august 2024
we’ve done it, friends. we’ve made it to the end of august. theoretically, autumn will follow shortly and i’ll have a somewhat functional brain again. fingers crossed.
read: A Letter to the Luminous Deep by Sylvie Cathrall (2024). i picked this up on the strength of epistolary between scholars, and it was that and SO much more. it’s two people building an archive of the last year of their siblings’ lives, and in so doing solving the mystery of what happened to them. it’s planet-bound sci-fi, with world-building which is so clever and cannily done. i’m still thinking about it. more here.
game: Rime (2017). found this at the 2nd hand shop (my favourite source of years-old games i’ve never heard of) and played it without looking up anything about it. LOVED the gameplay. it felt like Monument Valley meets Breath of the Wild—charming and simple with great puzzles, but with a dash of exploration. plus, it’s gorgeous. i was having an absolute blast, but i found the reveal at the end of what was really happening in the game kind of upsetting! i won’t spoil it, but maybe look it up before playing if you have a soft heart like i do.
bird: Green Heron. like a lot of childless millennials, i have become increasingly aware of and delighted by birds over the past few years. my favourites are ducks and herons, so i excitedly signed up for a kayaking birdwatching trip this month. i was determined to see a green heron, a squat and funny-looking bird that looks very little like a heron until it stretches its neck out. i’d never seen one before and was rewarded for my paddling by one not only making an appearance but lingering and even catching a fish while we oohed and aahed.
read: A Shore Thing by Joanna Lowell (2024). i have an innate distrust of romance novels with cartoony illustrated covers, but i’m glad i took a chance on this one after reading olivia waite’s review in the new york times. a shore thing is an historical romance set on the cornish coast in the late 19th century. it features botany, bicycles, artists, and lesbians. the hero is trans and a rake and still figuring out how to navigate the world as a man. the heroine is begrudgingly becoming an expert on seaweed. there’s lightning chemistry and historically accurate queerness. loved it. more here.
film: Bluebeard’s Eighth Wife (1938). recently i’ve been watching ernst lubitsch pictures and having a grand time. this one is about a serial monogamist millionaire (gary cooper) and his bride (claudette colbert) who, when she discovers that she’s his eighth wife, is determined to torment him into divorcing her. wonderful hijinks (beware some light mutual domestic violence—watch the preview linked above for the tone) and incredible 1930s costumes and sets. edward everett horton, an all-time great character actor, plays claudette’s father, and david niven’s comic relief had me in stitches.
read: Pierre Chareau: Modern Architecture and Design by Esther da Costa Meyer (2016). i only really knew Chareau as the designer of the Maison de Verre, and probably wouldn’t have gone looking for more information if i hadn’t come across this book at work. the catalog put out by The Jewish Museum for their exhibition of the same name, i enjoyed it immensely. chareau was one of several furniture designers in the early 20th century who pivoted to architecture, but even before he did that he was playing with space in his interiors—building out ceilings into interesting shapes and using sliding and nesting doors. the way the book approached his Jewishness was also interesting—while he wasn’t very religious, his career was hugely supported by Jewish patrons, and ultimately the promise of persecution by the Nazis brought it to an untimely end.
film: Trouble in Paradise (1932). my second lubitsch picture was trouble in paradise, which follows two crooks (one played by comedy genius Miriam Hopkins) whose con on a wealthy widow (towering beauty Kay Francis) goes sideways when one of them falls in love with the mark. everyone in this movie is having SO much fun, especially my girl miriam. PLUS edward everett horton is here. a romp from start to finish.
dog:
cat:
*full disclosure: bookshop.org links are affiliate links