what was real and what wasn’t?

This book follows Sylvie, a psychic who has real abilities to dive into peoples pasts and connect people with loved ones who’ve passed on. She’s so good at what she does that she’s gained a large following, sold-out shows, die-hard fans etc. However, despite being an actual psychic, she’s also kind of a fraud.

The other main character in this book is Thomas, a journalist who is on a mission to expose Sylvie for the fraud he believes her to be. Based on the 60 pages I’ve read so far, I get the feeling he’ll end up becoming a believer and definitely see the romance plot brewing but I’m still intrigued because there’s clearly something mysterious about Sylvie’s past and just like Thomas I’m dying to know.

The final book on my rotation this week is:

‘The Art of Danish Living: How the World’s Happiest People Find Joy at Work’ by Meik Wiking
Genre: Non fiction

I usually have on audiobook included in this mix and this is my current pick.

This book is about how to find joy in the workplace and references a lot of Danish practices and culture. So far, it’s an okay-ish read, it hasn’t touched on anything I didn’t already know. It focuses a lot on mindset and intentionality but I’m still waiting to learn something new.

That’s it for this week! Let me know if you’ve read or are planning to read any of these books :).