Welcome to this week’s edition of Open Tabs, where I share my current reads, recent obsessions, and media consumptions every Sunday!
Mentally, I am really all over the place lately. I have a lot to do and yet I’m seeking out new distractions, while ignoring all of the things I’d normally dedicate time to…including this newsletter. But sometimes I’m scatterbrained, and sometimes I have a lot of energy that needs to be set free elsewhere. I joke (to myself) that August is always like this—and it really is! I see the patterns of the seasons.
I haven’t sent a Thursday letter in a bit, but I’m (slowly) getting things together. I want to (eventually) write about Beautiful World Where Are You, My Brilliant Friend, Clarice Lispector, and Parable of the Sower (all separate essays). Hoping to get most of these out by EOY.
[Note: I’m moving next weekend so it’s likely I will miss another week of letters.]
Anyways, here’s a bit of what I’ve been into the last couple of weeks!
Reading [Books]
Recently I’ve finished:
Cannibal by Safiya Sinclair — I really loved this poetry collection!
Men Have Called Her Crazy by Anna Marie Tendler — I zipped through this memoir on audio…I don’t have the best things to say about it though. One of the main things that turns me off a memoir is lack of self-interrogation, and this one lacked. I think this review does a pretty good job pointing to some other things I took issue with.
Currently reading:
The Last Sane Woman by Hannah Regel
Easy Beauty by Chloe Cooper Jones
Plus the like 5 other books I’ve started and mentioned in past letters, but haven’t finished yet.
Reading [Online]
Watching [Movie]
Before the World Set on Fire (2023)
I stumbled on this one while browsing Hoopla (through my library) and it was a pretty decent watch. A professor is undergoing questioning from the university’s ethics committee in response to something that occurred during her class. The bulk of the storyline takes place through a Zoom philosophy class that happens after a virus spreads on a college campus. It’s low-grade suspense/mystery. It’s not outstanding, but I tend to like independent/low-budget films even more for their imperfections.
Listening [Music]
Listening [Podcast]
This is such a great series, dissecting capitalism in a really approachable way, and I highly recommend it to everyone. (Note: I’m not quite caught up yet, and I think more episodes are still being released.)
I read the Origin of Capitalism by Ellen Meiksins Wood a few years ago, and I think this podcast series makes a great companion to that. The book is deeply-focused on the transformation of social relations during a specific period, while this series is much broader in scope—quite impactful in tandem!
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Eagerly awaiting your essays on ferrante, lispector, rooney, and butler!!! Some of my favorite authors & books