I quit a book after ten pages (not clickbait)
and it WASN'T love, theoretically
Before we get into books, I wanted to say that I’ve been thinking a lot about O’Shea Sibley. Content warning below for homophobia, anti-LGBTQ+ violence, hate crimes — if any of this is triggering, please skip the section below and move on to the rest of the newsletter.
O’Shea was murdered at a gas station in Brooklyn because he was Black and gay and living his life with joy. He was a professional dancer from Philadelphia and a beloved member of every community he was in. It shouldn’t be lost on us that LGBTQ+ people of color are often the targets of violence as a result of intersectional bias. LGBTQ+ people of color experience heightened discrimination compared to those who are white. The Human Rights Campaign tracks the number of reported killings of transgender people every year — the majority being Black trans women. Black LGBTQ+ youth are less likely to receive professional mental health services.
You should be sick to your fucking stomach. This should be a horrific reminder that the vitriol spewed by people of power in this country and reinforced by news media like The New York Times, which seems to make it its mission to publish some of the most offensively stupid op-eds on the planet, is dangerous. Anti-LGBTQ+ — particularly anti-trans — bills are spreading through the country in what feels like a mass reversal of years of hard work and advocacy and protest and progress.
I don’t have any new words or insights to share that haven’t been laid out by activists before, but it’s on everyone to speak out and fight and say that Black LGBTQ+ lives matter. Their stories must be told — in real life and literature and otherwise. Thanks for reading.
reads
A sad story:
I brought my Kindle to the beach this weekend with plenty of library books locked and loaded. After evaluating my options, I settled on This is How You Lose the Time War, which seems to be everywhere this year. It’s a science fiction novella and a queer love story told in epistolary (letter) form. Intriguing!
I got about 20 pages into this and … I quit. I just couldn’t do it. For once in my life, I realized early on that I was not going to like this. The writing style is really not for me, nor is the epistolary form. It started the way that many books I have disliked over the past year or so have started out: cryptic chapters that go on way too long, short sentences, plain prose that just isn’t interesting … etc. It’s possible that I was just cruising on my beach vibes and this wasn’t for that moment — and maybe if I kept reading it, it would improve. But honestly? I’ve suffered through enough novels this year that I found myself just actively disliking and forcing myself through anyways, (though some of those (Age of Vice) were truly so fucking bonkers that I absolutely had to finish them) and I’m going to give myself some grace and trust my instincts and not go for this one.
That being said, if you feel strongly about this novel in a positive way, please do let me know — I’m always willing to give something a second chance after taking some space from it (sometimes my books and I need some distance from each other). As of now, though, count Time War as a DNF from me.
A happy story:
To make up for this disappointment, I pivoted in an adjacent but generally opposite direction and ended up devouring Love, Theoretically — Alli Hazelwood’s newest enemies-to-lovers but guess what they’re both genius scientists rom-com.
And you know what? This is actually her best freaking book yet. It follows a very similar plot to her previous installations, and it’s so stupid and corny, but something just hit me harder with this one. Maybe I’m just soft and sappy these days, but I actually found the main character painfully relatable and the plot intriguing and yes, I’ll admit it, I almost cried at the ending but didn’t because I was, rather ironically, at the gynecologist’s. I haven’t decided on a rating yet, but I plan on posting a full review soon.
book news
new releases
Emily Henry just announced her next romance novel due to debut next year: Funny Story. Here’s a funny story for you: I almost shit my pants upon hearing the news. I think this is going to be an interesting one, too, trope-wise — a romance between the exes of two people who unceremoniously dumped them. I absolutely cannot wait. There’s no one in the pure romance genre writing on her level right now, and maybe there never has been.
I liked Happy Place and thought that, overall, it was really well done, but it’s not the romance of the year right now. Not like Book Lovers was last year. Book Lovers is the only book I am consistently going up to bat for. You don’t like it? You will after we have a little chat … but anyways. I’m still waiting for the best romance. To be fair, I haven’t read too many this year, but I’m hoping for one that knocks my socks off.
Roxane Gay also announced that her new book, Opinions, is dropping in October. One time, she tweeted that she was giving away copies of a book for her book club and we could email her to get one. She literally sent me one … from my lips to Roxane’s ears … (can I call her Roxane? almost certainly not). Her writing, whether it be autobiographical or fictional, is always so thoughtful and nuanced. Bad Feminist is of course iconic, and Difficult Women is one of my favorite short story collections of all time. It’s signed by her from my first ever solo outing in New York when I went to an event of hers. I’m excited to see what this new work holds, though I do hope to read more of her fiction soon.
booker longlist
I’m not educated enough on the literary world to know anything about their awards, and I’ve never made an effort to read everything on the longlists or shortlists of any of them. Usually, if I’ve read anything recognized, it’s by mistake (ex. I somehow didn’t realize Demon Copperhead won the Pulitzer this year, probably because it was on my kindle and also probably because I read it in a delirium on a flight to Ireland).
One of my accidental reads this year was If I Survive You, a short story collection by Jonathan Escoffery that just got longlisted for the Booker. This one’s been absolutely fucking dragged through the mud by bookstagrammers, and I gotta say that I completely disagree with all of you. I think it’s a really strong collection of short stories, and, yes, like any collection, they vary in quality, but it’s pretty brilliantly written and structured. Everyone’s titled to their own opinion, but there’s (in my opinion but also objectively) a lot of depth and nuance to this one (especially the first half) that warrants a read. You can read my full review of it here.
Is there anything you’re reading off this year’s longlist that you’d recommend I try? Sound off!
ulysses corner
I have not made any progress on Ulysses. BUT my dear pal Hannah and I had a chance to discuss Part One while kayaking in Red Hook this weekend (couldn’t recommend it enough). Consensus: chapter one was pretty good, chapter two fine but funky, and chapter three incomprehensible. I have been told by some that getting past the Stephen Dedalus chapters is when things start getting better, and, one episode into Leopold Bloom’s perspective, I already agree. Stephen is just a fucking drag, if we’re being honest.
My paramour John told me about a newsletter that started going around during deep dark lockdown times that summarizes a bit of Bram Stoker’s Dracula every week for those who didn’t want to slog through it. I’m going to run with that idea and just give you updates on what’s happening in Ulysses every week. That way, you can read it with me, but you don’t have to do any work (to be fair, I am also not really doing any work). I guess you could just read a wikipedia summary, but this is more fun.
Episode One
Stephen Dedalus* wakes up when his rambling and irritating roommate, Buck Mulligan, starts calling out for him and being generally obnoxious. They chat for a while and the general gist is that Stephen’s mom died recently and he’s still in mourning. He has some beef with Buck because Buck was shit-talking his dead mom. There’s also this guy named Haines from England who’s staying with them and Stephen’s pissed at Buck for letting him stay (roommate drama!). Stephen, Buck, and Haines go to the ocean (they get a milk delivery first and the delivery lady stays for an awkward amount of time), and Stephen and Haines have an uncomfortable conversation about the plight of the Irish at the hands of the English. Also, it turns out that Stephen pays the rent for the weird tower he and Buck live in and Buck just mooches off of him and always asks for beer money. So Stephen gives Buck some money per usual because he is a pushover and leaves the men on the beach, telling himself he won’t go back to the tower tonight because Buck has taken it over (squatter’s rights??). Really leaves you on the edge of your seat.
*Stephen Dedalus is the main character (and Joyce’s alter ego) in Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. I read this a million years ago when I was (flips hair) studying in Dublin, but from what I remember, it basically tells the story of his life and his changing perspectives and ends with him being kind of an unbearable and nihilistic intellectual who decides he must leave Ireland altogether (much like Joyce himself, who took off for Italy and never looked back). Apparently, it didn’t work out for Stephen.
upcoming reviews
Keep an eye on the ole instagram for a full-length review of Elliot Page’s Pageboy coming this week.
other media
podcasts
Like a hot dog in the summertime, I eagerly consumed some more Jamie Loftus content this week after finishing Raw Dog. On a recent episode of You’re Wrong About, she explained the true story of Bonnie and Clyde. It’s incredibly interesting — actually, it’s pretty heartbreaking and illustrates the ongoing and basically unchanged evils of the criminal justice and prison system, but of course Jamie (can I call her Jamie? maybe not) still makes it funny and very entertaining. I highly recommend giving it a listen.
I also listened to Maintenance Phase’s episodes on RFK Jr. and the anxi-vax movement in general and learned quite a bit. Did you know that anti-vaxxers have been around ever since vaccines were INVENTED? Like, when the smallpox one was introduced in the late 18th century?! And that it really picked up steam when The Lancet, one of the most respected and widely read medical journals in the world, kind of dumbly published a doctor’s junk science study on it, and took something like ten years to retract it? AND that scientists being overly cautious about their image and saying they were taking a specific substance out of vaccines in the late ‘90s to appease one of their anti-vaxxer guys actually made everything WORSE? It’s really well-done and debunks 100% of the shit they’ve been yelling about for the past 200 years or so.
television
I did not realize that It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia had a new season out, and, honestly, I was laughing out loud at some of the episodes in a way that I haven’t laughed at Sunny for some time. Mac has an allergic reaction at one point and it’s one of the funniest things I’ve seen on TV recently.
Remember how I said The Righteous Gemstones was really nailing this season? Unfortunately, it fucked the finale. It ties up neatly in a way that’s more nauseating than satisfying and there were just some character motivations and resolutions and events that truly made no sense. A shame, and, honestly, this is kind of the pattern of every season, where they bite off a little more than they can chew and try to wrap everything up as perfectly as possible. But it has been renewed for a fourth, so perhaps I’ll change my tune (yes, I tell myself I won’t, but I will keep watching).
Similarly, though I don’t have many nice things to say about Only Murders in the Building (the acting and writing across the board leaves … a lot to be desired. do I ever watch shows I enjoy?), I can’t quit it and tuned into its third season anyways. It’s a bit of a mess, but I’m intrigued as always. Meryl Streep is in this season — she plays an unsuccessful theater actor and is ironically but obviously nailing it. She’s good even when she plays bad.
youtube
Hear me out — the best show you can stream online right now is a little ditty called Puppet History. It’s on YouTube on a channel called Watcher, started by Ryan Bergara, Shane Madej, and Steven Lim, formerly Buzzfeed superstars. Yes, I know, Buzzfeed is dumb and lame, but I think these guys are incredibly smart and funny, and Puppet History is my favorite thing they put out. True to its name, every episode, our puppet teacher (the Professor) tells us a story about a person or event we might not have learned about in APUSH. Remember I said that thing about eighteenth-century smallpox anti-vaxxers before? I actually learned that from this show. It’s actually a brilliant production, with amazing art, original music, absurdly deep lore behind the puppet characters (like, last season, I had to watch at 3:00 PM every Friday on the dot to avoid being SPOILED), and an overall fabulously stupid and goofy vibe. If you like history or if you have an affection for puppets, you will probably like this. I fucking ride or die for my boys.
Before I go: The response to this newsletter has been very kind! If you subscribed or even just skimmed the first post, thank you. :) And if you feel inclined to share it with a friend or two or a lover or even an enemy, smash that button below. xoxoxox
Amazing! Bringing me back to when “Roxanne” (and so many other amazing people you helped bring to HC) came to campus!