h e l l o from t h e o
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this week’s style inspo:
Every single wonderfully campy look from the Pyer Moss couture show
what I’m clicking:
A giant plot twist for that viral Cat Person story | The tiger mom and the hornet’s nest | the great falling out of Great Jones cookware company and the illusion of the millennial aesthetic | the novelist on trial for a fictional murder | Stay hydrated and carry narcan | The reckoning of Carmela Soprano | An oral history of Legally Blonde | Britney Spears’s conservatorship nightmare | Welcome to the post-pandemic friendship fallout | The haunted world of Jennifer Coolidge | The subversive joy of Lil Nas X | The life and legacy of Aaliyah | The suit makes the woman | The imperial editor goes the way of the dodo | What makes a cult a cult? | A new girl walks home alone at night | A housing crisis in vacationland | Regenerative travel: Imagining a kind of tourism that actually improves places | The unprecedented supreme court ruling on the voting rights act | Our climate change turning point is right here, right now
what I’m wanderlusting:
The crooked streets of Tbilisi
what I’m watching:
The first few episodes of The Underground Railroad were incredible--beautifully made, heartbreaking, and a near-perfect adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s book (that I highly recommend reading). But somewhere around episode 4 it felt like they lost the book, fired the director, and hired new writers. It took a slow, strange turn that had nothing to do with the book and just felt like a hodgepodge of deleted scenes. I’m really curious to find out what happened and what the author thinks about this show. If you’ve got the goss, give me the deets!
what I’m coveting:
A rhinestone one-piece from Oceanus
what I’m listening to:
I hated this song the first 500 times I heard it, but I have to admit defeat: It’s a bop.
what I’m recommending:
Now that I’m traveling again, I’m really happy to be putting my leather Cuyana tote to work. This thing has been everywhere with me and it’s the perfect carry-on or weekender bag.
what I’m writing about:
my obsession with Ilia
what I’m reading:
Chaney Kwak
I’ve never read a book about a real-life disaster that was so much goddamn FUN. Chaney Kwak is a travel writer who got a dream assignment that turned into a nightmare, bringing us along for a wild near-death experience on a luxury cruise ship. Even though it’s obvious that he lives since he wrote a book about it, I was still on the edge of my seat. It was so suspenseful that I had no choice but to read it all in one sitting.
Did it make me cry: I laughed, I cried, I fumed with jealousy over his writing skills.
Did it make me laugh: Many times.
Would I recommend it: It will take you an hour to read and the hardcover is cute enough to be decor, so yes.
Would I read it again: Probably not, but I would love to be at a dinner party where this story is told to me again.
Would it be a good movie: Oh my god, please! We haven’t had a good disaster comedy in ages.
Is it a good vacation book: Oh absolutely, as long as your vacation IS NOT a cruise. If your vacation IS a cruise, save this one for when you’re back.
Emily Henry
This is truly one of the dumbest books I have ever read. There are essentially only two characters. They start out hating each other so—of course—they fall in love, but their whole courtship is SO boring and cringey. They are both huge losers and I hated them by the end of the book.
Did it make me cry: No, everyone’s experiences and emotions are so unremarkable.
Did it make me laugh: I actually might have laughed at some of the banter early on in the book before I started hating everyone.
Would I recommend it: No.
Would I read it again: Ha!
Would it be a good movie: You’d have to add in at least 6 additional characters and some semblance of a plot.
Is it a good vacation book: Meh, fine.
Nanjala Nyabola
I think the title of this book is kind of dumbed down to be catchy and it really doesn’t do a good job of telling you what’s actually in this book: fascinating and disturbing stories about what it’s like to be an African woman at home and abroad. Reading this book made me so sad I wasn’t a travel editor anymore so I could hire her to write. This book should be required reading for every travel writer.
Did it make me cry: Yes. It’s a little clinical and reporter-y at times, but some of the topics and scenarios are heartbreaking and haunting.
Did it make me laugh: No.
Would I recommend it: I would recommend this book to anybody who’s interested in Africa, anyone who’s traveled to Africa, and anyone who plans to write about Africa.
Would I read it again: I have so many pages bookmarked in this book--I will definitely read it again and use it as a reference guide in my future travels and writing.
Would it be a good movie: No. I mean each sort of chapter could probably be a very depressing movie of some kind, but no.
Is it a good vacation book: Don’t bring it on vacation with you because it will just bum you out and make you feel guilty, but it’s essential reading before you plan that trip to an over-exploited “third world” country.
Taylor Jenkins Reid
I love the concept for this book--the entire thing takes place over the course of one night and one party. But the execution is just a little too far into the territory of the ridiculous. None of the characters are believable or endearing enough to care about and there are a LOT of unnecessary surface-level red herring plot lines that get introduced and resolved very quickly so that the whole thing just feels messy and not thought-out. I think I read in the acknowledgments that she changed editors halfway through, which checks out.
Did it make me cry: No.
Did it make me laugh: No.
Would I recommend it: Eh, maybe.
Would I read it again: No.
Would it be a good movie: It would actually be a very fun movie. The setting is really the main character here.
Is it a good vacation book: It’s a great vacation book.
Emily St. John Mandel
I had been saving this little book for a while--I’m a huge fan of Station Eleven, her other book--and it did not disappoint. It’s so fun to read, pulling you into the plot immediately and creating this enormous world that you’re thrilled to navigate. My main critique is that it should have been at least 250 pages longer. There are a lot of places where the book skips through time and I’m like “excuse me but you skipped over the juiciest part????” so I guess I wish I got to read those juicy parts.
Did it make me cry: No.
Did it make me laugh: No.
Would I recommend it: Can’t think of a reason not to recommend this book. It’s short, it sucks you in, and it’s good writing.
Would I read it again: Not unless I totally forget the plot, so ask me again in 6 months, when I’ll have totally forgotten the plot.
Would it be a good movie: No, things don’t really get wrapped up nicely enough for it to be a movie. It would just be two hours of (probably really beautiful and interesting) scenes.
Is it a good vacation book: It’s a little creepy for a vacation book, but it grabs your attention right away and it’s a very slim (and packable!) paperback.