Curated & Saved #12

Books to soothe the soul, some Gnarly K-pop, and red carpet recaps worth your scroll

May 09, 2025

Welcome to Curated & Saved, a personal collection of things I’m loving right now.

Currently Consuming

📖Reading: The Summer Book, Tove Jansson

I feel like everything I’ve been reading lately has felt relatively heavy or time consuming, so I took a different tact this week finally read an author that’s been on my TBR for a while now. You might know Tove Jansson more as the creator of the Moomin children’s books, but this Finnish author has also written a number of adult literary fiction novels. The Summer Book is one of the more beloved of his translated works and follows a young girl Sophia and her grandmother, as they spent the Summer together in a small coastal Finnish village. This one honestly felt like tonic for my fragile brain. Almost in the same vein as a lot of Japanese fiction I love, this slice of life style storytelling feels like a warm hug of a story and there’s a folklore-like quality to Jansson’s writing too. Sophia is a particularly endearingly precocious little girl (I pictured a much less mischievous Little My!). Despite her childish whims, I adored her relationship with her grandmother, which felt so very charming. I’d also highly recommend listening to the audiobook version narrated by the beloved Julie Walters. She is, unsurprisingly, such a dynamic voice actor and it’s so funny hearing her slip into the voice of a young girl so easily.

📚 In Progress: Fragile Threads of Power, V.E. Schwab, and Moderation, Elaine Costello1

🎶 Listening to : Gnarly, Katseye

Admittedly, K-Pop is one of my pop culture blind spots. So you can imagine my surprise that I’ve have Katseye’s divisive new single solidly in my head for the last week or so. In comparison to their previous releases, Gnarly feels like an bold and brash punch and certainly a risque swing for the global girl group. I say it almost feels like early Kesha or perhaps a slightly more squeaky clean take on Charlie XCX’s hyper-pop sound. Either way, I think the negative reviews of this are possibly taking this song far too seriously. It’s ridiculous, it’s fun, it’s chorus has that magic hum-ability that some of best pop songs employ. What I’d challenge you to think is if this was released by an artist like Kesha or entered into Eurovision would you bat an eye at the concept? Would you be bopping you’re head to it? I would argue, absolutely yes.

📺 Watching: Andor (Season 2)

A little late to the game but I’ve finally gotten round to start watching Andor Season 2 after falling in love with this series in it’s first season. I will admittedly say I’ve not been as enamoured this time round. This show is so much more complex in both story and character than other Star Wars production that I’ve seen. Which in itself it it’s strength and biggest USP. It’s weighty, dark, and feels like a political thriller (just set in space), so it does require you to pay a little more attention. This season in particular, with it’s main cast of character spread across the galaxy on separate missions and endeavours, does feel a bit all over the place in terms of plot. I have faith the last few episodes will start tying up these loose threads in the same way Season 1 finished with a bang.

📱Scrolling through:Met Gala round ups

I’m still very much eating up Met Gala coverage this week. As a former fashion blogger2 my fascination with the Met Gala runs deep. It also means my bullshit radar is on high alert with everyone and their mother having an opinion on the red (or in this case blue) carpet looks. For this reason I've waded through and picked out some of my favorite and trusted sources for round ups of the looks, as well as a few funny ones for good measure.

Met Gala Asserts Anna Wintour's Dominance Once More (Amy Odell, BackRow)
The Carpet Is Great, but the 2025 Met Gala Vogue Livestream Is Where It's At (Evan Ross Katz)
Haute Le Mode’ss Fashion Roast (Part 1 and Part 2)
All of just_liketeezus’s videos but this one and this one are particularly great
Inside Teyana Taylor’s Dandy Met Gala Look (Vogue’s YouTube) (Teyana absolutely won the Gala carpet for me on the night in a look designed by legendary costume designer Ruth E. Carter)

The Long Form

A life changing trip + slow fashion tips (Venetia La Manna)

I wouldn’t normally plug a vlog, but I’ve got a lot of time for Venetia La Manna and this particular vlog from her feels extra special to share as she takes a special trip to Ghana. She provides some incredible insight into the work of The Or Foundation, as well the innovative makers community in Kantamanto market. In a world of truly eco-anxiety inducing news this feels like a rare shining spotlight on some of the good things happening to tackle the climate crisis. ****

The Backlist

‘Have the courage to walk away’: Bon Iver on romance, retirement and his rapturous new record (The Guardian)

I featured Bon Iver’s new single in my very first Curated & Saved so this feels very full circle. It’s an utterly endearing interview, giving us a rare glimpse into the quieter, more grounded world of Justin Vernon. Here he opens up about walking away from touring, his evolving thoughts about love, and finding peace after years of anxiety (there’s a moment in the feature where he talks about not having had a bad day since New Year’s that just makes me feel so parasocially happy for him). Whilst a profile on (arguably) one of the biggest artists on the planet, it feels so utterly relatable and honest.

Thanks for checking out this week’s Curated & Saved! I’d love to hear what resonated with you, or if you’ve got any hidden gems to share.

Thoroughly Modern Millennial

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