Back in July, the New York Times published their picks for the Top 100 Books of the 21st Century. The book they awarded sixth place to was 2666, a sprawling, postmodern epic by the late Chilean author Roberto Bolano. A complex, nontraditional narrative, 2666 is divided into five parts, with each part being linked by one or two things: first) the Mexican city of Santa Teresa, a fictionalized version of the real world Ciudad Juarez, and second) a reclusive author known only by their pseudonym Archimboldi. Reader discretion advised: much of this book is influenced by the wave of violent crimes that affected Juarez in the 90s and 2000s, and as such has themes that might make some readers uncomfortable.
Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass By Lana Del Rey
If you want something simple yet beautiful to read after a long day, Lana Del Rey debuts her poetry. She’s always said she’s a poet first and a singer second. If you enjoy her music, her poetry is the lyrics before the melody. She’s vulnerable, honest, and as reflective as always. In her vulnerability, she allows the readers to be reflective and comfortable through their own vulnerability. She points out the sorrows of life that are needed for the beauty to work and shine alongside it.
The whole time I was reading this book, I assumed that the plot had been inspired by the 2020 pandemic. Turns out, it was written three years before the pandemic ever happened! It intrigues me to think about someone having read this book before 2020, and then having read it again post 2020. I know that my own personal experience with the pandemic has affected the way I visualized the plot unfold. In “Sleeping Beauties,” women everywhere fall prey to the “Aurora,” a presumed sickness that makes women fall asleep and become shrouded by a cocoon-like gauze. If the gauze is cut or the woman is disturbed, the women become feral and violent, mauling anyone in their path. As all the women on Earth fall asleep over the course of a week, only one woman, Evie, retains the ability to sleep and wake as she pleases. As you would assume, especially from all our experiences with the pandemic, those that remain awake react to the Aurora and the state of the women with varying degrees of mania, insanity, grief, and brutality. A worldwide disaster really does reveal the depths of humanity’s depravity, and the men’s reactions in the book to Evie’s existence do not follow counter to what you might expect from the desperate. Made much more believable a plot to me after having experienced the height and extremity of the pandemic, this book is a great read for fans of post-apocalyptic plots and supernatural disasters.
Indian-ish: Recipes and Antics from a Modern American Family by Priya Krishna
I love eating Indian food, but I’ve never attempted to make it myself. As an avid watcher of Bon Appetit, NYT, and food network recipe videos, I've watched Priya show me how to make simplified Indian dishes on Youtube for many years, but it wasn’t until I checked this book out that I finally decided to make one of her recipes. I made the Saag Paneer, but with Feta and let me tell you, IT WAS DELICIOUS and really not that hard! If you want to try your hand at Indian dishes in an approachable way, I highly recommend checking out this book.
As Halloween is on the horizon, what better time than now to start reading paranormal romance? Our heroine, Cassie Greenberg, is a struggling artist looking for a new place to live. She finds an ad one day that sounds too good to be true. It is everything she wants and more, but her roommate to-be, Frederick J. Fitzwilliam, is a little…weird. He sleeps all day and he doesn’t seem to know what kind of food or cookware one needs to make a meal. Frederick has not stepped out of last century, being a vampire and all, and decides to enlist Cassie’s help to learn how to be a normal, young, human. The writing gives off the “very cutesy, very demure” vibes that are currently trending on BookTok. This was an enjoyable read, providing laughs, sweetness, and fun. The second book in the series, My Vampire Plus One, was released on September 17th. While you do not have to read this first book, it promises cute, paranormal, romantasy vibes.
Craft: Stories I Wrote for the Devil by Ananda Lima
A young woman meets the Devil at a Halloween party and she ends up sleeping with him. Over the years she encounters him again and again. She writes him stories about bizarre impossibilities and unexplainable occurrences that she experiences in life. Those stories are what make up this book. If you hadn't already guessed, this book is magical realism. Though written in one voice and following an interconnected narrative, this book had a lot to say about life and the world we in a really beautiful and different way. Some words I have seen associated with this book were: haunted, strange, impossible, intimate and hungry. I would add magical.
Recommended by Annie
Recommended by Christa
Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown
If you have dozens of priorities, then none of them really are. I’m inclined to say this is a must-read for all humans - it is! But I’ll bring that into clearer focus: this is a must read for anyone wanting to hone their discernment for what is essential and what is trivial, and to start putting that into practice.
McKeown elaborates on how one must sacrifice some endeavors and opportunities in order to unveil one’s “highest point of contribution,” which can be directed onto the things that really matter for you, your family, job, etc. He reminds us that side quests are permissible, but not obligatory. This book can help you reject, or at least temper, both the feelings of drowning in to-dos and FOMO (fear of missing out).
For fans of Henry Cavill and those looking to get into that classic medieval-style fantasy, I can’t recommend The Last Wish enough. Before reading it, I was a little nervous about entering the world of The Witcher–after all, fantasy is often linked with complicated plots and names that are certainly unique. I was pleasantly surprised by the straightforward nature of this novel. The Last Wish serves as an introduction into Sapkowski’s acclaimed series with multiple interlinked short stories, providing snapshots of how the series’ main characters met and the types of creatures a reader can expect to encounter.
After being purposely infected with a bioweapon that’s slowly transforming him from a human into something more…monstrous, Benji escapes the cult that raised him – though his newfound allies don’t know of his connection to the people who destroyed the world around them. I found the way White describes Benji’s slow transition from human to creature really interesting, especially as the infection begins to alter his way of thinking in addition to the physical symptoms prevalent from the book’s beginning. While the heavy ties to religion – and religious trauma – are definitely not for everyone, I adored the prevalence of queer representation, as well as the way the characters themselves are presented. I would, however, recommend looking at a list of potential trigger warnings; the book, while it handles itself very well, does delve into potentially triggering topics – such as transphobia – and features a lot of horror elements.
This sports drama tells the inspirational true story of the University of Washington junior varsity rowing team, and the team’s quest to represent the United States at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. The boys were sons of loggers, shipyard workers and farmers competing against rowing teams from elite eastern universities. A large focus of the story is on Joe Rantz, a poor engineering student, and Al Ulbrickson, the enigmatic coach.
The film was produced and directed by George Clooney and is based on the bestselling 2013 nonfiction book by Daniel James Brown. Reviews of the movie were mixed, but if you like underdog sports stories, this film is for you.
Every 4 years in America the same hectic, months-long, and often laughable process starts anew. I’m of course speaking of my quad-annual rewatch of Veep. This one may have been easy to miss when it was premiering behind HBO’s paywall, and, for that reason, I don’t think Veep quite gets the respect it deserves when people discuss the best sitcoms of the 21st century. Sharply written and immensely funny, this satirical take on our nation’s government is one of my favorites to revisit time after time because it’s as poignant now as it was when it premiered in 2012. I highly recommend Veep to anyone that is a fan of The Office, 30 Rock, or Arrested Development. Veep borrows many of the same comedic tendencies from those shows and uses the uncensored platform of HBO to push the envelope even farther. Julia Louis-Dreyfus is one of the best to ever do it and that is plainly evident in her performance here which is bolstered by excellent writing and a stellar supporting cast.
This album has really grown on me over the summer since it’s been released. Gracie Abrams worked on this with producer Aaron Dessner, who is a member of the band The National and has worked with Taylor Swift and Bon Iver, and you can really feel his influence on this album. There’s a specific acoustic rawness that comes with her songwriting, and it shines in songs like “I Love You, I’m Sorry,” while still giving us more traditional upbeat pop songs in her tracklist like “Risk” and “Close To You.” Gracie is a newer artist, having only been in the scene for four years, but she has grown so much since her first EP. I definitely think she’s an artist that deserves more listens!
Join our virtual film discussion. Watch the movie beforehand on Kanopy and then join us on Zoom to talk about it. If you need help using Zoom, see our guide here.
Join our virtual film discussion. Watch the movie beforehand on Kanopy and then join us on Zoom to talk about it. If you need help using Zoom, see our guide here.
