Oh My Mellow | No.20
It’s official – spring is in the air! Here’s our new season’s greetings of great reads, audio, tech and telly.
BOOK Habitat
Remember the name Catriona Shine. Chances are the Ireland-born, Norway-based author and architect will soon be garlanded with literary awards thanks to her startling debut, Habitat, in which an apartment block in Oslo begins to inexplicably disappear around its residents. Shine’s story follows the bafflement of seven residents over the course of a week and how these strange and sinister phenomena touch their lives and interwoven relationships. Existential angst is rarely this original, or compelling.
PODCAST What a Woman
Good quality role models can be hard to find among what often feels like an ocean of TikTok and reality TV wannabes in hot pursuit of their 15 seconds of fame. Thank heavens for What a Woman, the podcast hosted by Tralee women Sarah Benner and Caroline Lyon who pick the brains of successful women, from entrepreneurs to palliative care nurses to sportswomen, to help inspire and empower others. New season guests include fashion designer Helen Steele, Ayu cosmetics founder Suzie O’Neill, ultra athlete and lawyer Dr Sinead Kane, former jockey Nina Carberry and comedian Deirdre O’Kane.
APP Balance by Newson Health
If you’re going through the perimenopause or menopause, likely you’re well aware of British Dr Louise Newson, who specialises in women’s midlife health and makes great pains to debunk the many myths around HRT. While her one-to-one expertise is expensive (she has a private clinic in England), she has a free app that’s a godsend to anyone looking to track their menstrual cycles, monitor their moods and meds, and access wellbeing content. There’s also a Balance+ subscription option that’s loaded with guided meditations and workouts, recipe videos and live cook-alongs.
WATCHING The Dry Season 2
Element Pictures’ series The Dry wouldn’t be the first Irish dramedy to include a wake in the first episode – see, infamously, Bad Sisters, and most recently Baz Ashmawy’s Faithless. But its heart of darkness was as sobering as it was sincere, following the highs and lows of Shiv Sheridan (Roisin Gallagher), a recovering alcoholic who returns to Ireland from London for her granny’s funeral. Described by the Guardian as “the Irish Fleabag”, season two picks up seven months on from the the first series. And we’re already in our PJs, waiting for its return on RTÉ One, RTÉ Player, and from March 14, ITVX in the UK.
DRESS CODE Resort Maxi – Flamingo Ochre
Come March 31, we’ll be adjusting our clocks and watches and looking forward to warmer times and climes. Moon + Mellow has just launched its debut Resort Collection, including this finely-crafted organic cotton poplin maxi dress whose fun palm tree print evokes globetrotting adventures in faraway places. Bright, breezy, blousy, brilliant – and perfect for your next sunshine break.