Hello hello! I feel like it has been January for 700 weeks and I have nothing to say. 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.
Good Material by Dolly Alderton: She did it again!!! I love Dolly Alderton so much. I love her so much. The way she writes about love and friendship and being alive is so incredible, she just understands the human experience in the most beautiful way. This is her second novel, about a man named Andy who has recently been dumped by his long term girlfriend, Jen. We spend most of the book in Andy’s head as he absolutely falls apart in the months following the end of the relationship. I was a little worried I wouldn’t like this, as the head of a 35 year old man is the last place I want to be, but Dolly’s writing is so good I shouldn’t have been worried. Her voice is so strong and she is so funny and astute. The book was good and THEN. Then the end!!! The last section of this book gave me an entirely new perspective on the first 300 pages in a way I have never really experienced before. It puts you so squarely into Andy’s world and takes you so deep into it before you even get a hint of anyone else’s. And then the last chapter is just some of the best writing I’ve ever read about choosing a life for yourself. She’s so GOOD. I’m reading anything she writes for the rest of my life. I ordered this from the UK because I simply could not wait for it to come out here, but it’s out in the US on January 30th. You need to read this book, and then you need to read her first novel, Ghosts, and also her memoir, Everything I Know About Love. You need to get on board because in 30 years we are all going to be talking about her the way we talk about Nora Ephron now, and I’ll be on my high horse talking about how you all should have been listening to me decades ago when I was saying this: She’s one of the best.
Articles
Why Did Atria Books Send a TikTok Influencer on a Cruise to Antarctica?: I have been both fascinated and horrified by the nine month cruise thats all over TikTok (you would have to pay me so much money to get on this boat), and in the past week I’ve been unable to look away from this man on TikTok who got sponsored by a publishing house to go on the boat and talk about books. This man describes himself as someone who “doesn’t like reading” and he got a publisher to pay for him to go on a cruise?? Okay! It certainly is working if the goal is to get attention, but this article mentions that whether or not it has been effective at selling more books is questionable. Once again, you would have to pay me SO much money to get on this boat.
Things I Watched
TV
If you’re looking for a show to watch, try this list.
The Traitors (US) (Peacock): I’m so obsessed with this show. The rules here are similar to a game of Mafia/Werewolf, three people are traitors and everyone else is a faithful. They all do missions for money and have roundtables where they vote to banish people, with the goal of getting rid of all the traitors. If any traitors get to the end they win the money. The reason this is so good is because the cast is all people from other reality tv shows. I have been watching reality tv for over a decade, so this cast feels like a fever dream. They put CT and Johnny Bananas from MTV in a house with Parvati and Sandra from Survivor!!! Also a bunch of housewives, Big Brother people, a Drag Race contestant, a DWTS pro, and a Bachelor. I’m OBSESSED. Alan Cumming hosts this and commits so hard to the bit. Parvati Shallow is just one of the most entertaining people that’s ever been on tv, I love her. This is campy and fun and ridiculous and so, so good. The first four episodes are out now and it’s coming out weekly, new episodes on Thursday nights. Appointment television.
Movies
American Fiction (theaters): I finally saw this and I liked it a lot! Based on Percival Everett’s novel Erasure, this is about a writer (Jeffery Wright) who is struggling to get his book published and also extremely annoyed by the industry’s trend of publishing stereotypical and offensive Black stories. He writes a satirical Black novel as a joke, and then doesn’t know what to do when it sells for a lot of money. There’s also a whole family drama/romance storyline here. I thought this was really good, it was funny and absurd but also has some really heartwarming moments. It has a really great ensemble cast (any time Adam Brody pops up in a movie I’m extremely happy), but Jeffery Wright carries this movie and is very, very good. I thought this was so interesting and entertaining and I can’t stop thinking about it! It’s probably getting a Best Picture nom so it’s getting easier to find it in theaters. Worth going to see it if you can.
Self Reliance (Hulu): I wanted this to be better than it was. It’s about a guy (Jake Johnson), who gets recruited for a game show. The rules are that he is being hunted, but the Hunters cannot kill him if he is with another person. If he is still alive at the end of 30 days, he wins $1 million. This has a very funny cast and has some funny moments, but overall is extremely unmemorable and the ending was quite anticlimactic. The whole time I was watching this I was thinking about Game Night, a movie from a few years ago that I think has a similar vibe but is so, so much better. Watch that instead!
All of Us Strangers (theaters): I had been dying to see this but it has had a quite limited theatrical release, so I couldn’t find it near me until now. This is a beautiful movie but it is so SAD. It stars Andrew Scott (Fleabag hot priest, very hot!!!) as Adam, a man who is stuck between living in the past where his parents (Claire Foy and Jamie Bell, both excellent) are still alive, and the present, where he is falling in love with his neighbor, Harry (Paul Mescal…you know how I feel about this man….devastatingly hot in this movie). Andrew Scott is so incredible in this movie, he manages to say so much without actually talking. I loved this visually, too, it’s so lush with light and beautifully shot. I don’t think I loved the ending but I enjoyed the journey to get there, and it made me so emotional. I saw this last weekend and I can’t stop thinking about it. This is heavy and sad and sort of more about vibes than plot, I think. Kind of on the Oscars bubble, not sure it will make it in, but a beautiful movie regardless. And if nothing else, it gave us the gift of an Andrew Scott/Paul Mescal press tour. Feeling blessed.
Things I Bought
You can read about my full skincare routine and favorite products here. If you need a sunscreen recommendation, try this list.
Makeup by Mario Skin Enhancer: Can’t shut up about how much I love this. I don’t even know how to describe it…it’s a cream product thats sort of like inbetween a bronzer and a skin tint. I have it in the lightest shade and I basically put it all over my face every morning and I just love how it makes my skin look. So glowy and alive despite it being the dead of winter. This week someone asked me if I had been on vacation over the long weekend because I looked tan, words that have truly never been said to me by anyone in my entire life. Obsessed!!
One Last Thing…
I made this banana coffee cake last weekend and it was very good.
That’s it for me! Oscar noms on Tuesday!! I hope you all have a good week.
TTYL,
Emily
This was such a good roundup! I am reinspired to try The Traitors, and that skin tint is now in my cart...