Hello and welcome to another issue of Open Tabs, where I tell you about all (some) of the media etc. I’ve consumed recently!
I’m baaaack. After months of failed attempts at finishing one of these, and then deleting the one I actually finished, I was ready to admit defeat. I thought a fresh start in 2023 could mean NOT doing these Open Tabs roundups, thus freeing myself from an unnecessary task. But then I woke up recently and thought, hmmm I’d love to share all these things I’ve loved/hated recently…
So I guess a fresh start means just doing this again, and maybe it’ll be fun! However, I’m not going to put pressure on myself to do one every single month, because that led to failure. This is more like a brain/link dump than anything else, and it want it to be simple!
Reading
Re-reading Russian Classics in the Shadow of the Ukraine War by Elif Batuman (The New Yorker) — this kind of made me want to read The Idiot (is it worth it?)
The Smoker by Ottessa Moshfegh (The Paris Review) — Man, this piece is giving Moshfegh haters a reason to live. Leaving aside all the obvious implications one could make about Moshfegh from this piece (which, whatever), my main problem with this is…it’s not even a good story. She gave it NOTHING.
Vigdis Hjorth: The Unclassifiable Master by Makenna Goodman (Astra Mag) — A short interview between Goodman and Hjorth. I read Hjorth’s Is Mother Dead? recently and absolutely recommend it!
Watching
The Lying Life of Adults (limited series) — Ferrante’s work is just ripe for adaptation. I enjoyed this series (faithful to the novel), but mostly for the outfits!
Laguna Beach (TV series) — This was purely a nostalgia watch. Though I was more into The Hills back in my day.
White Noise (movie) — this felt so goofy, I kinda hated it. The book must be better, RIGHT?! (It’s been on my ““TBR”” for at least a decade lol)
1899 (limited series) — no spoilers but this kind of thing never feels interesting or inventive or new. I’m always disappointed by these types of storylines.
Girls (TV series) — This is my first time watching the series (I’ve been watching over the last few months), and I don’t know what I expected, but it’s very funny imo.
Listening
Pollen (new Tennis album) — I’m so obsessed with this album and have listened to it SO many times this past week. I’m listening to it right now!!
Fathom (Audio Drama) — I really can’t do audiobooks most of the time so audio dramas/fiction podcasts fill in that little void.
Salmon Rushdie on Surviving the Fatwa (New Yorker Radio Hour)
New Year, Same Songs (Spotify Playlist) — if it’s not broke, don’t fix it.
Myst Soundtrack (Spotify Playlist) — “Village Entrance Theme” BOPS
Googling
I erased most of my search history before getting to this, sorry
maladaptive daydreaming
Utopia
Books on my Radar
The entire Undelivered Lecture series from Transit Books. I just finished reading Aftermath, and I love everything I’ve read from this small publisher.
Brutes by Dizz Tate — I’ve been bookstagram-fluenced.
Uncategorized
I Miss My Cafe — A customizable set of coffee shop sounds so you can curate your own ambiance at home.
Notion — I’m finally back in the habit of using my Notion and it’s helped a lot with organization and planning. Particularly with my extensive reading journal and writing for this newsletter! (Should I share my reading journal templates?)
Thanks for reading this months’s issue of Open Tabs! More book reviews, deep dives, and some new stuff are on the way.
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