Hello hello! Once again, thinking about Bennifer. Here’s a recap of my week:
Things I Read
Books
This Office of Historical Corrections by Danielle Evans: This was incredible. You know when you read a book that is so well written it makes you mad? This is that. Just so good. It’s a collection of short stories that all touch on similar themes of race, culture, identity, and history without ever feeling like it’s trying too hard to be about any of those things. I don’t read a lot of short story collections, but this made me want to. These were so engaging, with complex characters and engrossing plot lines, really unique premises that still felt so honest and true to life. And just so incredibly well written. Whew. Great book.
The Heart Principle by Helen Hoang: Helen Hoang wrote The Kiss Quotient, which was the first contemporary romance novel I ever read and sent me on an absolute SPIRAL of reading rom coms. That book is SO good. I also liked the second in the series, The Bride Test, but it was not *as* good. This is her new book, and the third that takes place in this same universe (what is this called? I guess it’s a series, but they are also all standalone stories. Romance authors do this a lot). This one is about a woman named Anna and a man named Quan who meet on a dating app and, for different reasons, are both looking to have a one-night stand. I thought this was so good, but also just incredibly sad. The first section is fun and upbeat like any typical rom com, and then it gets SO sad and heavy and dark. I still really liked this, but you should go in knowing that. All of these books have characters who have autism spectrum disorder, and I think they are great representations for all the different ways that can manifest for different people. I’ve learned a lot about autism just from reading these books. I liked this series a lot and will read whatever she writes next. I’d give this one a content warning for suicidal ideation and the death of a parent.
Articles
S.B. 8 and the Texas Preview of a World Without Roe v. Wade: A very good article from Jia Tolentino about what the Texas abortion ban means for people who live there. I am still so upset by all of this. I linked to a bunch of other articles at the end of this post. Support your local abortion fund.
Monica Lewinsky Is (Reluctantly) Revisiting ‘That Woman’: Really liked this profile of Monica in the lead up to the new season of American Crime Story, which is about the Bill Clinton Impeachment. Monica is a producer on the show, and I’m very excited to watch.
The 9/11 Museum and Its Discontents: There are always so many articles making their way around the internet in the lead up to this day. I find a lot of them hard to read, for obvious reasons. I thought this one, about the 9/11 museum in New York, was very interesting.
Things I Watched
TV
Only Murders in the Building: I am loving this. Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez play neighbors who are all obsessed with true crime podcasts, and then start trying to solve a case when someone in their building dies. This has similar vibes to Knives Out, but I think a little less campy and more traditionally comedic. It’s so funny, I’m very invested in the mystery, and it is just a joy to watch. Father of the Bride is a Gilbert family favorite, so I was very excited for this. It’s living up to the hype! It’s very rare for all four of my family members to like the same show, but this is one of those times. First four episodes are out and it’s now being released weekly, on Hulu.
The Other Two: I think this might be the funniest show on TV. The first season was really good, but the second one is currently airing and it has me DYING every week. It is so painfully accurate, just an absolute roast of millennial internet culture. It’s about two siblings, Brooke and Cary, who are barely making ends meet and then have to deal with their younger brother becoming famous overnight. Molly Shannon plays their mother and should win awards for this performance. I cannot express enough how incredibly, incredibly funny this show is. Just so good. On HBO Max.
Dr. Death: This is based on the very popular podcast of the same name, about a neurosurgeon who was eventually convicted of purposely harming, and sometimes killing, his patients. I did listen to the podcast, but honestly, I wanted to watch this because it stars Joshua Jackson (Pacey from Dawson’s Creek) who I really like. This man is a great celeb and I am also obsessed with his wife and their relationship (please read this interview with him, this is a good celeb husband everyone.) Anyway, I thought the show was fine. I was very engaged and watched it very quickly, but I don’t think it was actually that good. Alec Baldwin is in it, a definite con (he sucks and is not a good dramatic actor). If you liked the podcast, I think you’d probably like this. Though I will say, I watch *a lot* of hospital dramas, but some of the surgery shots in this grossed me OUT. It’s on Peacock, for free!
Good Trouble: Another good show that no one is watching!! I love this. It’s technically a spin off from The Fosters, but I never watched that and it really does not matter. This one is about Callie and Marianna, two sisters who move to LA and end up accidentally living in a group home/shared living situation. So the show follows them and all their new roommates as they navigate being in their mid-twenties. It’s so good, the diversity of stories here is unlike anything I’ve ever seen on TV, and there’s so much good drama all the time. It touches on real and serious issues without feeling like it’s trying too hard, and it’s also very funny a lot of the time. The third season just ended and it’s already been renewed for another, which is good because literally every single story line ended in a cliff hanger! If you liked The Bold Type, or you loved Freeform shows when you were in high school like I did, then you will like this. On Hulu.
Movies
Step Up: A classic. This film was formative to my childhood. I hadn’t seen it in years and it really holds up. Once again: I would let Channing Tatum ruin my life. There is a reason they made like 17 more of these. I watched this for free with ads on Tubi, but you can also rent it from any of the usual places.
Things I Bought
American Eagle pants: I really love these linen pants that I bought a few weeks ago, so this week I also bought these. They aren’t exactly the same, but they are similar! I bought both in the same size, but the linen ones stretch out more as you wear them. If you’re on the fence, I’d size up in the linen ones and down in the vacay ones. Both are very on sale!
Bath and Body Works candles: These are currently buy two, get two free. I split that with a friend and got Leaves (a classic) and The Perfect Autumn. Happy fall!
One Last Thing…
I have been writing these for almost a year (!), so I’ve recommended a lot of things at this point. I want to start keeping running lists for my *favorite* things, and these will be easy to refer back to if you are ever looking for a recommendation. You’ll all be shocked that, for my first one, I wrote up a comprehensive list of all the romance novels I recommend (and also an explanation for why I love them so much). I combed through my Goodreads shelves from the last 3+ years, and I will keep this updated as I read more. There are 65+ books on this list, several different categories, truly something for everybody. Everyone read a romance novel! They are good!
That’s it for me! I hope you all have a good week.
TTYL,
Emily