Surprise!
I felt like these emails were getting a little unwieldy with all the photos and reviews and stuff, so I’m going to start sending them every 2-3 weeks instead of just once a month. Also, I left my phone on a bus at a wedding in Rhode Island (shoutout to #danagetshumped), so I was without a phone for ~12 days this month. Since I didn’t have a phone, I read during every commute, waiting in line, when I ate lunch out of the office, when I first woke up in the morning, and before I went to bed. I got a lot of reading done, so I felt like the October newsletter was getting out of control.
And, if you like my newsletter, pass it on. Here’s the link to sign up: tinyletter.com/theodora
(If you missed the September installment, you can read it here: tinyletter.com/theodora/archive)
What I’m Watching:
The third season of Transparent on Amazon, which is my favorite show in the history of TV (better than Arrested Development, better than The Wire). I watched the whole first season in one day, and then I watched the whole second season the day after that, so I’m taking my time with this season.
HBO’s Westworld. I love it so far. It’s like Grand Theft Auto meets Avatar, set in the wild west.
What I’m Wanderlusting:
I’m currently editing Fodor’s Portugal guide at work, which means I’m reading, editing, and vetting all hotel, restaurant, and sight reviews for the country. I found this amazing boutique hotel in the Algarve, which has me wanting to plan a trip. And while I’m there, I’ll hire a boat to take me here.
What I’m Coveting:
This lace harem-pant jumpsuit that I stumbled upon while doing “research” at work (google photos of Gigi Hadid in Porto, Portugal). It’s a little out of my budget, so I might just opt for this one that keeps showing up in my facebook ads (dammit facebook, you know me too well).
What I’m Hanging on My Wall:
I get a lot of art inspo from book covers (does that surprise you?) and I discovered Elizabeth Mayville’s art on the cover of The Book of Unknown Americans.
What I’m Reading:
I’m also rating all of these books on goodreads, so you can see my rating on their 5-star system. www.goodreads.com/hellotheo
Scroll to the bottom to see what I’m currently reading and what I plan to read next month.
Carol Rifka Brunt
As a general rule I dislike pre-teens, so I’m always pleasantly surprised when a book with a kid protagonist sweeps me off my feet (ahem, Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime). I really truly loved this book and I know I’m so late to the game on this one, but it’s great. I finished it in 24 hours and I wish I had slowed down a bit more to enjoy it. This isn’t a huge sweeping novel—it’s actually kind of a small book with only a few main characters, but their relationships with each other are so tender and real that you really feel like this book comes to life.
Did it make me cry: Yes! This book is just really sweet and I think if you have any family members you’ll feel the same way.
Did it make me laugh: Hmmm I don’t think so.
Did it make me miss a subways stop: No, but I’ve been trying really hard lately and I think I’m getting better.
Would I recommend it: Yes! I’m really afraid that I might recommend it to somebody who will get bored with it and put it down but as long as you’re not that kind of person I think you won’t regret reading this book. And if you are that kind of person you should try reading it anyways because, hey, you can put it down and move on to something else if you think it’s boring.
Would I read it again: Yes.
Would it be a good movie: I can 100% picture it as a movie but I think it would be so hard to find a 13-year-old actress to do the part well.
Carol Birch
This book could have been so much better than it was. I realize it’s historical fiction, but at least exercise the “fiction” part and add some personality to the characters. All of the dialogue is so stilted and all of the characters are so obvious and one-dimensional. It really doesn’t read like fiction and you can tell the author is not involved enough in the story. Meanwhile, there’s a parallel story in the book that is utterly nonsensical. I have no idea who let her add that, or why.
I like to read the afterword (not the acknowledgements, which are only interesting when they mention famous people) of books and I was so bummed out by this one. There’s no mention of how the author found the story, or the kind of research she did. It’s like she has no emotional tie to it whatsoever.
About ¾ of the way through the book I let curiosity get the best of me because I thought this might be a true story, because there’s no way a novel would be written like this. I did some googling and I’m going to warn you not to make the same mistake I did and get too carried away with related google image searches.
Did it make me cry: No, but if it had been written by somebody else it definitely could have. This story is heartbreaking.
Did it make me laugh: No.
Did it make me miss a subways stop: No.
Would I recommend it: I think if you really like historical fiction and you’re interested in 19th-century carnivals and circuses, you might not regret reading it. I would recommend skipping all the present-day London bits if you do intend to pick it up. Fair warning: you’ll be disappointed that it’s not better. If you think you like the idea of this, just read Lucky Us and Water for Elephants instead.
Would I read it again: No.
Would it be a good movie: At first I was thinking that this could be an awesome Tim Burton film, but I really don’t think it would work. It’s too dark and sordid and not the kind of dark and sordid thing you can turn into humor or art, really.
Francesca Kay
This book had So. Much. Potential. At first, it seemed like Thomas Pynchon meets J.K Rowling (Not Harry Potter, but Casual Vacancy) in a government spy agency. I started getting nervous when there were only a few pages left in the book and The Big Scene hadn’t happened yet and there was no chance of the story coming to a logical conclusion. But I was definitely not expecting it to be as bad as it was. There is no denouement or end to the story. It just ends.
Did it make me cry: No.
Did it make me laugh: No.
Did it make me miss a subways stop: No.
Would I recommend it: No.
Would I read it again: No.
Would it be a good movie: It could be an amazing movie if you rewrote the ending. Or just wrote an ending in the first place because as it is now there’s not one.
Alice Hoffman
I sort of realized what I was getting into with this book, but I thought the cover looked like a pretty tattoo so I picked it up anyways. This book is so careless. The story is so contrived and each sentence is just thrown together in whichever way that it will get the point across most. There’s no art to this book, and for some reason that really frustrated me. (Writers should be artists!) The characters were stereotypes with ~q*U*i*R*k*Y~ traits and the relationships did not ring true. It’s set in New York City, but there’s no sense of place or even proof that the author has ever lived here. I thought I had read some Alice Hoffman books in the past, but now I can’t remember what they were. I don’t think I would read another one. Are you an Alice Hoffman fan? I would love to speak to a real life Alice Hoffman fan because I really just don’t get it.
Did it make me cry: I have this thing for fictional animals. And living animals too.
Did it make me laugh: No.
Did it make me miss a subways stop: No.
Would I recommend it: No, I really wouldn’t. I think these books are written for a certain type of person. I can’t quite define who that person is, but I’m pretty sure none of you fall into that category. I read it in a few hours, so it wouldn’t be a waste of time, but I still wouldn’t try it if I were you.
Would I read it again: No.
Would it be a good movie: I wouldn’t watch it.
The Tsar of Love and Techno: Stories
Anthony Marra
I had decently high hopes for this—high hopes because I adored A Constellation of Vital Phenomena, but not too high because it’s short stories instead of a novel. I love short stories, but sometimes they’re just too short! With the exception of some really incredible short story collections (like Welcome to the Monkey House, Tenth of December, or Fortune Smiles), how many times does a short story really deeply affect you? How often do you even remember a specific short story?
I was so, so pleasantly surprised when I got to the second or third story in this collection and realized that all the stories are intertwined. They have different narrators and different settings, but they all have recurring themes and characters, which happen to be some of the best characters I have read in a long time. This book might just be one of the best books I’ve read in a long time.
Did it make me cry: Yes.
Did it make me laugh: Yes! So much. There’s one chapter toward the end that made me LOL a few times (and then cry on the next page).
Did it make me miss a subways stop: No but I 100% would have missed the stop if my boyfriend hadn’t been on the train with me.
Would I recommend it: Yes. I don’t want to give it too much praise because then I’m afraid it might be a let down for you, but I seriously loved this book in a way that I seldom love books.
Would I read it again: Yes! In fact there was a minute after I finished the book where I just wanted to flip it over and start again. I know it’s the kind of book where I might have missed something the first go around.
Would it be a good movie: I think so? I’m not sure if it would be as funny if it had to have subtitles, so I feel you’d just have to find a bunch of really good Russian accents (or Russian actors). Some of the lines in this book are perfect and some of the scenes just seem meant for film. I’d like to see somebody like the Coen brothers take this on.
Best book I read this month: The Tsar of Love and Techno, but Tell the Wolves I’m Home is a close second.
Best book I read last month: Shelter in Place by Alexander Maksik
Best book I read this year (so far): The Tsar of Love and Techno is a book I’m going to think about for a long time.
What I’m reading right now: All My Puny Sorrows and I love it.
What’s on my nightstand:
Homegoing by Yaa Gyaasi
Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders (shout out to whoever put an advance copy of this on the free book shelf at work!)
The first one of those inevitable Neapolitan books, but I’ve decided I want to buy all of them first and then read them all in a row.
What books are on my list to buy (this will take me months to actually do):
Since I read this article, I added a few more books to my list. This list is growing faster than I can read.
Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien
The Sellout by Paul Beatty
Hot Milk by Deborah Levy
That new Bernadette book
The rest of those damn Neapolitan books
Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
M Train by Patti Smith
That new Patty Hearst book
H Is For Hawk by Helen Macdonald
Seveneves by Neal Stephenson
The Nest by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney
What are you reading this month? (You can reply to this email and tell me. Or just text me)
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