Hello! I’m here, somehow.
While 2024 was busy batting me about like a colossal cosmic cat playing with a ball of tinfoil, the rest of the world kept turning. Despite the horrors, I experienced glimmers of joy.
The Books
The Crescent City series by Sarah J. Maas. I am something of an old hag in the fandom that has BookTok on its knees, having read SJM's Throne of Glass series in 2019 and the infamous ACOTAR shortly after. Back in January, I had the pleasure of attending an SJM costume party complete with themed jello shots, a PowerPoint presentation about biblically accurate zodiac signs of SJM characters, a Velaris cake(!), and a bunch of really lovely likeminded fans willing to debate the merits of fictional men with me. I listened to the CC1 and CC2 audiobooks in preparation for the party, and raged about CC3's weaknesses in the party group chat afterward. I can't say I recommend the series itself (despite being emotionally attached to its characters), but I can recommend SJM's books as your easiest social lubricant since almost everyone is on the SJM journey right now. Even if you don't quite *get* what romantasy is all about, you'll have a ticket to enter a lovely reading community that has granted me many fortifying friendships!
Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah. Obviously one of the best books I will read this year, in all its brutality and horror. It posits a not-so-distant future where the US carceral system also comes with its own league of death matches, in which inmates are pitted against each other in Battle Royale-style fights to the death. It's horrible and fascinating, and you "cannot applaud [this novel]...without getting blood on your hands."
Rot Party by Bex Frankeberger. Books Are Magic bookseller Bex, whose “staff picks” cosmically align with my own reading taste, put out this weird and delightful little book of one-sentence translations from Antigone. Can’t recommend it enough.
Monster romances. My brain has been beyond fried. I have been reading the likes of Kathryn Moon and Lillian Lark, almost exclusively for the past two months. As always, my dms are open to discuss.
Non-Books
Independent Bookstore Day. Our national celebration of indie bookstores annually falls on the last Saturday in April, which means it almost always bookends my birthday! This year, I found myself browsing through The Drama Bookshop's libretti after a choir rehearsal forced me to midtown on a weekend. Some fellow sopranos and I meandered downtown for a light dinner at the picturesque but impractically organized bookstore/cafe/wine bar Bibliotheque, where the star of the show was the bathroom wallpaper composed of wine labels.
The Grief Hotel. This Clubbed Thumb production put on at The Public Theater hit me in the guts. "Grieving strands your mind somewhere behind the present; your experience can't 'catch up with reality,' and so you’re in pain, such terrible pain, because the one thing you can’t achieve is 'a more controlled experience of time.'"
Flowers. What a concept! Plant life is in fact delightful, should you choose to notice it.
Fancy lattes and teas. On my toughest days, I lured myself outside with the promise of a little drink to keep me company while I stared listlessly at the world. Standout beverages of recent months include the salted honey latte over ice from Land to Sea, which has a robust after hours life I'd like to join; matcha plum soda from adorable Japanese snackshop 3rd Floor; pistachio cream latte from my favorite new local spot Joy Coffee & Treats, augmented by their dill and cheese buns; espresso cream latte from Ten Thousand Coffee, which feels like an AI-driven Blank Street competitor but damn is their shit tasty; and the pear brown sugar latte from Rhythm Zero, an intimidatingly beautiful storefront that looks more like a museum than a coffee shop. Now that days are lighter and brighter, I'm always happy to share a cuppa with a pal.
White Collar. It is VILE how many of you have let me sleep on this stupid little heist show for this long. Unforgivable! It is the only TV I am interested in watching.
Hope to chat again sooner rather than later. Kisses!