Hello hello! I canNOT stop thinking about these photos of Paul Mescal please send HELP. Here’s a recap of my week:
Things I Read
Books
If you’re looking for a book to read, try this list of contemporary romance recs, this list of other fiction recs, or this list of non-fiction recs. I also track everything I read on Goodreads.
Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll: Oof, this book is really good but also hard to read. This is a fictionalized retelling of Ted Bundy’s crimes at Florida State, but it’s told from the point of view of the women involved. He’s never named, and these women are fictional characters, but many of the facts are real. I have read Jessica Knoll’s other two books and I really like her writing, but this is very different from the first two. It is so well written, and I really appreciated the framing of this story. I’ve said many times I don’t read a lot of murder books anymore, but this one doesn’t do any of the things that bother me about this genre. This is obviously dark and violent, but it never felt gratuitous to me. I think it is worth reading, especially if you’re a true crime person.
Take the Lead by Alexis Daria: Needed a palette cleanser so I went for this next. This is a romance novel with a Dancing With the Stars plot— she is the pro dancer and he is the star of a survivalist reality tv show. This was very good, it’s fun and hot and I flew through it. I really liked You Had Me at Hola by this author, and I really liked this one, too. I also can’t believe I’ve never read a romance novel with this plot, given how many couples have come out of the show.
Articles
She Was Denied an Abortion After Roe Fell. This Is a Year in Her Family’s Life.: I haven’t talked about abortion here in a while but that’s because I have trouble forming sentences about this that are not just filled with expletives. I am *so angry* about this issue, so profoundly mad about this, that I struggle to engage in any type of meaningful conversation about it because I truly just want to scream (I have written about this several times, here and here and here and here). The discourse on this issue makes me feel insane. I can’t stop thinking about this article that follows a woman who was denied an abortion and now has a medically fragile child that she has struggled to care for, in a state with no interest in helping her do so. I appreciate that people are willing to share their lives so publicly like this, and I am so pissed off that this is necessary. You can talk all you want about personal responsibility and how people should make better choices, but if you were actually a good, kind, person you would be more focused on how to help people who are struggling. If your values were actually what you say they are, you would care more about helping people live better lives than proving your dumb ass point. Ban abortion, ban IVF, ban birth control, weaken the social safety net, watch pregnant people die, lecture everyone about how morally righteous you are, rinse, repeat. Excuse me while I scream.
Things I Watched
TV
If you’re looking for a show to watch, try this list.
Ghosts (Paramount+/CBS): I’ve been slowly working my way through this sitcom and I think it’s really good! It’s about a couple who inherit an old house and decide to open it as a B&B, but once they move in they realize the house is haunted by a bunch of ghosts. This is a remake of a UK show that I haven’t seen, and I really like it. It’s funny and fun and a perfect thing to binge watch when I don’t want to use my brain. There’s two full seasons out, and the third one just started.
Movies
Five Blind Dates (Prime Video): Bad rom com alert. This is a trashcan movie about a woman who is running her family business, and when a fortune teller tells her her love life and her business life are intertwined, her family sets her up on a bunch of blind dates to try to help her find a partner. This is not even 90 minutes and I still did not finish it, it’s very bad, one trash can. Skip.
Players (Netflix): This is better but it’s still not good. This is about a group of friends who have spent years running “plays” (essentially being each other’s wingmen) to hook up with people. One of them has a one night stand but then decides she actually likes the guy, so they run a “play” to help her get into a relationship with him. I found literally every character in this to be annoying, so I did not really like this. Gina Rodriguez stars, and I used to think I really liked her but I’m starting to think I just really liked Jane the Virgin (a very good show you should all watch if you haven’t). No spoilers, but I didn’t feel like what was supposed to be the central romance here was built up enough, so the payoff at the end did nothing for me. I think this very skippable! Best new rom com of the season is definitely Upgraded on Prime Video.
Origin (theaters): This movie is astonishing. I don’t even really know what to say about it. This is based on Pulitzer Prize winner Isabel Wilkerson, and we follow her through the process of writing what would become her best selling book, Caste, amidst several tragedies in her personal life. I have never seen anything like this and I kind of can’t believe it exists. This is written and directed by Ava DuVernay, who also made Selma and 13th and When They See Us. I think she’s incredible, and I am always taken aback by how her films are equal parts exceptional film making but also educational. This movie is beautiful— beautifully shot and edited and just gorgeous to look at. It is also doing *so much,* as it shows what was going on in Wilkerson’s life while also trying to explain the central thesis of the book she wrote, which is complex social theory about race and class and social hierarchies. I almost don’t think there was enough space here to do all of this…there is so much to say. Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor’s performance as Wilkerson is truly extraordinary, one of the best I’ve seen in recent years, shocking to me that this did not get awards attention. This is just one of the most ambitious movies I think I’ve ever seen, and I don’t know that it was fully successful in what it was trying to do but I do think its is extraordinary in what it does accomplish. I will be thinking about this for a long time. See the movie, read the book, they are both worth your time.
The Color Purple (Max): I never got around to seeing this in theaters so I was happy to see it was streaming before the Oscars next month. This is an adaptation of the Broadway musical, and I thought it was pretty good. I’ve never seen the stage show but I knew a lot of the songs, and I think the performances in this are all excellent. Danielle Brooks is nominated for Best Supporting Actress and she is truly amazing in this movie, so I’m glad she got in to that category. Fantasia and Taraji P. Henson are also excellent in this. This is such a heavy story and it’s hard to watch at times but I think its worth watching if you’re up for it.
This is Me….Now (Prime Video): I actually don’t even know what to say about this “movie” ???? This is JLo’s new visual album (I guess?) and its truly one of the most galaxy brain things I’ve ever seen. She says she’s telling the story of her life that’s never been told before but this barely has any discernible plot. The cast feels like a fever dream— Fat Joe plays her therapist (?), Keke Palmer, Jane Fonda, Jay Shetty, Post Malone, Derek Hough??? Ben Affleck plays some kind of unhinged news pundit in an insane wig. She has talked about how she self financed this project for $20 million because no one would give her the money. Maybe there was a reason, babe! I really do not know what the point of this is and I certainly don’t think you need to watch it.
Things I Bought
You can read about my full skincare routine and favorite products here. If you need a sunscreen recommendation, try this list.
It has been a minute since we talked about sunscreen. We’re all still wearing SPF daily right??? RIGHT??? I just updated this list and added a bunch of (like more than 15, send help) new sunscreens I’ve tried in the past several months. Some European ones, some drugstore ones, some body ones, and some that I hated so much I absolutely forbid you from buying them. This list now has over 40 sunscreens on it, so if you say you cannot find one you like on here you’re lying! There’s some at every price point, for every purpose. There’s liquids and lotions and sprays and even sticks. You have no excuse to not find one you like. Buy one, wear it every day, face and neck! EVERY DAY.
One Last Thing…
I cannot stop watching and listening to this.
That’s it for me! I hope you all have a good week.
TTYL,
Emily
I'm so glad to hear JLo's thing is a dumpster fire. Now I don't have to waste my time. The trailer looked stupid anyway.