what happens next?
h e l l o t h e o
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this week’s style inspo:
Kennedy George and Ava Holloway
what I’m clicking:
Yes, we literally mean abolish the police | Toxic white capitalism and adoption | American travelers have become pariahs and white passports are worthless | Fuck the bread. The bread is over | The people who are quarantining with ghosts | The way art critic Jerry Saltz consumes food is extremely disturbing. I can’t stop thinking about this article. | Google is a dragnet for the police | Has isolation left you starved for gossip? | The secret coronavirus parties happening in New York | The self-proclaimed King of Germany | The animal fact-checker (has the coolest job ever) | The teenage conspiracy theorist | The craigslist free section (where humanity eclipses any plague) | What it’s like working as a nanny during the pandemic | Who are we reopening for? | The Yale astronomy department debates systemic racism | The Pentagon is planning for a zoomer rebellion | What’s a journalist supposed to be right now? | An opera for plants | Restructure your organization to actually advance racial justice | Voguing for our lives | Echoes of the AIDS crisis | The great Scrabble reckoning | Crying, laughing, crying at the George Floyd protests | Jared Kushner, American psycho | What do we want from white celebrities right now? | What is happening in Yemen?
what I’m wanderlusting:
Vietnam has always been high on my list, but after watching Da 5 Bloods on Netflix, I want to go now more than ever. The movie was fun but kinda corny and lots of the characters felt a little one-dimensional (and also WAY too young?) but it truly made Vietnam look like a beautiful place to visit. I would watch it again just for the cinematography and sweeping shots of the jungle.
what I’m writing about:
A weekend getaway to Mendocino County (shoutout to my sister Carly for telling me exactly what to write about!)
what I’m coveting:
A Roopa Pemmaraju silk caftan as my signature summer look (to match my new embroidered face mask)
what I’m preordering:
Koa Beck (who I greatly admire) has written a book that I can’t wait to read: White Feminism: From the Suffragettes to Influencers and Who They Leave Behind. It’s coming out in January 2021 (hopefully the world is still around by then), but it’s available for preorder now.
what I’m reading:
Alex George
This novel is basically a book version of Midnight in Paris but without the time travel aspect. It was good escapism while it lasted, but it could have been about 100 pages longer and it could have gone into way more depth about the characters and their relationships. The subject is fun, but it’s just a bit...flat.
Did it make me cry: No.
Did it make me laugh: No.
Is it a good quarantine book: Yes!
Would I read it again: No.
Would it be a good movie: It’s been done.
Roald Dahl
Boy was likely the first memoir I ever read. I grew up reading all of the Roald Dahl books, but I think since Boy has some pretty adult themes (ahem, so much child abuse) I didn’t read it until fourth grade. I still remember the first time I read this book when I was living in Poland and how many of the scenes (like his sister getting her appendix taken out in her own home without anesthetic) have haunted me for the past 20 years. I was actually sort of shocked at how much of the book I remembered, considering I sometimes have a hard time remembering what happened in a book I read last week. In my eyes, Roald Dahl’s childhood was extraordinary, but I have since come to learn that the things he experienced were actually pretty normal for that part of the world at that moment in time. This was my first time reading Going Solo, which is definitely written for a more adult audience than Boy, since it’s about his time in Africa and the Mediterranean during World War II.
Did it make me cry: Yes.
Did it make me laugh: Yes.
Is it a good quarantine book: Only because it might inspire you to write your own memoir or talk to your grandparents about their childhoods.
Would I read it again: Yes.
Would it be a good movie: No. Can anybody tell me a memoir that was successfully turned into a GOOD movie?
Kiley Reid
I don’t think I’ve ever really read a book like this before--it’s essentially a beach read about racism and white saviorism. There are parts of this book that are really interesting and the author does a really good job with the nuances of interpersonal relationships, but overall it was not my favorite--probably because you have to spend way too much time inside the mind of a character that is extremely unlikeable.
Did it make me cry: No.
Did it make me laugh: I think so--there’s a very funny toddler.
Is it a good quarantine book: It’s not a good quarantine book, but it’s a good book to read right now since it’s sort of a “fun” way to learn about the different types of well-intentioned white oppressors and the various microaggressions that people of color deal with every day.
Would I read it again: No.
Would it be a good movie: It could be an amazing movie, but they’d have to get the casting right and tweak a few things.
Phillip Pullman
Ok, so this is a YA book that I read in middle school and loved. But the thing is, though it’s about kids traveling between different worlds, the themes of the book are actually way more adult. It was a really interesting reread. I highly recommend reading this series, especially if you’re pretty familiar with the bible and Paradise Lost.
Did it make me cry: Yes. I cannot see a movie about animals dying or read a book about animals dying without crying.
Did it make me laugh: No.
Is it a good quarantine book: Yes. It’s the definition of escapism. And some of the themes are really pertinent to these times, with those in power pursuing their own misinformed and disturbing ideologies at any cost.
Would I read it again: This was actually my third time reading this series, so I think I’ll put it on the back burner for a long time.
Would it be a good movie: Honestly the HBO show was just ok and the casting was kinda weird but I will definitely watch season two.
Min Jin Lee
This book has been sitting on my various bedside tables since ~2017. I think it has even made its way into my suitcase as a “just in case” back-up vacation read multiple times. During quarantine, I was craving books that would ignite nostalgia and wanderlust and I finally had time to read this. I had heard so many mixed reviews of this book. Most people loved it, but some people hated it and a bunch of people thought it was “just ok”. But I loved it.
Did it make me cry: Yes.
Did it make me laugh: No, it’s super sad.
Is it a good quarantine book: It’s one of those books that really sucks you into a different world and teaches you something new, so yes.
Would I read it again: I love the way food is written about in this book so much that somebody should seriously paste all the food scenes and descriptions together into one pamphlet that I can read over and over again. I even read this one description of bone broth out loud to my husband so he could try and replicate it.
Would it be a good movie: There’s supposedly a TV series in the works, which I will watch the hell out of.
Lauren Ho
I feel like I need to preface this book by saying that if this book were written by an American and if the setting were New York City, I would not touch this book with a ten-foot pole. BUT! It’s set in Singapore, so instead of being a trashy romcom, it’s glamorous and sophisticated and ~international~.
Did it make me cry: No.
Did it make me laugh: Yes.
Is it a good quarantine book: Yes! It’s cute and funny and light but also just so much fun to read since it feels like a little vacation to Singapore. I would say it’s not as sharp or creative as CRA, but it will scratch the itch if you want a fun book set in a glamorous foreign city with lots of fashion and feasts.
Would I read it again: No.
Would it be a good movie: YES, please. Please. I need this movie in my life.