Margo's Got Money Troubles, Industry, and Clairo.

Weeks 195 and 196.

Hello hello! I got back from a weekend in New York and then proceeded to have an emotional rollercoaster of a week, so I will be rotting on my couch for the next 48 hours. Looking forward to it. Here’s a recap of the last two weeks:

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.

• Margo’s Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe: I have seen a lot of people raving about this online so I went in with pretty high expectations and it really lived up to them. I loved this book! It’s about a 19 year old named Margo who has an affair with her college professor, accidentally gets pregnant, decides to keep the baby, and then starts an OnlyFans account to make money. While accurate, I don’t think the plot description does this book justice. I just really loved this! It’s written in such a unique way, switching between first and third person depending on what information is being conveyed. There’s so many fun side characters, and it handles a lot of heavy subject matter in really nice way. Almost no one in this book is making good choices but I loved most of them anyway. This is already getting a tv adaptation starring Elle Fanning and Nicole Kidman, made by A24, and I think it will be so good on screen. I just really liked this book, definitely a favorite of the year so far. It’s pretty weird and a little out there, but if you can go in with an open mind I really recommend.

• Maybe Once, Maybe Twice by Alison Rose Greenberg: This is another one I had seen so many people rave about. It’s a romance novel about a woman named Maggie, who has at different points in her life made marriage pacts with two different men, agreeing to marry them if they reached 35 and were still single. Then, her 35th birthday arrives and she has to deal with the fallout. I really liked the first half of this book, where we meet the two men and learn about the relationships she had with them. But then this book lost me in the second half. The timeline is not chronological, so we were bouncing around a lot, which made the end, for me, feel super rushed. For the first half of the book I really liked both of the love interests, but then when we got more into the present day one of them *sucked* and the other one was *too* perfect there was never any question to me which one she would pick. But then I still didn’t really like the way it all wrapped up in the end. This is probably a me problem as, again, I’ve seen so many people say they loved this. Something about it just didn’t work for me.

Articles

• A Unified Theory of Glen Powell: I love Anne Helen Peterson’s substack, Culture Study, and I loved this specific piece about Glen Powell and the moment he is having. I think this is such a good explanation of what a Movie Star is, and why Glen is such a good one. One of the reasons she gives is that is is clear that he likes women. Not in a gross and misogynistic way, but he genuinely likes and appreciates women. This is truly one of the most accurate reads of male celebs I’ve ever seen: “Tom Cruise doesn’t like women. Neither does Miles Teller. Channing Tatum likes women. So does Ryan Gosling. Brad Pitt used to like women but doesn’t anymore. Leonardo Di Caprio only likes them occasionally. Bradley Cooper doesn’t, George Clooney does. Matt Damon doesn’t, Ben Affleck only does in that one scene in the J.Lo documentary. Marlon Brando didn’t, Montgomery Clift did. Paul Newman didn’t onscreen but did IRL. Cary Grant did, John Wayne definitely, definitely didn’t. Will Smith pretends like he doesn’t but I’m not convinced. Mark Wahlberg absolutely does not, but Daniel Day-Lewis does. So does Paul Mescal.”

Things I Watched

TV

If you’re looking for a show to watch, try this list.

• Industry (Max): I have been meaning to watch this show for years now, and the third season started last week and is getting rave reviews, so I finally started it. I’ve finished the first season and it’s SO good. This is about a bunch of messy twenty somethings working at an investment bank in London. Vibes are Succession meets Euphoria. I’m so invested! Do not ask me to explain any of the actual finance stuff happening in this show, I could not possibly understand it less. They could be speaking a foreign language for all I know. But it doesn’t matter, I’m here for the drama and it is giving DRAMA. I really like this, I’m excited to catch up and watch season three as it airs!

Movies

• A Simple Favor (Netflix): My friends and I were discussing the It Ends With Us Drama, which led to my bringing up this movie and the fact that they are making a sequel, and then my friends said they had never seen this, so obviously we had to watch. I don’t even know how to explain this movie, it is so silly and absurd but that’s the point. It stars Anna Kendrick as a single mom with a mommy YouTube channel, and Blake Lively as her mysterious high fashion friend who goes missing. This has so many ridiculous twists and turns it is impossible to to take it seriously, but I think it’s a good time. Blake Lively’s fashion in this movie is incredible. I have to laugh at this!! A camp cult classic. I will be seated for the sequel.

Things I Bought

You can read about my full skincare routine and favorite products here. If you need a sunscreen recommendation, try this list.

• Target Lace Shirt: Target has a Free People dupe! I feel much better about spending $16 on a piece of mesh than I do spending $45 (even though I do wear my Free People one all the time). I bought a Target one to compare and I think they are almost identical, except the Free People one has thumb holes and the Target one doesn’t.

One Last Thing…

I love the new Clairo album and have been listening to it a lot. But it has also reminded me how OBSESSED I was with her first album when it came out in 2019, so I’ve also been revisiting it almost as much as I’ve been listening to the new one. Highly recommend, perfect end of summer vibes.

That’s it for me! This week I am going to read the new Casey McQuiston book and watch the new episodes of Emily in Paris. I hope you all have a good week.

TTYL,

Emily