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this week’s style inspo:
Queen Liliuokalani (inspired by this month’s book club read, Hula, which we’re discussing next week if you want to join us!)
what i’m clicking:
Whales from above | The spanker of Shelter Island | The makings of a literary It Girl | Why girl trends are everywhere | The babysitter who inspired the Virgin Suicides | Do kids ruin your friendships? | Talking to strangers | Following your doppelganger down the conspiracy rabbit hole | How social media abdicates responsibility for the news | War of the statements | The compass of mourning
what i’m wanderlusting:
Varanasi, India’s oldest city
what i’m watching:
Past Lives is one of those sweet and melancholy romantic movies that will make you cry without ruining your week. I dared to watch it on a plane and I’m happy to report that it was only some dainty and silent tears, not like the humiliating choking sobs I experienced when I accidentally watched Inside Out on a plane. (I’m never watching Pixar in front of strangers again.)
what i’m recommending:
The best-smelling body oil of all time.
what i’m listening to:
Promises by Floating Points and Pharoah Sanders. Very atmospheric and the kind of album where you should just put it on and lie there and do nothing.
what i’m coveting:
I have too much weird art in my house (according to some people, not to me) but about once a week I regret not buying something from the Mooni gallery in Mexico City and take a minute to peruse their website. It’s impossible to not be intrigued by things like this felt ashtray.
what i’m reading:
What I Was Doing While You Were Breeding
Kristin Newman
As a childless witch addicted to buying plane tickets, I thought I would like this book more. But it felt like a reductionist take on marriage and relationships, like the writer has this extremely narrow view of what her role in the world is supposed to look like. I didn’t like her very grim view towards marriage - my advice to this lady would be to gee, I dunno, maybe do something crazy and date people she actually likes? How about just not marrying somebody who bums you out??? That said, I think I’m just a picky customer because I HATED the happily ever after ending where she got married! It would have been more fun (and meaningful) to read about somebody who finds happiness without conforming to convention. Sorry to ruin this totally boring ending for you, but I don’t think you want to read this book anyways. (Although I have to admit it was pretty fun to travel the world in her shoes, so maybe you do want to read it if you’re in the mood for a trip.)
Did it make me laugh or cry: No.
Would I recommend it: No not really.
Would it be a good movie: I would 100% watch a slutty version of Eat Pray Love on the plane, so yes.
Emma Straub
I think I missed a salient plot point at the beginning of this book because NONE OF IT MADE ANY SENSE!!!!! I truly hate time travel as a plot device. More people should realize that bestowing this technology upon your characters burdens you with the responsibility to MAKE IT MAKE SENSE. Perhaps while you’re writing, just pause to ask yourself “why?” and “how?” and see if you still have a book on your hands.
Did it make me laugh or cry: No. I don’t care about any of these people.
Would I recommend it: No.
Would it be a good movie: Please GOD no.
Michelle Zauner
I really love reading memoirs by people who don’t read a lot of books themselves. There’s something very refreshing about this lady’s point of view and the unapologetic way she recounts her life and experiences, like she’ll say something very matter-of-fact about her childhood or early 20s and I’m like how do you not know that’s not normal! What a strange sheltered fake-fancy upbringing she had. I’m endlessly curious about this lady and would read a follow-up book where nothing even happens.
Did it make me laugh or cry: I guess some parts are sad but I was expecting to be gutted and I was not.
Would I recommend it: Sure!
Would it be a good movie: I’d watch it.
Molly Prentiss
WHY was this book published? WHAT is it about? WHO cares about these people at all? HOW could any of this actually happen? This feels like a book by a great writer who has some publishing connections but no idea how or why to write a book. I hated it.
Did it make me laugh or cry: No, but I did come away feeling baffled by this book about coworkers that seems to have been written by somebody who’s never had a coworker before.
Would I recommend it: No. She is a good writer though, so I’d probably read her next book.
Would it be a good movie: No!
Elena Ferrante
I’ve never read a book that so vividly and realistically imagines the life of a distraught teenage girl. This woman needs a Nobel prize. I didn’t fall into this book the same way that I became utterly absorbed in the Neapolitan Novels, but I still found it compulsively readable and totally believable. What a talent!
Did it make me laugh or cry: No.
Would I recommend it: If you are already a Ferrante fan, yes. If you’re not, start with My Brilliant Friend instead.
Would it be a good movie: It would be fine I guess? I don’t really care about seeing this on screen.
Janice Y. K. Lee
Ok so you know how I’m obsessed with Crazy Rich Asians? I’m so obsessed with Crazy Rich Asians that I found an interview with Kevin Kwan where he mentions this book and I immediately bought it. I wanted to love this book, but unfortunately I only liked it. I thought the main character was pretty stupid and boring but the rest of it was so cinematic and fascinating that after I finished the book I kept doing more research on the topic to find out what was real and what was made up.
Did it make me laugh or cry: No, I didn’t really connect with the main character enough to care what happened to her.
Would I recommend it: If you like historical fiction (and if you liked her other book, The Expatriates, you should definitely read this).
Would it be a good movie: This movie would be SO good if it was good, but it would probably be kinda bad.
what else I’ve been reading recently:
Sean Thor Conroe
Truly don’t want to find out what it says about me that I loved this character.
Jen Beagin
I need to read everything she’s ever written.
Ruth Ware
Hands-down one of the single worst books I have ever read in my entire life. Every choice the characters make has no basis in logic and everyone sucks.
Hannah Halperin
Oof, what a bummer.
Taylor Jenkins Reid
A perfect beach read, even for people who don’t like sports.
Gabrielle Zevin
A cute little book that would have been an epic tearjerker if it just took itself a little more seriously and added 200 pages.
Julia Fox
I read this in one day and I now worship at the altar of Julia Fox.