Je l’aimais is an incredibly powerful novella by one of my favourite French authors, Anna Gavalda.  Called Someone I Loved in its English translation, the book is about the unravelling of relationships, adultery and its nasty but sometimes valuable consequences. It is heart-wrenching to read, but beautiful overall.

This outfit matches the cover and I can also picture the main character, Chloé, wearing this. It’s simple but classic, comfortable yet chic.

Get the book: Je l’aimais by Anna Gavalda (English version: Someone I Loved)

Get the look: 1-Acne tunic /2-Dannijo earrings /3- Essie “Nice is Nice” polish /4- R13 jeans /5- Mulberry Alexa bag / 6- Lanvin ballet flats

Some Can-lit for you today. Pasha Malla is the young-ish author who penned The Withdrawal Method, a well-written collection of short stories that spans a wide variety of narrators and plot lines. In all honesty, while the stories were interesting and original, the book left me feeling a bit melancholy. It was all tinged with sadness. So while I loved the electric blue cover of this book, I don’t think it does justice to its moody contents. All the more reason not to judge a book by its cover.

Get the book: The Withdrawal Method by Pasha Malla

Get the look: Bottega Veneta dress, Chan Luu necklace, ASOS ring, ASOS earrings, Marc by Marc Jacob bag, Yves Saint Laurent heels

This fascinating book about the 30-year dictatorship in the Dominican Republic was written by this year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner, Peruvian author Mario Vargas Llosa. This book difficult to read (Trujillo was a truly evil dictator!) and it’s quite long, but I would highly recommend it if you’re interested in the history of Latin America.

Get the book: The Feast of the Goat by Mario Vargas Llosa

Get the look: Natalie Brown fern shaped neck piece, Henrik Vibskov dress, Balenciaga bag & Marc by Marc Jacobs thong sandals

Tom Rachman’s The Imperfectionists charts the downward spiral of a Herald Tribune-esque newspaper based in Rome from its creation in the heyday of newspapers to today’s circulation-reduced, digitally-oriented times. Each chapter features a different employee of the newspaper and their personal and professional lives. As a journalism grad who ended up working in marketing and business, I get a bit sentimental about what my life would have been had I followed that path. This book was fascinating to me for that reason but I think just anybody who loves a good novel would love The Imperfectionists. What I especially loved were the characters and how well-developed and interesting they and their stories were.

I pictured the outfit as something a busy reporter would wear; practical without being plain. I mean, after all, the book is set in Rome, one of the fashion capitals of the world, right?

Get the book: The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman

Get the look: Topshop shirt, Kate Spade iPad cover, Marc by Marc Jacobs watch, Topshop skirt, Topshop shoe boots & Ileana Makri earrings