I love book social media. Blogs, bookstagram, Twitter, the book subreddit…you name it, I’m on it and I love interacting with the different communities and seeing what everyone’s reading. Inevitably, though, each community tends to flock around the same handful of books – bookstagram’s always looking for the next trendy read and has It Books of the moment like Circe or Three Women, while /r/books tends to be more scifi/fantasy focused and has favorites like The Hitchhiker’s Guide and Master and the Margarita.
Sometimes they become a bit like echo chambers as people repeatedly recommend the same books, so I appreciate this prompt for reminding us to highlight great books that don’t get discussed as much. So below, three books I read or reread in the past year and enjoyed immensely.
The Starless Sea is a love letter to books and readers, a masterpiece of stories within a story where fables of pirates and princesses converge with the saga of Zachary Ezra Rawlins, the son of a fortune teller.
⭐⭐
Rating: 2 out of 5.
Unpopular opinion: I didn’t like this book much at all.
When I read The Night Circus, I was absolutely entranced by the world Morgenstern had created – I love fantasy and read plenty of it, and yet I don’t think I’d encountered anything like her writing before. Were there were some imperfections? Of course. You could call out her characters for being a little flat and the plot not quite satisfying at the end, but those paled in comparison to the imagination of her traveling circus.
Sadly, even her world building couldn’t make up for the flaws in The Starless Sea.
How was your week? Mine was very up and down. Some days were good days and I felt energized enough to put on a dress and a little makeup for no one other than me. Other days were a little tougher – being cooped up and only able to see the perfect weather outside has made me so restless. I want to be out there, maybe at the local farmer’s market picking up a cheese for dinner, or passing by the local dog park and hearing all the happy barks. Instead, indoors me has been kind of sad and mopey. Some days I wear my glasses all day instead of putting in contacts (my form of sweatpants), and on Wednesday I straight up crawled into bed at 2pm and took a 2 hour nap. In the middle of the workday! (I did feel great afterwards)
Happy to say I’m still reading though, and a few more things I’ve been up to this week…
What I’m reading
Where the Crawdads Sing, by Delia Owens – A fun, light read and I can see why so many people loved it. I’m looking forward to the movie adaptation!
The Four Tendencies, by Gretchen Rubin – This book has made me feel understood in a way I’ve never felt before. Definitely getting a good review from me.
What I’m watching
The Crown, Season 1 – I’m super late to the party but I finally picked it up and am really enjoying it! Currently on episode 6, in which Princess Margaret’s potential marriage causes a national scandal and is now hanging in the balance. There’s so much great acting, and I can’t get over how much Matt Smith (of Doctor Who fame) looks like the actual Prince Phillip back in the day.
New Girl, Season 2 – I’m always watching through some sitcom or other – I like turning it on during dinner/after work and be guaranteed some laughs. Currently it’s New Girl, which is so underrated in my opinion. The cast is hilarious! Cece and Schmidt better end up together in the end.
Animal Crossing
Almost a month in, my obsession with this game is finally waning 😆 I’ve completed the main objective now (inviting a famous musician to play on my island), so from this point on it’s self-directed and more about polishing up my island and making it look nice. It’s still fun and adorable.
Around town
And finally…just several fun links from around the web that made me smile.
I love these Trader Joe’s reviews. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I miss the chaos of shopping at TJ’s!
Getting very excited about the upcoming Dune movie.
What Sex and the City would look like today. I’ve only seen clips of the show before, but these modern-day scenarios are perfect.
This pandemic is affecting all of us differently, and I hope with all of my heart everyone is safe and healthy, no matter where you are. Be gentle with yourself during this time. It’s ok to be anxious or stressed.
It’s hard to believe that I’ve been in quarantine for 6 weeks now, going into week 7. The virus has hit NYC hard. My office started WFH a little earlier than most, which was reassuring and appreciated, but also means I’ve been stir crazy a little longer than most 🙂 I’m not usually an anxious person, but these days I always find myself stressed about something, so I’ve been trying to take my advice and be generous and gentle with myself. Like giving myself a break from my constant need to be productive. Letting myself feel any anger or frustration or anxiety. Even binge-playing Animal Crossing for hours (does anyone else here play? Let’s be friends!).
While everyone seems to be baking bread or doing plenty of quarantine cooking otherwise, I’ve picked up yoga. I’d never particularly enjoyed it before, but now I’m finding my daily practice incredibly soothing and meditative. I’m hoping to continue it even after our lockdown lifts.
Some quarantine reading…
My reading has been a little distracted lately, but four books I’ve finished are:
Born a Crime, by Trevor Noah – Really enjoyed this! I wrote up a review here.
The Starless Sea, by Erin Morgenstern – So, so disappointing.
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone, by Lori Gottlieb – This was a great read. I like reading her columns in NYTimes and The Atlantic, and her book was hard to put down.
No Time to Spare, by Ursula Le Guin – Le Guin’s writing never fails to impress me. This was my first exposure to her nonfiction work and she’s a startlingly lucid, eloquent writer!
Have you read anything good recently? I’d love to hear any quarantine routines you’ve started as well.
The compelling, inspiring, and comically sublime story of a young mans coming-of-age, set during the twilight of apartheid and the tumultuous days of freedom that followed
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Wow, you guys. This book made my jaw drop open MULTIPLE times while reading it. I had zero idea what a loaded, difficult, and traumatic childhood Trevor Noah experienced growing up.
I listen to a lot of podcasts – a lot! – so I started a series rounding up the most interesting episodes I’ve heard recently. And I’m really enjoying these podcast roundups! This week, I learned about the amazing artistry and customization that went into the music of Seinfeld, one way to get to Mars that everyone’s overlooking, and super creepy Victorian Christmas cards.
In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe is a strange child—not powerful, like her father, nor viciously alluring like her mother. Turning to the world of mortals for companionship, she discovers that she does possess power—the power of witchcraft, which can transform rivals into monsters and menace the gods themselves.
Threatened, Zeus banishes her to a deserted island, where she hones her occult craft, tames wild beasts and crosses paths with many of the most famous figures in all of mythology, including the Minotaur, Daedalus and his doomed son Icarus, the murderous Medea, and, of course, wily Odysseus.
But there is danger, too, for a woman who stands alone, and Circe unwittingly draws the wrath of both men and gods, ultimately finding herself pitted against one of the most terrifying and vengeful of the Olympians. To protect what she loves most, Circe must summon all her strength and choose, once and for all, whether she belongs with the gods she is born from, or the mortals she has come to love.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4.5 out of 5.
A little late in reviewing, but this was one of my favorite reads last year! I’m a sucker for any kind of mythology so I had a feeling I would already like this, but it turned out even better than expected. Miller is so damn good at weaving together her story that I couldn’t put it down (I tore through it in 2 days!), and even though Circe wasn’t much of a character to me at first, I was thoroughly cheering for her by the end.
Mossflower Cove 