what i read in july & august
things I loved, things I hated, and things I can't stop talking about.
h e l l o from t h e o
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this week’s style inspo:
Jennifer Coolidge in White Lotus (the best thing I watched this summer)
what I’m clicking:
The demise of the Girlboss | The implosion of NYC’s “restaurant of the summer” | The post-dirtbag Left | The creepy true tale of Australia’s “button man” | Anthony Bourdain and Asia Argento’s rollercoaster romance | How to know if your career in magazines is over | The limits of sex positivity | The mysterious hacker stealing books before their release | How one suburban town in New Jersey became a magnet for the media elite | Italy’s LSD island | Who owns a story? | Who actually gets to create Black pop culture? | Why do American grocery stores still have an ethnic aisle? | March of the Karens | Grief, conspiracy theories, and mourning in the 20 years after 9/11
what I’m wanderlusting:
what I’m watching:
The Green Knight. To be honest, I fell asleep before finishing it but I loved it, it was like a creepy psychedelic fairytale and reminded me of that strange book by Kazuo Ishiguro, The Buried Giant.
what I’m coveting:
Do I need a stretchy sheer marbled mesh turtleneck dress? Yes, yes I do.
what i’m recommending:
This tiny UNO deck that has been in my purse for a year.
what I’m preordering:
Dava Shastri’s Last Day by Kirthana Ramisetti
what I’m reading:
Akwaeke Emezi
I can basically guarantee that this will be one of my top 10 books of 2021. It was incredible, beautiful, and moving but also--ALSO!--a page-turner with a mystery at its core. I’m amazed and jealous that somebody can write a book this perfect.
Did it make me cry: Yes.
Did it make me laugh: No, maybe that’s its one flaw.
Would I recommend it: I think most people who like literary fiction will love this book, but it might feel too far away or unrelatable for some.
Is it a good pandemic book: It’s a good pandemic book in the sense that it’s much more highbrow than what I’ve been able to focus on lately, but I still devoured it. Made me feel like my brain wasn’t broken, but only for a minute.
Would I read it again: It’s one of those books that I wanted to start over as soon as I finished it so yes, I will be reading it again one day.
Would it be a good movie: The story is so simple and the setting is so interesting that I do think it could be a good movie, but the way the story is told out of order might just feel confusing. You’d probably have to cheese it up a bit, which would dull the magic of it. It’s probably best to not even try.
Ann Patchett
This book made my heart ache in the best way possible. There was something so cozy and familiar about it that I’ve decided I love Ann Patchett and think she’s the best and I’m going to read all of her books I haven’t read yet. She’s a national treasure!
Did it make me cry: Yes, like, very early on and then again a few times throughout and probably definitely at the end.
Did it make me laugh: Yes! All the characters are so cute and cynical, I loved them.
Would I recommend it: If you have a sibling and you love them you will love this book.
Is it a good pandemic book: This book made me want to curl up in bed and read nonstop until I finished it, so if that’s the kind of rest and relaxation you need during this pandemic, I can’t recommend it highly enough.
Would I read it again: I don’t know. I feel like there’s going to be something lost in the second reading.
Would it be a good movie: You’d have to find the right house first, which might prove to be impossible.
Diane Johnson
I don’t know why I keep reading books by Diane Johnson, but it must be some kind of perverse encouragement, like, if a book this dumb can get published then maybe there is hope for me at last. Anywho, I got this book for free in a PR mailer so I suppose I should say at least one good thing about it but I just can’t, sorry!
Did it make me cry: No, but it’s not supposed to be sad.
Did it make me laugh: If I did laugh, I was laughing AT it, not with it.
Would I recommend it: No. You might think you want to read this book because it sounds “fun” but I can assure you it’s not. Nothing happens! Loose ends are never tied! It’s just a bunch of humorless rich people feeling sorry for themselves and doing absolutely nothing about it, which would be fine if there was at least a little glitz and glamour to this book but there’s not.
Is it a good pandemic book: No, the rich people in this book are so boring that it’s not even enough to incite class warfare. Skip it.
Would I read it again: Lol.
Would it be a good movie: No, movies need plots and if they don’t have plots, they need endearing characters or at the very least an interesting setting. This is just a bunch of the least self-aware characters you’ve ever met floating in a sort of nebulous Bay Area goo.
Raven Leilani
Everyone was talking about this book last year but I like to be fashionably late so here I am, desperate to discuss this book with anyone who’s read it. So strange, so juicy, so intriguing and weird and well-written that I felt like my brain was doing cartwheels as I read it. I’ve never read a book like this before, where so much of it seems impossible or at least improbable but on the other hand you’re like “why do I get the sense that this has actually happened to the writer”. It’s brilliant and jarring and I want you all to read it so we can all be like: !!!!!!!!!!!
Did it make me cry: No, but it’s honestly ACUTELY tragic. I felt so much pity for basically all of the characters, in different ways.
Did it make me laugh: No, but there are certain phrases or things she describes that are so hilarious and weird that it’s more of a guffaw than a laugh.
Would I recommend it: I can’t unequivocally recommend it to everyone I know, but I can definitely recommend it to youngish New Yorkers. Everyone else: prepare to be shocked, in both good and bad ways.
Is it a good pandemic book: Ha! No, this book is going to have you be like “Is this what the world is really like out there? Is this how everyone else has been living this whole time?” and the answer (I hope) is no, but also there is some truth to it and so you might end up in some kind of existential crisis. Also if you’re a millennial like me it’s going to make you feel really young compared to the sad gen xers and really old compared to the sad gen zers and that could set off its own existential crisis. Be prepared is all I’m saying.
Would I read it again: I don’t know! I loved the writing but I hated what was happening. It has that sort of Uncut Gems quality where you’re like “NO!” but you can’t look away.
Would it be a good movie: See above, but yes somebody please get this girl a Netflix deal.
Alexis Schaitkin
I asked the man at the bookstore if this book was kind of trashy--I was hoping it was kind of trashy--and he was like “it’s definitely more in the literary realm but people seem to love it and can’t put it down.” I bought it anyway and he was exactly right and I don’t remember where I’m going with this story or why I told you that. I like book.
Did it make me cry: No.
Did it make me laugh: No.
Would I recommend it: Yes! This is going to sound weird because it’s basically a book about a girl who’s sister gets Natalie Hollowayed on vacation in the Caribbean but I highly recommend this book for your next tropica vacation. Saint X is fictional but so real and familiar in so many ways. And yes it’s a thriller-y book, but it also shines a very critical light on tourism, privilege, class, race, the service industry.
Is it a good pandemic book: It’s a good “first vacation since the pandemic” book, but if you don’t have one of those planned, I guess it’s fine to read at home too.
Would I read it again: I wouldn’t read the whole thing again, but I would read all the parts set in Saint X again.
Would it be a good movie: People are going to default to comparing it to White Lotus but holy shit, make this into a miniseries.
Andrea Bartz
I preordered this book and when it arrived (I highly recommend preorders by the way, it’s like a little present you’re buying for future you) I was so excited and so in need of some book escapism that I took a break from the book I was already reading and finished this in 48 hours.
Did it make me cry: No.
Did it make me laugh: No.
Would I recommend it: This book was almost exactly what I wanted it to be (though I wish more of the book took place in foreign countries and not Wisconsin) - dramatic, campy, juicy, and thrilling.
Is it a good pandemic book: Travel! Murder! Secrets! Lies! (yes).
Would I read it again: No, but I will read anything she writes.
Would it be a good movie: YES, please.
Janelle Brown
This book is fine. It’s fine! I wouldn’t necessarily go out and purchase it, but if you happen to find a copy in your Airbnb or whatever, it’s a good vacation read.
Did it make me cry: No.
Did it make me laugh: No.
Would I recommend it: The strongest selling point of the book for me isn’t the characters or the plot (one-dimensional and forgettable, respectively) but the setting, which is this crazy old stone house on Lake Tahoe.
Is it a good pandemic book: It’s not a bad pandemic book, I guess. It’s not quite unputdownable enough to be the kind of book that gets you out of a reading rut, but if you just want something fluffy and intriguing and easy, go for it.
Would I read it again: No--the twist is ruined now.
Would it be a good movie: Yes, please yes. Honestly I’d go for a miniseries too, you could really fill in a lot of backstory.
Liane Moriarty
I am amazed at this book--amazed at how fucking long and bloated it is, amazed at how absolutely idiotic the storyline is, amazed at the fact that I actually finished it. This book sucked and I’m horrified that it got published in the first place and even more horrified that so many people have purchased it and read it! Shame on me.
Did it make me cry:
Did it make me laugh:
Would I recommend it: Liane Moriarty wrote one decent book and this is NOT it. Go read Big Little Lies instead.
Is it a good pandemic book: No.
Would I read it again: No.
Would it be a good movie: Don’t even think about it. No.
Nora Ephron
I admittedly haven’t read that much Nora Ephron (I read some of the essays in Wallflower at the Orgy, they were fine) but then somehow I recently realized that she wrote a novel (that was later turned into a movie that I haven’t seen) and I’m here to tell you it’s adorable.
Did it make me cry: No.
Did it make me laugh: Yes, she’s so endearing and cute.
Would I recommend it: It’s short and sweet and fun (I think I read it cover to cover during a plane ride) but it’s definitely lacking in substance.
Is it a good pandemic book: It’s a good pandemic book in that it’s so surfacy. It’s not going to make you feel things or give you existential dread or even remember what the book is about once you’ve finished it. If some books are described as brain candy, I’d describe this one as a brain rice cake.
Would I read it again: No.
Would it be a good movie: I hear it’s a great movie and I need to go watch it now.