*The Week in 15 Selections*
I have been thinking a lot about what to do with this email list. Some of you have been here since this list launched in March 2019 as a Substack about women’s writing that has been overlooked. Two years and a pandemic later, I closed shop on Substack due to their support of Nazi creators. (I stand by this decision despite their surge in hot cool newsletters since). And since then, I haven’t really sent you anything.
There have been a couple of newsletters (mostly for book promotion). But at the end of 2024, I sent one that was a year in review: an expression of a bad feeling followed by a list of things that I liked in the last year. Many of you asked for more of these, and I balked at first. The internet does not need another list of things that people like. There are so many.
But then last weekend, my pal Lauren was here, and she disagreed with me and pushed me on that response. I love to read the lists that people I admire publish. It’s how I find a lot of my favorite blogs and products and other stuff. Isn’t it a little unfair, then, to keep all of mine to myself?
Maybe it’s the long-dead evangelist in me that is susceptible to that thinking: that sharing what you love is a necessary part of loving it. But I do think there’s something communal about that feeling, something I want to keep. So I’m introducing: The Week in 15 Selections, a little list for me to share what I’m loving.
I hope to also use this newsletter for other writing that doesn’t belong elsewhere, but let’s start here for now.
The Week in 15 Selections
Every year, I read some random classic novel and then (to the annoyance of all of my friends) won’t shut the fuck up about it until it’s replaced in my heart with another classic novel no one else wants to read. Anyway, this year, it is HOWARD’S END by E.M. Forster. It’s so gossipy and insane and I loved it so much that I spent a full afternoon breaking down how the plot of it works. I love books about annoying rich people so much!
Speaking of Lauren! When she was in town last weekend, she convinced me to start watching The Pitt on HBO which I absolutely flew through. I love the ER! I love drama!
I’m obsessed with the fact that the actress who plays the head nurse on The Pitt (Katherine LaNasa) was once married to the painter Edward Hopper. She was 22 and he was 53 and they had a son? My kingdom for a profile of her!!!
I read One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar Akkad in little sips over the past few weeks. He has such a clear, easy voice that never veers academic, and it’s so refreshing to read someone who doesn’t hesitate to describe the ongoing genocide in gaza for the evil that it is.
I, of course, watched the appointment-telvision finale of The White Lotus last night. I thought the plot of this season was much weaker than the other seasons, but the characters were much stronger. I’m finding it a very interesting litmus test for what people prefer in story! Wish I could buy stock in Aimee Lou Wood because she’s SUCH a star.
I haven’t laughed this hard at a blog in a while.
me & dana at Opening Day this week Baseball season is back, which means I went to two (2) games last week, which means I was reunited with my best friend: The Supergoop Glow Stick. I’m very pale, so I have to apply sunscreen all the time, and the stick is perfect for my baseball bag! I bought some better versions of this product at a French pharmacy, but sometimes. you don’t need perfect you just need sunscreen stick that won’t melt.
I’ve had the new aya album Hexed on repeat. It’s so strange and mesmerizing. It does kind of feel like being Hexed.
I hate that P.F. Candle Co has coined this the “boyfriend scent,” but I guess I’M BOYFRIEND because I love this teakwood & tobacco scented candle.
This Vogue Business article about Erewhon made me really regret not stopping in there when I was in Los Angeles last month.
Can’t stop sending this meme. It’s me for real:
My friend Fred wrote this gorgeous little zine about Mary and Motherhood and Astrology that I’ve been thinking about for days. Here’s an excerpt.
Sephora sale this week again, you know what that means! Time to become the shiniest girl in the world!
My Brilliant Friend Liz Grothe made us an exclusive chicken fried steak when we visited her restaurant Scampi last weekend. It tasted like an opulent version of my childhood that has never existed.
I watched the 2011 Almoldovar movie Le Piel que Habito. Someone should study that man’s brain because (spoilers) this is an accurate review of the plot.
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I’m doing a couple of events this week if you want to come hang!
Wednesday, 9 April @ Partners & Sons in Philadelaphia. I’ll be gabbing with Kayla E. about her new graphic novel Precious Rubbish.
And then Saturday, 12 April @ the San Antonio Book Festival!
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If you have thoughts or feelings about (or selections for0 this new segment, please reach out! If you were forwarded this list, please subscribe! There will be more selections each week!