Open Tabs #25
03.16.25 -- reading, watching, listening, googling
Welcome to this week’s edition of Open Tabs, where I share my current reads, recent obsessions, and media consumptions every Sunday!
Seasonal transitions are always a strange time. If you are someone who also feels greatly affected by the seasons—by the changing light and temperature of the days—then you might understand what I mean. Jumping between cold and warm, dark and light, confuses my brain, so I am either very tired or very on edge. All of this to say: the days are suddenly much longer and I missed last week’s letter (related?). But that means I have a lot more books to mention today! Also, more book stuff soon.
Reading [Books]
Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors
This follows 3 sisters as they come together 1 year after their 4th sister’s death. It’s a very slow-moving novel about sisterhood, grief, addiction, and dysfunctional family dynamics. All things that I would typically want in a novel, so I liked it just fine (enough to finish). But overall, I thought it was boring/mediocre and a little too long. Something about the earnestness of it all and the general voice…it felt a little too cheesy to take it seriously.
Ways of Seeing by John Berger
This is one of those books that gets referenced constantly, and I want to read some of Berger’s other work. So I figured I’d jump into this short one real quick. It’s available in website format, which I thought was cool.
Females by Andrea Long Chu
The people of goodreads do not like this one, and Chu wrote an afterword for the latest edition that attempts to…soften the delivery? I’m not sure. But I thought this was a really interesting perspective on gender. If you’re going to read this, I’d recommend prepping with Valerie Solanas’ SCUM Manifesto, which is essentially what this book is in response to (or just in conversation with).
Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Moreno-Garcia writes such a wide variety of genre lit, so her work is pretty hit or miss with me. But I listened to this on audio and really enjoyed it (though I imagine I would have been less enthralled had I been “reading”).
Reading [Online]
Just picking a few things out of my long-neglected bookmarks.
A Serious Woman by Vivian Gornick (Lux Mag)
“I thanked the daily effort, my gratitude profuse. I saw what by now I’d seen many times before: It wasn’t the writing itself that was everything, it was sitting down to it every day that was everything. It’s the miserable daily effort that is everything. It is when I am honoring it that I become a woman still set on inhabiting a serious life.”
Reminder: sit down and write!
It’s All in the Angles by Haley Mlotek (The Nation)
“And a woman who will write book after book and essay upon essay without ever claiming her own loyalties is a Joan Didion.”
Just thought this little quip was funny.
Watching [TV]
My Brilliant Friend (season 4)
I’ve finally finished watching the full series! For the most part, it’s true to the book(s), and follows the story quite well. Though this final season does seem the least faithful to the book—that might just by my memory failing me though. For me, the final book gave the entire series a lot more impact as a singular work. Whereas this final season of the TV adaptation technically followed the storyline, but of course was missing a lot of the sentences and context that brings everything together. But overall, if you love The Neapolitan Quartet and want a want a way to revisit the story, I highly recommend the show.
Watching [YouTube]
I love putting on those little ambient videos while I work or read or sleep. My favorites lately are this forest sounds one and this rainy one. And this library sounds one is always nice when I’m writing.
Listening [Music]
Marginalia III
Speaking of ambience…I’m listening to this a lot, especially when waking up or while trying to drown out the Airbnb upstairs sleep.
Listening [Podcast]
Googling
Gloriavale
Purple noon
Niacinamide
Baking
I went the easy route this week and tried this almond flour banana muffin mix. They were actually really delicious and moist!
Last (last) Week…
Open Tabs [Weekly] #24
![Open Tabs [Weekly] #24](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!PY6o!,w_280,h_280,c_fill,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep,g_auto/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdb9c6350-a101-4419-8bd3-05fdb3768504_4032x3024.jpeg)
Welcome to this week’s edition of Open Tabs, where I share my current reads, recent obsessions, and media consumptions every Sunday!
Thanks for reading today’s issue of Empty Head! Subscribe to receive every Open Tabs in your inbox + new book reviews and essays, and other musings.