What I Read in April

and what I bought during Independent Bookstore Day and my Met Gala thoughts

This is coming to you later than I was hoping, I’ve had a very busy and fun first week of May. It was nice to reflect back on what I read in April. I don’t typically read this many books, so this was a good way of remembering what I read and why I liked or disliked them. Oh! And if you wanted to hear my Met Gala Thoughts™️ make sure you scroll to the bottom of this newsletter. I didn’t feel like I knew enough to write an entire newsletter about it, plus the news cycle has already moved on which is fair, but two people did ask and I am here to please!

In the Margins: On the Pleasures of Reading and Writing by Elena Ferrante

I talked about this in an earlier newsletter so I won’t bore you with anything you haven’t already heard. I enjoyed it so much that I read another of her works right after finishing this one.

Troubling Love by Elena Ferrante

Inspired by the above reading experience, I picked up Ferrante’s first novel. I was expecting to love this since I prefer her earlier works to the Neapolitan Quartet (or what I’ve read of it so far, which is just the first book), but I found that Delia’s storyline didn’t capture my attention the way Lena’s did in The Lost Daughter or the way Olga’s did in The Days of Abandonment. In Troubling Love we follow Delia as she goes on a journey through her childhood home of Naples to get to the bottom of her mothers sudden passing. The first third of the book is full of mystery and great internal dialogue, but then it sort of derails into this fever dream that I had a lot of trouble keeping up with.

Spring by Ali Smith

This is the third book in Smith’s Seasonal Quartet, and perhaps my favorite. Each of these books examine the current political state of Britain through the lives of ordinary people. It is so cool to read a fictional novel that’s so closely related to the news cycle it’s released during. Other books try to do this, but they don’t have the same finesse that Smith has. When you first read her novel’s you get carried away with her meandering thoughts and original prose, but Smith ties them up so beautifully, and in Spring she flexes this literary muscle best. The novel follows a few different characters that all end up crossing paths. Richard is a writer and director. He has an imaginary daughter and his closest friend is now dead. Brit works at an immigration facility in London. Florence is a young girl looking for a place on the front of a post card.

“…after she’s dead she’s going to come back every year as a blossom on a tree.

And if you die before me, he says, I will spend all the time I’m alive and not with you negotiating the various time differences across the world so that I can spend as much time as a man possibly can on this planet in the springtime, in search of you.”

Worry by Alexandra Tanner

This is Tanner’s debut novel. After reading the synopsis online and seeing it’s beautiful front cover I knew I wanted to read it. The novel follows two sisters through a bleak life in New York City. The story starts when Poppy moves into the second bedroom of her older sister Jules’s apartment, which she and her ex used to use as an office. Their mother, who is awful and absurd, insists that they bring out the worst in each other and that the two of them living together is a bad idea. Jules spends most of her time stalking Mormon Mommy Instagram accounts, which means you’re going to be reading a lot of weird conspiracy theories from these make believe Facebook accounts. A big reason I’ve picked up reading is to escape my phone, so this book just wasn’t for me. I also found the sister and mom dynamics cartoonish at times. Oh, and the ending is atrocious.

They’re Going to Love You by Meg Howrey

This book was recommended to me by two of my closest friends so I had very high expectations and they were definitely met. The novel follows Carlisle, the daughter of two former ballerina’s Isabel and Robert. The time line bounces between a younger, more naive, Carlisle visiting her father’s home on Bank Street which he shares with his partner James, and an older Carlisle who hasn’t seen her father in 19 years. Throughout the story, it is slowly revealed to us what caused this falling out and how it has shaped all her relationships. Howrey is a former ballerina, which explains why this book is so captivating. She writes about dance in such a beautiful way, one that is approachable and elaborate all at once.

Spoilers sorta, skip the quotes if you’d rather go in blind

“Sometimes I think about my father and touch my chest, as if I might find there the talisman, the dark jewel of my not forgiving, not being forgiven.”

“My father’s body, not to be replaced. He will die and this rope of tension between us will go slack. I will pull one more time and fall backward.”

“Good person, bad person. Success, failure. Outside, inside. These are danceable truths. To be flesh of his flesh, blood of his blood. That’s danceable too. But the work of my life has been to ask undanceable questions and find a way to make ballets out of them. There’s nothing to do with this dance but be still.”

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Indie bookstore day purchases

My mom and I drove up the Connecticut coast hitting 8 of the 21 bookstores participating in the festivities and we had the best time. 7 of the 10 books are used which makes me feel better about this absurdly big haul.

• The Virgin Suicides by Jefferey Eugenides - I’ve already read this but my sister has my copy and this hardback was super cute so I took it home.

• Metamorphosis and Other Stories by Franz Kafka

• The Lying Life of Adults by Elena Ferrante

• Stoner by John Williams

• Jazz by Toni Morrison

• The Final Club by Geoffrey Wolff - I picked this up because I thought the Wolff was referring to none other than Virginia, but when I read the back and learned that it was about a public school kid who attends and elite college and meets a mysterious group that welcomes him in I knew I would emjoy this story, and for 3 bucks it was coming home with me

• Happy Place by Emily Henry - I read Beach Read back in the summer of 2020 so I’m not that behind i swear, i was just waiting for the paperback to come out because it goes so well with the first three books on my shelf.

• Boulder by Eva Baltasar

• Home by Dark by Pam Brown - I picked up this poetry collection for $5 because I don’d read or have much poetry and I liked the title and cover of this.

• Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe - Decided to stray from the fiction section in this store.

  

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Met Gala Thoughts™️

The first Monday in May! Last year I missed my bus stop because I was so engrossed by my phone, looking at what everyone was wearing. This year I just wasn’t as excited for obvious reasons. However, a few of you asked, so I will share my opinions!!

A list of what I liked:

Elle Fanning in Balmain was so beautiful, she looked like she should have been standing in the middle of the Trevi fountain. I loved Jeff Goldblum’s look so much! His accessories were perfect: the sunglasses and matching reading glasses in his jacket pocket, the broaches, the Tiffany watch! Josh O’Connors neck beard. Mike Faist’s radish (turnip?). Tyla’s look, Kylie and Kendall’s look, Isabelle Hupper’s look. And thank you god for Zendaya!!!!

Important Social Post’s from the night:

Jeff Goldblum flirting with Tefi, Relax It's Only Fashion Review, THE Loewe TikTok, and Beerbottles_chainsaws obviously!

This video of Pamela Anderson:

pamelaanderson

A post shared by @pamelaanderson

Anna’s look for this years Met was the best she’s done in a while.

ideservecouture

A post shared by @ideservecouture

Every year Alexa Chung doesn’t attend is a bad year for fashion.

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That’s all for today! Thank you for reading. I love you all.