*

Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton has been on my summer TBR since LAST SUMMER 💀 but having finally picked it up, I can confirm that I enjoyed it just as much as everyone said. I loved the structure: an eclectic mix of essays, satirical pieces, recipes, and lists, and found that being close in age to Alderton meant that in spite of having broadly very little in common (I’m American to her English, an introvert and homebody to her extroverted party girl) we also had many things in common; we came of age as women at the same time and share those immutable cultural touchstones and experiences. Her humor and vulnerability felt akin to befriending a woman in a bar bathroom, which is apropos since so much of the memoir centers around her realization that, in spite of the pressure she felt to be defined by her romantic relationships, female friendships are the most beautiful love stories of her life. There’s a switch that flips in your thirties where you realize that you don’t care so much what other people think, and I think this book is written as a product of that change. Reading this book reminded me of ‘Same’ by @hannahrowrites (third slide) — and I really enjoyed it. Please check CWs before reading. 📸1: I’m holding up a hardback copy of Everything I Know About Love with one hand. Trees and sky are visible in the background. 📸2: I’m holding up the same book. Shelves of books and a TV are visible in the background. 📸3: Image of the poem ‘Same’ by HannahRoWrites via Instagram https://instagr.am/p/C8wqFahybed/