Well-Read: Lamle Wellington

Guilty pleasure reading with a true multi-hyphenate.

I stumbled upon Lamle’s Instagram page, ‘Dem Books Dem’, some time ago. And though the book club that highlighted Black and POC writers has wrapped, Lamle’s thoughtful reviews, discussion prompts and book selections still make this page a gold mine for bibliophiles. Naturally (and selfishly), I wanted to ask about her favourite books and have her thoughtful words for my newsletter. And that’s what you’ve got here wrapped up in an email you can save for later.

Tell me a little about yourself and what you like to read

Hey, my name is Lamle. I’m a digital marketer by day and a beauty writer in my spare time; you can catch some of my work on Mamamia. I’m also a humongous life romanticiser, so being a book nerd only further fuels my delulu-ness. I’ve just wrapped up running my book club, ‘Dem Books Dem’, where we read books written by Black and POC writers. My goal this year is to be a little less chronically offline and focus on building my fellow book nerd community, sharing my reviews and recommendations in various digital forms. My absolute favourite genre to read is Contemporary Fiction. Fantasy Romance (birthed from my Twilight obsession) is my guilty pleasure genre. And, I'm also a fiend for a lil' enemies-to-lovers story. 

What are your must-read books?

Seven Days in June by Tia Williams

One of the best books of the last decade. The story that lives within the pages is just so beautiful. Besides Edward Cullen, Shane from this book is one of my favourite book boys. 

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

Yaa Gyasi's debut fiction novel is an instant classic. It explores the generational impact of slavery through nine generations. It's a required reading, I think. To this day, I still find it insane that this book was Yaa Gyasi's first published book. It's absolutely flawless. 

Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson

There’s so much vulnerability and quietness packed into this book. It’s about two young people in South East London falling in love “tentatively and tenderly”. I'm a big fan of Caleb's writing because it's incredibly mesmerising. 

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

The second book from the A Court of Thorns and Roses series and my guilty pleasure read of all guilty pleasures reads. I was never going to touch this series, but a friend hyped it up so well that I went from low-key judging to being up at 4am finishing it. It’s just too good and I'm always recommending it to the girlies who want to get into reading again.

What are you reading next?

I’m currently in a weird reader's block phase and have about five unfinished books. But, I’m keen to finish reading Before We Say Goodbye by Toshikazu Kawaguchi. It tells the story of four visitors who get the chance to travel back in time by way of a small back alley cafe in Tokyo.

Enjoy!