6 Month Roundup!

What I've read, watched, and enjoyed this year so far with small reviews!

Aug 29, 2024

It’s not exactly a sixth-month roundup, more like 7 or 8, but this post will focus on what I’ve consumed and enjoyed this year. From books and movies to youtube videos here is what I’ve been up to.

To start us off here are the books I’ve read so far with small reviews!

#1 The Story of a New Name by Elena Ferrante (book 2)

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“It was as if she wanted to take the power away even from the realistic possibility of violent death by reducing it to words, to a form that could be controlled”.

Ferrante’s writing is captivating. The way the book follows Elena and Lina’s friendship and their journey through the neighborhood and beyond is both thrilling and heart-wrenching. This is the second book in the Neapolitan quartet, tracing Lina and Elena’s friendship from childhood to adulthood, all while offering rich social and political commentary and reflections on womanhood. It’s a series that’s impossible not to devour in one sitting.

#2 Good Material by Dolly Alderton

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“But I’m not a member of that club any more. No one is. It’s been disbanded, dissolved, the domain is no longer valid. So what do I do with all its stuff? Where do I put it all? Where do I take all my new discoveries now I’m no longer a tribe of two? And if I start a new sub-genre of love with someone else, am I allowed to bring in all the things I loved from the last one?”

I am a diehard Dolly Alderton fan. Her writing feels friendly, familiar, and is easy to follow while also delivering insightful perspectives and realizations on life, adulthood, and growing up. Her most recent book is no different. Funny yet also a realistic depiction of feeling lost and in a weird state of grief when a relationship doesn’t work out. There were only a few sections I didn’t love but overall the book is a great read.

#3 Writers & Lovers by Lily King

Rating: ⭐️⭐️.5

“I squat there and think about how you get trained early on as a woman to perceive how others are perceiving you, at the great expense of what you yourself are feeling about them”.

I wish I could say I liked this book more, but perhaps it just wasn’t for me. King’s writing, much like Alderton’s, is familiar, making you feel as if you’re listening to a friend tell a story. She excels at conveying the emotions of the main character. However, I felt that this book didn’t quite deliver what I was hoping for. I didn’t find any profound insights or realizations, and the commentary on girlhood and growing up that I expected seemed missing. It was an okay read, but perhaps I just need to give it another chance.

#4 Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“However long we postpone it, we eventually lie down in that notoriously uncomfortable bed, the one we make ourselves. Whether or not we sleep in it depends, of course, on whether or not we respect ourselves”.

There is almost nothing I enjoy more than a Joan Didion book, she is hands down my favorite writer of all time. This book is a collection of essays and insights on the 60’s and California. Didion does an excellent job at capturing American counterculture in writing and providing allusive commentary throughout. I have yet to meet a Didion book that I do not enjoy. Full of insights into her world both internally and externally, this was such an excellent book.

#5 Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“At the end of the day, whether one returns to the past or travels to the future, the present doesn’t change”.

I thought this book was sweet and, at times, sad. Although it can be slightly repetitive in how each of the four stories begins, I didn’t mind it. The book explores the idea of going back in time and asks if you would, given the opportunity. Each story is unique and has a way of tugging at your heart. Despite the repetitiveness, I found that it delivered some important insights and conclusions. Overall, it’s an easy and enjoyable read. I look forward to reading the next one!

#6 Grief Is for People by Sloan Crosley

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“Denial is humankind’s specialty, our handy aversion. We are so allergic to our own mortality; we’ll do anything to make it not so. Denial is also the weirdest stage of grief because it so closely mimics stupidity. But it can’t be helped. I can’t be helped. I am holding these losses as an aunt might, as if they are familiar but not quite mine. As if they are books I will be allowed to return to some centralized sadness library”.

I was lucky to find a signed copy of this book in New York when I visited this summer and I spent the majority of the trip reading it so it’s impossible for me to not associate this book with the trip I took. In a way, Sloan reminds me of Alderton and Didion in her writing style. I admired the way she wrote about the grief she experienced with the passing of her close friend and the grief of losing her belongings after her apartment was robbed. It’s an exploration of not only the grief of losing people you love but of also the tie we feel to our belongings, how both people and our things are inextricably tied to us forever, and how we store parts of ourselves with them. This was such a good read that is both heartfelt, funny, and sad all at once. Grief Is for People reminds us all that this is a feeling that ties humanity together.

#7 Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay by Elena Ferrante (book 3)

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“Finally, I spoke of the necessity of recounting every human experience, including… what seems unsayable and what we do not speak of even to ourselves”.

Book number 3 of the Neapolitan quartet so far has been my favorite. Another book packed with commentary on a variety of matters Elena and Lina have now entered adulthood. The friendship between Elena and Lina grows increasingly complex and is at times difficult to fully understand. This book was my favorite of the 4 so far because of the feminist commentary it provided, I feel you start to somewhat see Elena find her voice amongst all those holding her back. Ferrante’s writing is absolutely brilliant and impossible to put down.

Movies:

#1 Challengers

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The score was fantastic and it was a visually appealing movie with great actors but I just didn’t love it.

#2 Inside Out 2:

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

These movies always make me cry, it was sweet and endearing. Animated movies are always so impressive.

#3 Despicable Me 4

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

So well-animated, and the soundtrack was also great. As always such fun movies to watch.

#4 Long Legs

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I don’t usually like horror movies but this one exceeded all expectations. I thought it was fantastic. Twisted and surprising it wasn’t outright scary but it was rather insidious. I would watch it again.

#5 Trap

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This movie took turns I didn’t expect. It was super entertaining and suspenseful and had you at the edge of your seat waiting for what would happen next. Unexpectedly good soundtrack as well!

YouTube videos I’ve enjoyed:

#1 Poorest Region of America - What it Really Looks Like by Peter Santenello

#2 How is Trader Joe’s so Cheap and Popular? by Wall Street Journal

#3 I Investigated the City Where Every Drug is Legal by Tyler Oliveira

#4 A Day With a Barista in One of NYC's Busiest Coffee Shops | On the Job | Priya Krishna | NYT Cooking

#5 Poorest Region in the Deep South – Mississippi Delta by Peter Santenello

#6 Paris during the Olympics by Emma Chamberlain

Thanks for reading my first newsletter ever! I hope you’ve enjoyed the material I’ve compiled here and give a chance to any of the books, movies, or videos mentioned. I’m so happy to have you all here :) See you next Thursday!!