read with me: january 2020
read with me!
Hi everyone! It’s been a minute. I haven’t forgotten about you.
books
The sea the sea by Iris Murdoch
This novel was a dizzying escape into Charles Arrowby’s madness and twisted fantasies of love. I highly recommend reading in a drafty wintry house, preferably near the ocean. I was entranced by Murdoch’s descriptions of desolate choppy gray oceans and her elaborate, nearing obsessive, descriptions of food and cooking (think lots of wine, fresh apricots, and homemade porridge). And, though Arrowby is one of the most unlikable protagonists I’ve ever encountered, I somehow didn't mind. I’m now on a Murdoch binge! She’s incredible.
Girl, woman other by Bernardine Evaristo
I read this book so you don’t have to? This book co-won this year’s Booker prize (with Margaret Atwood’s new novel) and people appear to LOVE it but by the time I was halfway through, I felt like I was hate reading. I found the dialogue contrived and dripping with Feminist 101 lingo that hit like a stack of zero-nuance bricks and the bizarre spacing and lack of punctuation and capitalization felt more like a gimmick than a literary tool. By the end of the novel, I had been introduced to so many characters, I had no idea who I was reading about. Hard pass.
A Thousand Years of Good Prayers, Yiyun Li
I discovered Yiyun Li after reading about her memoir Dear Friend, From My Life I Write to You in Your Life and I’m so grateful I did! The stories are set in late-twentieth-century China and beautifully capture feelings of malaise and confusion during a time of radical societal upheaval. The narration in these short stories was so searing and direct. The writing felt effortless.
other reading i've enjoyed
Virtue and Vanity at Reformation
“There’s a tacit sense of superiority embedded in the clean lines of the Reformation project. The brand’s ideal woman can wear a minidress with a plunging-V neckline and look bored and expensive rather than overtly sexualized or “vulgar,” as most women would in such outfits.”
The Concept Creep of ‘Emotional Labor’
“On the whole, I love the idea that people are exploring the realm, and so I welcome that, but I guess I don’t like the blurriness of the thinking.”
In 2030, we ended the climate emergency. Here’s how
“This is a story about our journey to 2030 – a vision of what it could look and feel like if we finally, radically, collectively act to build a world we want to live in.”
The Case of the Angry Daughter
"I ask friends and family for advice; I ask them often, sometimes texting after 11 p.m. To a one, they respond with the tolerance of an unusually nice pediatrician being woken from sleep with a phone call about an earache: It’s only kindergarten! But from the inside, it feels overwhelming."
“I love Hugh. Not the moody Hugh who slams doors and shouts at people—that one I merely tolerate—but he’s not like that all the time. Just enough to have earned him a reputation.”
my month was better because
The art of giving space in love, French table wines (i just learned the french term “glou glou” and think it applies here) Orange ginger chocolate donuts, Millions a year in reading 2019, Watching Memories of murder & marriage story & parasite(though marriage story made me sob), Russian river vineyards (especially the carignan), Finally watching killing eve season 2 (i’ve talked about this show with just about every person i know. It’s so good. Please watch for your own health and sanity.) The surprising joy of visiting a maryland winery, Delicious vegetarian bolognese, Kirstin carlin, Everything about Hawaii (kona coffee, snorkling at captain cook memorial, hiking in the waimea valley, poke, rainbows... i could go on.) Pok pok Thai in Portland Vegan peanut butter no-bake cookies
And as always, please let me know what you’re reading or watching or listening to and share with anyone you think would enjoy.