Sunrise on the Reaping, Pride and Prejudice, and Lorde.
Week 231.
Hello hello! Happy New Emily Henry to all to celebrate!! I’m gonna read it in one sitting today and I cannot wait. 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.
Happy Place by Emily Henry: I have been listening to all of the Emily Henry audiobooks over the past few months and this one was next in line. This is not my favorite of hers (Book Lovers I’m looking at you), but it’s still very good. I like that this book focuses on a friend group, and how it can be hard to navigate a years long friendship as everyone’s lives start to diverge. This is more sad than her others, but it still has it’s funny moments. This is the only one getting adapted into a series instead of a movie, which I love and hope that means it will focus a lot on the friend group as a whole and not just the main love story. I have enjoyed listening to all of these on audio, because I always read them super quickly when they come out and then rarely pick them up again. Fun to revisit in a different medium! I will do Funny Story next.
Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins: Ok so this was SAD. I suppose that was to be expected but OOF. I had not really thought about this series for many years, but then the new movie coming out got me invested again. I read that book, and then I listened to the original trilogy last year and was obsessed, fully back in. This book tells the story of the 50th Hunger Games, when Haymitch won. Something about knowing everyone else was going to die from the very beginning made reading this so eerie. So many characters from the original trilogy make appearances in this, and in basically every case it makes their stories even more sad. There’s so much lore here. I found this very readable but also sometimes I just had to stop and stare at the wall for a second because it was depressing!!! This book is about the idea that sometimes revolutions take generations, and so many people do not live to see it happen. Bleak!! This is worth reading if you’re into this series, I think it adds a lot. I think it will make a great movie, they’ve started announcing the cast and so far I’m very on board. And now I need to go rewatch Catching Fire (still unquestionably the best one).
Articles
One of my favorite people on TikTok is Josh Lora aka Tell the Bees and I also have been loving his newsletter. He talks and writes about pop culture in a way that is so smart, more proof for my ongoing theory that being into trashy reality tv is a sign of intelligence (I’m so serious about this, the smartest people I know watch garbage regularly. There’s so much to unpack!!!). He also has great book recs. I thought this newsletter was so smart:
Things I Watched
TV
If you’re looking for a show to watch, try this list.
Dying for Sex (Hulu): This is an incredible show. It’s based on a podcast I haven’t listened to, about a woman who got diagnosed with terminal cancer, left her husband, and started exploring her sex life before she died. Michelle Williams stars in this and is so, so good. Jenny Slate plays her best friend and caretaker, and is also amazing. They both deserve Emmy noms for this. The first half of this show had me laughing so much, and then I watched the second half very slowly because it got very, very sad. This is just such a lovely story about love and friendship and living and dying. I loved it.
The Residence (Netflix): I used to be very stubborn about giving up on tv shows before I finished them, but there is simply too much tv I want to watch for me to force myself to finish something that isn’t holding my attention. I watched four episodes of this and then googled the ending, sorry! I love the premise and the overall vibe— a whodunnit in the White House during a big party is such a good set up! But this should have been a movie, or even half as long. Eight hour long episodes was too much and I got bored. Maybe this is also an attention span issue on my part, but it was too much. A bit of a bummer, because it also has an excellent cast.
Movies
Pride & Prejudice (theaters this week, Netflix always): I was 10 years old when this movie came out in 2005 and I saw it in the theater for the first time. This is an experience that is burned into my brain— I was visiting my grandparents in San Diego, I know what theater we went to, I remember going to the bathroom in the middle and missing the RAIN SCENE, of all scenes to miss. I went in not knowing the story at all and came out obsessed. I think this movie is the reason I love movies. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve seen this, but every time I notice new things. It was back in theaters for the 20th anniversary, and I will simply never miss an opportunity to watch it on a big screen in a room full of people who laugh and cry along with me. It is beautiful and funny and heartwarming and truly just a foundational text for me. A few years ago I went to London and took a day trip to the house where they shot parts of this, and now it’s even more fun to watch the movie knowing I’ve been there. It also cannot be overstated how stacked this cast is. Kiera and Matthew, of course, but also Carey Mulligan and Jena Malone and Rosamund Pike and Donald Sutherland! Icons everywhere. I could watch this over and over again forever, I will never be sick of this film.
Things I Bought
You can read about my full skincare routine and favorite products here. If you need a sunscreen recommendation, try this list.
Naturium Body Wash: I have been meaning to try this for a long time because I have seen so many people rave about it, and now I get it. I love this stuff. This has an oil consistency but it still lathers, and it leaves my skin feeling so hydrated. The one downside is that this doesn’t have a nice scent, but I use other scented products after I get out of the shower that make up for it (like a lotion and/or oil). I want to try their other body washes, particularly this one with salicylic acid in it. Naturium is one of the best brands at the drug store.
One Last Thing…
Happy Lorde summer!!!!! Between this and the new Haim album I’m about to be insufferable.
That’s it for me! Today is Independent Bookstore Day, so it’s also time for my semi-regular reminder that you should not buy books from Amazon. Go to your local indie, and if you don’t have one, go to bookshop.org. If you want to spend less money, go to Pango. Go literally anywhere else, please!! I hope you all have a good week.
TTYL,
Emily