Worth It #10
the very best of what I'm reading + watching + listening to
Welcome to Worth It, a weeklymonthly(ish) round-up of the very best of what I’m reading, watching, listening to, and occasionally even cooking. Only the things absolutely worth your valuable minutes.
Because I’m not Lauren Groff, who in this NYT profile estimates that she reads 300 books a year (including Moby Dick in a SINGLE DAY),1 I have a mere three books for you today.
This week’s sampler platter: One that dishes up all the feels, one that is Sopranos-level intense, and one provocative lady-power allegory. As my children are fond of saying, “Let’s gooooo!”
Amazing Grace Adams, Fran Littlewood
It’s no secret that books make me cry sometimes. So do hummingbirds! I am who I am.
But wow, this one found me at exactly the right/wrong time. A mother who is a bit of a train wreck walks across the city, trying to make it to her estranged daughter’s 16th birthday. Everything goes wrong. It’s very Fleishman Is in Trouble, in that midlife crises feature prominently.2
Everyone else in my house was asleep when I got to the last few chapters, so in the privacy of my living room I put this book down on the sofa and sobbed from. the. chest. Clearly I had some things to work through.
I cannot predict how this novel will affect you, but I made a chart, complete with a single shiny tear, to illustrate my best guess.
Age of Vice, Deepti Kapoor
Much like the aforementioned Lauren Groff’s book Fates and Furies, this novel relates the same scenes from the perspective of various characters—the son of a prominent (and dangerous) Indian gangster, that son’s servant, and that son’s love interest. The first half (mostly from the servant’s perspective) is utterly captivating. It goes on a little too long I think, but I still recommend it. Juicy, dark, razor-sharp.
When Women Were Dragons, Kelly Barnhill
I have so many things to say about quasi-political allegories! But I am pushing my word limit for this edition of Worth It. Basically, women in the 1950s are spontaneously turning into dragons, but various social forces conspire to cover this up. The lady dragons are considered dangerous (of course they are!). It gives off Salem Witch Trials vibes. Allegories always run the risk of didacticism (like an Aesop’s-fable-style lesson: this is what happens when you don’t let people be different), and this one flirts with it toward the end. But so provocative! Because this is what happens when you don’t let people be different!3
And now, a few questions. (Help make Worth It even more worth it!)
Moving on!
I read every word of this fascinating article in The Atlantic profiling Mitt Romney and pulling back the curtain on the US Senate. Mitt is so much more interesting than I gave him credit for!
“A man gets some people around him and begins to oppress and dominate others,” he said the first time he showed me the map. “It’s a testosterone-related phenomenon, perhaps. I don’t know. But in the history of the world, that’s what happens.” America’s experiment in self-rule “is fighting against human nature.”
Whew! Hang in there, Democracy!!
Somehow I didn’t make a banner for “A Song,” but here are some music things and then accidentally, a movie thing.
During my smartphone-less months, I went down the rabbit hole of 90s-era alt-rock radio. And let me tell you, the Smashing Pumpkins? They stand the test of time. Likewise: Better Than Ezra, the Goo Goo Dolls, Gin Blossoms, Pearl Jam. Oasis, yes! The Cranberries, yes! (The Red Hot Chili Peppers, not so much. IMHO!!)4
I went from 6 to 16 in the 1990s. Merely looking at the album covers sends me back into a haze of Teen Angst. (Little did I know, it was not just Teen Angst! It was Your-Whole-Life Angst! Lolsob.5)
(Barely) related: Have you seen the Barbie movie? Because the scene involving Matchbox 20’s 90s song “Push” is one of the funniest movie moments I’ve ever seen. (Yes, I am more than 2 months late on The Barbie Discourse, but it’s an actual miracle that I saw a movie in a theater, so I’m assuming some other parents out there are just now getting to it.)
But be careful… the movie has some heat to it! Which is to say, they6 won’t be happy until we’re all gay!!
Until next time!
I once had dinner with Lauren Groff. (I was a thousand weeks pregnant **with twins.** In retrospect, the black-and-white polka dots are giving cow vibes.)
Skip it, I guess, if you don’t like salty language. I saw a review that was like “how many times can someone say the f-word?!?” and I was like “this book said the f-word?!?” Desensitization: complete.
They grow fangs!
Also not holding up for me: No Doubt, Bush, Live, Barenaked Ladies (ew, no), NIRVANA. I said what I said!!!
As the youths say.
Greta Gerwig, I guess? The Hollywood Industrial Complex?! LIBS!
but for real, how do we become friends with greta? (also, i haven't seen it. i'm stupidly waiting for the dvd because i want ALL THE BONUS FEATURES. & hopefully a director's cut. and also movies are $$$$$$ these days and i spend all my $$$$$$$$$$ on books. you know.). :)