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this week’s style inspo:
James Baldwin at home in St. Paul de Vence
what i’m clicking:
The spectacular implosion of Instagram’s No White Saviors | The TikTok cult that’s “dancing in the name of the lord” | Soulcycle without the bike | How a religious sect landed google in a lawsuit | What was Dimes Square? | The new Montana land rush | Why are American chips so boring? | Are gophers farmers? | Everybody’s hair is falling out | They, then and now | Which women do we choose to believe? | Inside the push to diversify the book business | The story of a canceled teen (and the insane flaws in said story) | How San Francisco became a failed city | The true cost of Haiti’s freedom
what i’m wanderlusting:
The cosmic cliffs of the Carina Nebula
what i’m watching:
I unsubscribed from all the streaming services for the summer, but this weekend I was in London and I watched Last Night in Soho on the place home. I was expecting it to be atrocious for some reason, but it was totally thrilling and really original. Like a mashup of What Lies Beneath and Midnight in Paris.
what i’m coveting:
A beaded dog collar for my 170-pound puppy
what i’m recommending:
I’ve recently had my eyes opened to the life-changing magic of wool–it’s odor-repellent, breathable in the summer, warm in the winter, wrinkle-proof, and biodegradable. You already know about wool socks and sweaters, of course, but what about wool sweatsuits and dresses and underwear? All wool everything, all the time.
what i’m reading:
Mona Awad
After I put down this book I was like “what the FUCK did I just read”. The premise is too strange to describe and everything in the book felt out of place and contrived but still–I was too curious not to finish it. There were times when I got caught up in the writing and the story, but for the most part, I was unable to turn off my skepticism and judgment.
Would I Recommend It: This book was Not For Me but it could be for you. Who knows.
Susan Rigetti
I read this book in about 45 minutes and it was exactly what I wanted it to be–a Caroline Calloway/Anna Delvey mashup, as told through “court documents” in a future trial: text messages, emails, diary entries, slack messages, and hotel receipts.
Would I Recommend It: If you are a chronically online devotee of The Cut who loved Social Creature, this book will satisfy a craving you didn’t know you had. If you don’t know who Caroline Calloway and Anna Delvey are without googling them, don’t bother.
Jhumpa Lahiri
This one was a reread for me. I read this book in high school and had sort of forgotten about it until I recently watched the movie again and thought it was so good that I had to read the book all over again because I couldn’t remember if the ending was different (it’s a little different). I feel like this book is one of the first quintessential books about immigrant life in modern America and I’m curious to know how if the experiences in this book are still relatable for Indian immigrants. But 20 years later, it’s still so beautiful and engrossing and juicy and heartbreaking. 10/10.
Would I Recommend It: If you’ve never read this book or anything else by Jhumpa Lahiri, this is absolutely required reading.
Natalka Burian
I got a free review copy of this book ahead of the publication date and I was SO excited by the premise–kind of like Midnight in Paris meets Stranger Things in early-aughts New York–but it was really disappointing. Not quite sci-fi, not quite literary fiction, it was just sort of…bad. The writing was lame and the suspension of disbelief required to wrap the ending in a neat little bow felt immature.
Would I Recommend It: No.
Rachael Rhys
I brought this book on vacation because I wanted to read something juicy about the South of France but UGH this was like a PG-13 rated thriller that just felt like a bad movie. That said, I would LOVE to see this movie.
Would I Recommend It: No. Just read Tender is the Night instead.
Juliet Blackwell
This is one of those books I wanted to like and one that I thought could have been really fun to read, but it just sucked. The pros: fun descriptions of Paris’s secret places like the off-limits parts of the catacombs and Les Frigos. The cons: the writing, the characters, the triteness of it all. It’s just one giant eyeroll.
Would I Recommend It: No.
Polly Samson
I’m a big fan of what my husband calls “in situ reading” where you read a book set in the place where you’re traveling. For the past few years, we’ve joined his family for a vacation on the island of Hydra in Greece, where this book is set. I would argue that Hydra is the main character in this book about a bunch of artists and writers (including Leonard Cohen) who lived there in the 60s and the descriptions of a place I’ve gotten to know felt like reading the book in 3D. But while the experience of reading the book was great, the actual book itself left something to be desired. I hated most of the characters and the writing and every time something interesting was about to happen, it felt like the writer skipped over it.
Would I Recommend It: If you’re planning a trip to Hydra, definitely read this book (and another book set on the island, Beautiful Animals).