My friend Chase (who I also coincidentally ran into this past weekend in Montreal) once complimented me by saying that I was very punctual. I have let myself down with my lateness this week, and I apologize. I’m sure my 10+ fans were concerned: Where is our leader? How will we proceed with our weeks without knowing what she’s read? I’m here now. Sh. It’s going to be ok.
The Starving Saints by Caitlin Starling
I feel like this book wasn’t meant to be read on a Kindle. The claustrophobia of the castle, the smells, the indignities of life in the Middle Ages–they felt undercut by the experience of reading digitally. I wanted an ornate cover, heavy pages, maybe a pressed flower or two.
I liked the parts of this book about systems of discovery best. The author seemed to be asking: is it best to follow a structured system with clear metrics and reproducible outcomes? (The book says no.) Or is it better to listen to unbridled intuition, even if the process is isolating and super messy bordering on disgusting? And I thought the book’s use of cannibalism–the one horror tool I typically shy away from–was purposeful and interesting.
That being said, reading The Starving Saints felt sort of like wandering around in a dream you’d have after reading a dense philosophical book about capitalism and ownership. There was lots of blurry logic about ownership, trading, and territory that I enjoyed but that felt underdeveloped. And, like many books, I thought this one dragged for too long in the middle, which wasn’t helped by the fact that it switched between three perspectives. 3/5
Problematic Summer Romance by Ali Hazelwood
I had a new and different experience in the Upper East Side Barnes & Noble reading this book on the floor. Two employees approached me and asked me to move—very nicely, but still. I can’t remember ever speaking directly to a Barnes & Noble employee. Not sure how I feel about all of this.
I needed this book at this moment. I had a stressful, shitty day and I needed to disassociate for 1.5 hours. And that’s exactly what I did. I went along with Ali Hazelwood to Italy via a pretty convincing older-brother’s-best-friend romance that took extreme pains to dissect the power imbalances implicit within such an arrangement. Once again, none of my business if Hazelwood is being a little tiresome with her moral explanations–I’m here for the relationship arc and–say it with me–the chemistry. 4.5/5 romance stars
Make Me Famous by Maud Ventura
I was so excited to read this one because, like everyone else in the world, I was obsessed with My Husband, Maud Ventura’s first book. I read Make Me Famous while I was also watching Love Thy Nader. Love Thy Nader is unapologetically The Kardashians 2.0. It’s actually insulting: Hulu truly just upgraded to a new family of hot young model sisters. The most interesting character on Love Thy Nader is Brooks, the oldest sister whose success has carried her younger sisters along. (You can think of her as the Kim.) Brooks and her sisters repeatedly share Brooks’ origin myth: she always, always wanted to be a famous model. The why is unclear or unimportant. She was the perfect companion watch for Make Me Famous, wherein the main character, Cleo, is singularly and constantly obsessed with being famous.
I loved Cleo’s character. She’s a total monster and probably a sociopath: she bullies and manipulates shamelessly, she refuses to understand how anyone could ever want a normal or quiet life, she views herself as a God-like figure with unreal talent. She was so fun to follow and root against. I think if the book faltered at all, it was in the ending where Cleo’s comeuppance struck me as too moralizing to fit with the rest of the story. I love authors who write well about obsession, and Maud Ventura is unassailably excellent at it. 4.5/5