reads
september roundup
The month has concluded, and, with it, my rapidly fading chances of hitting my Goodreads goal. Can I read 24 books in the next three months? It’s certainly possible. But not probable. But don’t put any stock in other people’s quantifiable reading goals!! I’m seeing people on bookstagram whip through twenty books a month and I’m like, do you even have a job or an inherent lust for reality television? Of course, many of those books are 200 pages and have titles like “The Kissing Game,” which doesn’t make them any less worthy of a read than other books (I hate lit fic snobs as much as the next smut lover), but, you know, remember everyone does their own thing. That being said, I will not rest unless I’ve read 70 books this year, so I will do that or die trying (or lower my goodreads goal at the last minute to accommodate myself).
OKAY, all that being said, I read these fellas in September:
Fourth Wing — Rebecca Yarros
We All Want Impossible Things — Catherine Newman
Either/Or — Elif Batuman
The Bloody Chamber — Angela Carter
My favorite book, if you can fucking believe it, was FOURTH WING. Readers, I bamboozled myself on this one. I don’t know much, but I am very confident in my abilities to know what “good” writing looks like, and this is nowhere near as stupid as your run-of-the-mill ACOTAR-coded smutty fantasy read (which we all know I’ve devoured, so it’s not so much of an insult as it is fact) and just genuinely a pretty solid read. Yes, you probably know how things are going to shake out (most of the time! a few instances caused an involuntary gasp!!!!), and Rebecca Yarros is not a National Book Award finalist (I have not read a single nominated book from the 2023 shortlist but I’m just going to assume this isn’t on it), but it’s fun and sexy and has some real heft and heart. I gave this spiel before, which you all know because you’re my subscribers and therefore REAL FRIENDS, but I mean it!
As of now, it’s a 4.4/5 (could maybe be a 4.5, but the difference is astronomical, as those who have long been entrenched in readwithmith lore know). I value my sanity enough to refrain from attending any midnight release parties for Iron Flame, but I will be among the first 20,000 people on the NYPL’s e-book waiting list, and that means something to someone somewhere.
I’ve packed away most of my books for moving purposes and the ones I have out in the open are those that I’m either getting rid of or were loaned to me by reading pals. One lying around that I completely forgot was given to me by my dear friend Hannah was The Bloody Chamber, a collection of short stories by the famous Angela Carter. They’re surrealist, Gothic horror tales based on commonly known fairytales or folk tales. All have a particular focus on sex and sexuality and the accompanying power dynamics.
I was pretty impressed with the writing as I made my way throughout the book. I liked the sort of loopy and fluid narration, and Carter is very, very good at simply describing things (this is not easy). And seeing the twisted correlation to fairytales that we know so well today — especially with an edge towards female empowerment through sexuality — is fun. At the same time, I’m not quite the audience for a book like this, as it’s not my favorite genre, so it’s operating at a bit of a deficit already. And, though the stories flowed nicely into one another once I got past the initial novella (which was mostly good!), they also felt rather unfinished on the whole. I get that that was probably the point, but I just wasn’t particularly satisfied after reading any of them, nor was I particularly curious to know what happens next. I can appreciate it for what it is, though. 3.7/5ish?
And, of course, you can read last week’s newsletter for my thoughts on Impossible Things and Either/Or.
ulysses corner
Ulysses is still on hiatus but this time it’s because it’s been loaded into a moving box so I’ll just have to wait until I unpack to start again but I’m not going to get rid of this section because that means defeat and guess what? the ghost of James Joyce can’t win or we all lose …
other media
reality tv corner
Remember a few weeks ago when I was talking about how last season of The Bachelorette was actually pretty good? Scratch all of that. What’s GOOD is The GOLDEN Bachelor, their new spinoff. This conceit is senior citizens looking to find love, which is a truly wonderful premise because we are all deserving of love at all points in our lives, and the show leans into this in such a wholesome and sweet way instead of making us feel terrible. Gerry, the Golden Bachelor himself, could not be more perfect for the role, and all of the women in his cast are amazing — I was genuinely SAD when some were sent home during the rose ceremony! (I usually feel nothing and if I react in any way, it’s to say, “I called it.”) The vibes are just so delightful and sweet and everyone looks genuinely thrilled to be there and oh my god there was a scene where they all had a dance party that almost made me cry it was so fucking cute. Seriously, if you’ve been taking a break from the franchise in favor of more exciting reality shows, this is the time to tune back in. And if you’ve never watched The Bachelor at all (my praises to you), I think you’d still love it.
Also, the new season of Love is Blind is out, and it’s an absolute trainwreck. No spoilers, but absolutely no one involved should get married, not only to their show fiancé, but probably to anyone at all ever for a while. It’s as entertaining as always and I can’t look away, but I also truly can’t believe they even aired this batch of contestants at all. This was the USABLE footage?????
non-reality — which i suppose some might call “regular” — television
I don’t know why I thought Only Murders in the Building could pull their finale off. I was hoping to be absolutely bamboozled (as much as I trash talk this show, the first season had a very strong ending, and I suppose I’ve been waiting in vain for the last two to match it), but as it turns out, anyone who’s ever been online figured out the straightforward-ass ending around episode four. So that was a bummer! The final couple of minutes are the only remotely exciting parts of the episode, and that was only intended to set up a new murder in season four! It did, of course, succeed in piquing my interest, so I will watch, but I intend to be huffy about it.
A quick announcement about TV I’m actually looking forward to (shock): Not to be that person on Twitter whose entire personality is based on Our Flag Means Death, but when the first episode of the second season drops on October 5th and we get to see Blackbeard and Stede reunite with a steamy, steamy kiss, hopefully more, which I’m just assuming will happen immediately, I’m going to need some time to recover.
live! theater!
Have you ever seen Crazy Ex-Girlfriend? Given its ratings while on the air, odds are you haven’t. It’s a fantastic program that you should definitely watch if you’re interested in a musical comedy about mental health that’s set in the annals of California. There are songs about SSRIs and songs about going to the zoo and you can’t ask for much else. Rachel Bloom, the show’s star and creator, put up a one-woman show in New York over the month of September called Death, Let Me Do My Show, so, of course, the CEG New York contingent (me and my pals Caroline, Anna, and Maddie) were in attendance over the weekend.
I didn’t have many expectations going in, because, you know, how transcendent can this format be at this point, but it ended up blowing me away. I don’t want to say anything about the content because it would spoil the whole conceit of the show, because even though its run is over now, I’m sure she’ll do it again or it’ll be taped and put on Netflix or something sometime and you’ll be GLAD that old mith didn’t tell you anything about it. All I’ll say is that I laughed a lot, almost cried a few times, and have all the original music stuck in my head. We agreed that it was basically like an episode of CEG in itself, which is some very high praise.
I recently came across Tight Lipped, a grassroots movement advocating for people with chronic pelvic pain, and have had the chance to get involved in their work. I feel very passionately about this — in my experience, people with vaginas just don’t get the healthcare they need, even from OB/GYNS, who are supposedly specifically trained to help you in that department. Even if you don’t struggle with chronic pain, I’m sure you’ve had an experience at the doctor where you’ve been suffering and it took years and years for them to figure out what it was because sometimes they just don’t fucking listen even though that’s their whole job!!!!!!!! This happens often when you’re a gender marginalized individual, sometimes in ways life-threatening (and especially if you’re a person of color — look at Black maternal mortality rates, a horrible statistic that physicians’ lack of care for Black patients has contributed to).
Anyways, I’ve been inspired to talk about this subject more lately (standup comedy has to benefit me psychologically in some way). I wish I had known an organization and community like this existed when I was younger, so I’m sharing it because I’m sure someone reading this or someone you know could benefit from their resources.
Thank you for bearing with me and reading about all of this. The next several newsletters are likely just going to be full-on moving blogs, so try to savor this one.
