New year, new wave of zeitgeisty must-sees, must-reads and must-casually-drop-into-conversations. If 2018 was the year we lost our minds over Love Island, two royal weddings and the discovery of a healthy vegan lifestyle (at least for a week or so, anyway), what will 2019 have in store? With some help from those in the know, Grazia is here to break down exactly what’s coming. So that when someone turns to you with a hot tip on the latest TV show, food trend or novel, you can simply yawn and say, ‘Oh, yes, I heard about it ages ago… ’
Interiors go woke
If you're keen to redecorate for the third year running, but also feeling guilty about it, a growing wave of sustainable interiors brands are here to slightly ease your conscience. Selfridges reports that this is the strongest theme in their interiors offering for 2019: they'll be stocking innovative recycled products including Pentatonic's tumblers (made from smashed smartphones) and cushions (made from plastic), as well as introducing Ashley & Co candles – a New Zealand brand that uses 100% natural biodegradable wax and unbleached cotton wicks.
The must-read writers
This year welcomes Candice Carty-Williams to the literary scene. In 2016, bestselling author Jojo Moyes offered the use of her countryside cottage to a wannabe novelist trying to finish a book; she selected Candice from more than 600 applicants. Now Candice has a six-figure deal for her debut novel, Queenie – the tale of a 25-year-old black woman living in London, straddling two cultures and not feeling that she entirely belongs to either. The book – which is both funny and poignant – is out on 11th April.
Meanwhile, the new ‘Have you read The Miniaturist?’ will be ‘Have you read The Binding?’, the first adult novel from successful YA author Bridget Collins. Published on 10th January, it follows Emmett Farmer, a mystical bookbinder: if there’s a memory you want to erase, Emmett can store it safely in a book and consign it to the shelves of his mentor’s workshop. ‘Gorgeous’ and ‘spellbinding’ is the consensus among those who’ve already devoured it.
The year-round wreath
When Roy Wood sang ‘I wish it could be Christmas every day,’ as it turns out, what he was yearning for was the invention of the non-festive wreath. Sara Gordon, creative director of boutique florist Bloom and Wild, says it’s going to take off in 2019: ‘We’re seeing more and more wreaths popping up outside of Christmas, made with dried and fresh flowers to grace doors year round.’ The brand often collaborates with Instagram influencer @all.thats.pretty. ‘She creates a floral wreath on a monthly basis with fresh stems and ones from previous bouquets.’ These can include roses, daffodils, rhododendrons or sunflowers, depending on what's in season.
The no-holds-barred body manuals
Looking for something to intrigue your fellow passengers on the morning commute this year? From 7th March, Lynn Enright’s book, Vagina: A Reeducation, should do the trick. ‘We have been encouraged to be ignorant about our vulvas for so long and that has serious consequences,’ says Lynn. ‘Labiaplasty is the fastest growing type of plastic surgery; miscarriage is more common than we would like to admit but often remains painfully taboo, and straight men have significantly more orgasms than straight women. In this book I tell my story, but it's time for us all to tell our own stories.’ Eleanor Morgan’s Hormonal, out in July, is another one to watch – it delves into the chemical workings of the female body and mind, tackling everything from PMS to contraception.
The new food hedonism
Food writer Laura Goodman is in favour of a more hedonistic approach to dining in 2019 (as you might expect from the author of a book called Carbs). Ice cream is her top tip, now: ‘It’s the best get-it-done pudding for dinner parties and everyone is wowed by it,’ she says. ‘Make all of Nigella's no-churn ice creams, or buy yourself the cheapo Andrew James ice-cream maker and make chocolate sorbet, or one of the radiant scoops in Kitty Travers' beautiful La Grotta Ices book.’
As for decor, forget your rustic, back-to-basics set-up of last year (bare farmhouse table, wildflowers in a jam-jar etc) and go glam. ‘I do think crumpled mousey linens might disappear,’ says Laura. ‘I'm looking at my sage ones right now, thinking it might feel good to start the year with fuchsia or yellow or a bit of lace. Lately I've been eyeing up my parents' crystal goblets, which I've always laughed at – but after a few tumbler years, I think I could get into some ostentatious glassware.’
The anthem
Now recovered from her antics in the jungle, Fleur East returns to the music world this week. Her new single has a tribal dance vibe and a choreography-heavy video, and is called Favourite Thing – prepare to add it to your own favourite things.
The popcorn-fodder films
Following the success of 2017’s Get Out, one of the most-anticipated movies of this year is director Jordan Peele’s follow-up thriller Us out in March, which stars Lupita Nyong’o and Elisabeth Moss. The same month, Tim Burton’s live-action Dumbo (with Eva Green and Colin Farrell) looks to be visually spectacular – but can it ever compare to the original? And in the autumn, brace yourself for a movie spin-off of Downton Abbey, with Maggie Smith, Michelle Dockery and the rest. We’re keeping fingers crossed for Hollywood details such as a fast-paced motorcar chase or a dramatic pistol shoot-out in the drawing room.
The nights out out (without the hangover)…
Bars and restaurants this year will be increasingly well-stocked with booze-free options with sophisticated, not-for-kids flavours. Mocktails will make use of kombucha (a fermented tea), while Seedlip’s non-alcoholic spirits make a good alternative to gin. Botanic Lab’s teas use ingredients like damiana (an aphrodisiac) and CBD (with calming properties), which could be just as conducive to a date night as wine.
… and the nights in in
It’s going to be another fantastic year for TV, with a return for the excellent Northern Irish high-school sitcom Derry Girls (coming soon on C4) and, on the same channel, a fourth and final series of Catastrophe starting this month. In January also look out for Gillian Anderson starring in Netflix’s dramedy Sex Education, about a sex therapist and single mother to a teenage son.
If you have time for anything else between the main channels, Netflix and Amazon Prime, you’re in luck – Apple is joining the gang this summer with its first original production, The Morning Show. Starring Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon and Steve Carell, the drama goes behind the scenes on a breakfast show and will be directed by Mimi Leder, who promises that ‘It deals with the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements and women in power.