this week’s style inspo:
I don’t care about tennis but I’m obsessed with Venus & Serena
what i’m clicking:
Pickleball is a psy-op | Leaving the group chat | Without Venus, there is no Serena | Meet the octogenarian king of Swamp Pop | Willie Nelson’s long encore | So your kid wants to be an influencer | One woman’s quest to rescue the trash of the Lower East Side | When a wellness company doesn’t live up to its ethos | Where food sustainability and disability clash | Life in a post-Roe America
what i’m wanderlusting:
Cannot wait to prolong the end of summer with a trip to Comporta
what i’m watching:
I’m not sure how it’s possible, but I have somehow made it this far without watching Breakfast at Tiffany’s without knowing anything about it (except the opening scene). I finally watched it this week and I was so surprised–she’s the original unlikeable protagonist and the (honestly pretty dark) story is pretty edgy and gritty for a movie made in 1961. I loved it! I’d like to see a remake set in Bushwick…
what i’m coveting:
This furry pink Acne Studios purse
what i’m listening to:
I’m here for the Renaissance
what i’m recommending:
Are you–like me–somebody who’s always wanted a pair of Danner boots but didn’t want to spend $400+ on a pair of hiking shoes? I’ve found the perfect solution. These Eddie Bauer boots (I actually got the black ones) for $100. They’re perfect.
what i’m reading:
Emily Ratajkowski
I went down a celeb gossip wormhole at some point this summer and ordered this book to try and glean more intel about Emily Ratajkowski’s divorce. I have to say my endeavor was quite fruitful–her husband seems absolutely worthless in her memoir–but I was pretty floored by this book. It’s clear to me that she didn’t use a ghostwriter and the essays are really eye-opening (and so, so grim).
Did it make me cry: No, but this book is devastatingly sad. I felt so, so sorry for her after finishing it. Her parents are total fucking creeps, every coworker hates her for being too pretty, and every man she attracts is a lech. She really needs some friends.
Would I recommend it: I think there are a lot of valuable lessons in this book, the main one being that you can literally be the hottest person in the world and still be deeply unhappy and feel completely unloved.
Would it be a good movie: No, a documentary version of this book would be so dumb.
Katie Kitamura
I read A Separation and thought it was just meh but there’s something about this book that really grabbed my attention and brought me into her world. Her writing has the same claustrophobic qualities of Elena Ferrante, but this book also reminded me of the Outline Trilogy where you’re like “ok I know you’re trying to *say something* with this and I’m not smart enough to know exactly what it is but I’m enjoying the ride so please keep going.” My only critique is that this book should have been 150 pages longer.
Did it make me cry: No.
Would I recommend it: It’s short, intriguing, and well written. I wish I had read it in a book club cause there were alot of things I wanted to gossip about when I was done.
Would it be a good movie: I think so much of the book takes place inside one person’s consciousness that it wouldn’t really make sense as a movie.
Anthony Marra
Anthony Marra has written two books that are both in my top 100 of all time–A Constellation of Vital Phenomena and The Tsar of Love and Techno–and now this book is up there too. It’s so meticulously detailed and well-researched that it’s by far the best book about Hollywood that I’ve ever read. It’s probably also the best book about America during WWII that I’ve ever read.
Did it make me cry: I think I got a little teary at one point. A cynic might call his books “trite” but they’re so smart and well-written.
Would I recommend it: Don’t let the subject matter turn you off from this book! I don’t love historical fiction and I think Hollywood stories are overdone, but this was perfect. The vibe sort of reminded me of A Gentleman in Moscow and The Producers, if you’re into that.
Would it be a good movie: UGH I JUST DON’T KNOW!!!! It would be beyond expensive to make–hundreds of millions of dollars–and it would have to be 3 hours long, but if it’s done right, it could be so good. Also, the title is dumb as fuck so they would need a new one.
Coco Mellors
This is hands-down my favorite book of the year so far and will definitely end up in my top 10. It made me laugh, it made me cry, it made me so happy to live in New York.
Did it make me cry: Yes, more than once! And then once I was done with it I felt really sad cause I just wanted more.
Would I recommend it: I feel like I’m really overselling this book and maybe part of the reason why I loved it is because I had no expectations of it. It’s sort of like if the show Girls was written by Sally Rooney… so if you’re into that, definitely read it.
Would it be a good movie: I thought about this SO MUCH when I was reading it and ultimately I think it has to get the Big Little Lies miniseries treatment (but without a fabricated second season please).
Mohsin Hamid
I’ve read almost every Mohsin Hamid book since Exit West came out and I loved it so much that I wanted to read everything he’d ever written. The Reluctant Fundamentalist was excellent. How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia, not so much. And it keeps going downhill–this one just felt like a dumb pandemic project that they decided to publish because they knew it would sell books, but it’s straight up bad. It should have been a short story in the New Yorker instead. As a novel it’s just sort of contrived and stale.
Did it make me cry: No.
Would I recommend it: No.
Would it be a good movie: No.
Camille Perri
I loved Camille Perri’s second novel, a lesbian rom-com set in Manhattan, so when I found out she had written another book, I desperately wanted to read it. I was…disappointed.
Did it make me cry: No.
Would I recommend it: No.
Would it be a good movie: In theory, this is a really fun premise for a book, but it just felt so hastily written and careless that making it into a movie might actually give you the chance to right some wrongs. I would definitely watch it.
Alka Joshi
This book is so corny–it’s set in 1950s India, but it might as well be a CW soap opera.
Did It Make Me Cry: No.
Would I Recommend It: No. If you’ve heard of this book and you’ve been wanting to read it, just read Midnight’s Children or The Ministry of Utmost Happiness instead.
Would It Be a Good Movie: Nooooo it would be so, so cringy.