Reading, Watching, Listening (November 2024)
/The last few months have been stressful, here’s how I coped . . .
READING
(1) Creation Lake - I LOVED Rachel Kushner’s novel, the Flamethrowers, and I’ve been waiting years for her to write somethings similar. Luckily, Creation Lake did not disappoint. Much like the Flamethrowers this book contains several different elements - environmental ramifications of public works projects, the life of a spy, the history of ancient man, etc. and, while they never come together (nor are they really supposed too) - each chapter (honestly, each sentence) leads to so many more questions. So that the novel itself sometimes feels like one gigantic question mark, which sounds cheesy, but is really quite amazing.
(2) The Wedding People - Short answer - I loved this book. The premise seems sort of cheesy in a really sad way - a newly divorced depressed woman travels to an expensive resort to commit suicide, only to find that her room was accidentally booked as the whole place has been rented out for a wedding. And thus begin the protagonist’s encounters with the “wedding people.” Sounds like a bad Hallmark movie. But all the characters are so well-written and multi-faceted that I didn’t want to put the book down. When I finished reading it I felt like I had lost a friend - it’s that good (sort of like Demon Copperhead).
(3) Long Island Compromise - I’m a huge fan of Fleishman is in Trouble, so I really wanted to love this book. And it’s not a bad book by any means. The author, Taffy Brodesser-Akner, is a master at creating very detailed and nuanced portraits of compelling characters (probably because of all of her work writing celebrity profiles), but, for me, the problem with Long Island Compromise is that the characters never really change or develop (they don’t even really do much). After a while, everything felt sort of stalled. And maybe that’s the point of the whole novel. But, still, I was a little disappointed by it all.
(4) Same As It Ever Was - This novel tells the story of a decades long marriage. At times easy. At times extremely hard. I cried a lot. If you like books where none of the characters are perfect, but you love them anyways, then this book is for you. Also, if you had/have a complicated relationship with your mother, this book is DEFINITELY for you.
(5) My Friends - Wow. I’m still processing this. Did you know that in 1984 someone inside the Libyan embassy shot a group of protesters? One police officer died and several people were hospitalized. This novel is the fictional story of one of the protesters, a young student who becomes a refugee and can never return home. It’s a wonderful story of friendship and immigrant life. Highly suggest.
WATCHING
(1) The Bike Riders (Peacock) - I’ve never really understood why young men would choose to blindly follow dangerous leaders, who seem to have no real agendas or plans other then a love of violence and an instance on clan-like behavior. And I still don’t understand. But this movie made me realize I will never understand and for that I am grateful.
(2) Dream Scenario (Max) - I wanted to see this movie for a long time, but it seemed like a downer so I kept putting it off. Luckily A24 has its own TV channel on United’s international flights (thank you United!), so I finally watched it on the way back from South Africa. Nicolas Cage stars as a really boring and somewhat unlikable evolutionary biology professor who mysteriously starts showing up in everyone’s dreams. At first he’s a celebrity. and then the dreams get creeper and society turns against him. The great thing about this movie is that you want to feel bad for Cage’s character because he’s done absolutely nothing wrong, but you end up rooting against him. Sort of fascinating. Definitely worth a watch (even if you’re not on a 16 hour flight).
(3) Nobody Wants This (Netflix) - This series is, for lack of a better word, adorable. A true pleasure to watch. The hard part about viewing a really great romantic comedy is it makes me so mad that so many rom-coms are horrible.
(4) Blink Twice (Amazon for money) - Every once in awhile I decide to drag my whole family to the theater to watch something I think will be “insightful”. Usually this goes wrong for me and everyone just complains. But, shockingly, and against all odds - everyone enjoyed this movie AND it provoked interesting discussions. It’s a thriller. It’s a horror film. It’s a feminist statement. Go Zoe Kravitz.
(5) The Substance (Amazon) - I hated this movie. And it annoys me that it’s being heralded as some sort of feminist masterpiece. I found the premise intriguing - an aging Demi Moore injects herself with a liquid that causes her to divide into two versions of herself - one older and one younger. And I especially liked the idea of combining horror and body image into one genre. But in trying to overstate its cause, for me, the Substance lost any sort of point. In this movie, women are objects meant for consumption, with no real depth outside their appearance. In such a world, of course, aging is horrible. Plus, despite the wonderful scene design and cinematography, eventually the movie gets really boring. The last hour just drags. I thought about leaving the theater, but hoped that something would happen. In retrospect, I should have left.
LISTENING
(1) Del Water Gap (I Miss You Already + I Haven’t Left Yet) - I first saw Del Water Gap live a few years ago when he opened for Maggie Rogers (they were rumored to be dating at the time) and I liked him, but wasn’t blown away. Then I saw him again this September at the All Things Go festival and I loved his performance. I downloaded the new album and now I can’t stop listening - the song are all up upbeat with great lyrics. Dollhouse is my favorite (clearly referencing Maggie Rogers).
(2) Caamp Radio on Spotify - Let’s be honest, November has been a tough month. So lately I’m all about “comfort music”. In combination with long walks, Greek soup, and slow yoga - these songs make me feel better. Evan Honer’s Jersey Giant is on constant repeat.
(3) Glamorous Trash podcast - This is the first podcast I’ve ever truly loved. To the point that I spent the last month binge listening to almost every old episode. I hate how most podcasts waste time, but Chelsea Devantez is such a good host - she keeps everything moving along, while staying funny and relatable. I’ve become sort of a super fan. Who knew celebrity memoirs had so much to say? Favorite episodes - Crystal Hefner, Kris Jenner, Minka Kelly, Loni Anderson/Burt Reynolds.
(4) Sabrina Carpenter (Short and Sweet) - Ugh, I find something about SC sort of annoying, I didn’t really like Espresso (despite having to hear it everywhere all summer) and even her album title is super trite. So I wanted to hate this album. But Freya thought I might like it. And the other night, when I was driving home from a late wedding, I needed something upbeat to keep me awake, so I tried Sabrina. And, much to my chagrin, I found it super catchy and fun. Yes, all the songs are slightly cheesy and sexual. But also great to sing along with. So I guess I sort of like SC now. Favorite song - Bed Chem.
(5) Flipturn (Citrona) - Another great listen from the All Things Go festival (and, hence, I will forgive Chappell Roan for canceling as the other bands were so good that her no-show didn’t “ruin” the day). Favorite song - August.
WHAT ABOUT EVERYONE ELSE? ANY GOOD RECOMMENDATIONS?
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