❤️ 🍵 Tea’s Recommendations 🍵 ❤️ [January 2026] [Things I Like That You Might Like Too]
Sometimes I get caught in a cycle of the same movies, books, activities, and whatever else. If you also suffer from this, I hope this small collection of recommendations can be of some help.
P.S. These are obviously just things I like and if you don’t like them too, then that’s absolutely okay ❤️
✨ Books:✨
The Silence of the Lambs - Thomas Harris
I’ve recently read three of the four Hannibal books and this one is my definite favourite. Clarice Starling is an excellent protagonist - smart, capable and desperate to be taken seriously. She’s poor, she wants to rise and she’s unapologetic about doing what she feels is right. It’s just unfortunate that what she feels is right is often the thing that puts her life in danger.
I don’t usually favour dark romance dynamics - I’m too sensitive to find disrespect and barbs titillating - but I really did enjoy the back and forth between Clarice and Hannibal Lecter. Don’t get me wrong - this is not a dynamic I’d ever want in my own life, but it is undeniably engaging as a work of fiction. You can feel the intrigue and allure of two people feeling each other out - never quite sure what the definite nature of their relationship is.
I also really enjoyed the exploration of transgenderism in the book. It’s made clear that the serial killer Buffalo Bill is not a true transexual - just someone who merely thinks they are. Buffalo Bill is obsessed with beauty, he covets the female form, but he is not a transexual. He’s a lost man desperate to change and be beautiful - and within that he has violent and antisocial behaviours that are at odds with the typical traits of transexuals.
As the book explains, transexuals are usually very passive and peaceful as a demographic. And I really appreciated the nuance with which this often misunderstood group of people were handled - particularly given that the book was written over thirty years ago.
So, yes, there’s a lot more to this book beyond the shock of a cannibal psychiatrist helping catch a killer. Please check it out and see for yourself.
Swallows - Natsuo Kirino:
A working class woman is contracted (illegally) to be a surrogate for a wealthy couple in Japan. As she undergoes the process, the woman is torn between feelings of purposefulness, rage, sadness and hope.
She battles with loneliness, financial uncertainty, and her own fury at being treated as a piece of property - a vessel for a child - a contractor fulfilling her contract.
This is a really interesting read. Having never felt a strong desire to marry or have children, it was really validating to see a character who craves purpose, but is unsure how to achieve it. She has this body that can be used to ‘help out’ a couple, but she can’t escape the fact that the main reason she’s doing this is because of money. She’s poor and this couple are paying her for a service. Is that an okay reason to make life? Is any reason a good enough reason to create life?
Money and female bodies are inseparable in this book - we pay women to sleep with us, to leave their careers and move in with us, to carry and grow our children - all for the sake of passing on our DNA. Money and female anatomy sit side by side for an uncomfortable and thought-provoking read.
I’m still unsure how I feel about the ending, but I definitely enjoyed the nuances and shades of grey.
You Can’t Live All on Your Own - Mizoko Tsuno
A manga series about four women living together in Japan. Each woman has her own wants, goals and hopes. Some want to marry, some want to climb the corporate ladder, and some have no idea what they want.
It’s a comforting slice-of-life story all about appreciating where you are right now. The women know they probably won’t stay together - they have different ideas about the future, they don’t plan on staying put, but they are here right now - getting by each day side by side.
A beautiful appreciation of friendship and the importance of being present.
✨Movies/Series✨
Ethel & Ernest (2016)
An animated film based on the life of Raymond Brigg’s (the author of The Snowman) parents. If you love slice-of-life stories like me, you will adore this warm, comforting film about two people who spend their lives together.
Ethel and Ernest are working class people who meet, fall in love, get married and a have a child. That’s their life. They don’t travel, they don’t earn a fortune, and they never discover a cure for cancer. But they live full and present lives together - and that to me, is a story worth telling.
There’s nothing I like more in fiction than seeing a couple who are truly loving and respectful towards one another. Yes, they argue, no they don’t always agree, but there is always love and respect and kindness.
Please give this gem of a film a chance.
✨Music:✨
Putting on the Ritz - Fred Astaire
The Laughing Policeman - Charles Penrose
Great Balls of Fire - Jerry Lee Lewis
The Logical Song - Supertramp
Everybody Supports Women - Sofia Isella
Buckle - Florence and the Machine
Champagne Coast - Blood Orange
Alatau - Otyken
And that’s my humble offer, guys. Stay safe, drink water and get some rest.
All the best,
Tea