Welcome to this week’s edition of Open Tabs, where I share my current and recent media obsessions every Sunday!
Hellooo, I’ve just finished a 10-day stint of house/dog sitting and I’m finally back at home. You know those weeks when nothing seems to go smoothly, despite how simple and straightforward it all should be? Yeah, that’s my current state of being. So I’m happy to at least be back in my usual environment so I can get back to some sort of routine. I did skip this week’s Thursday letter for exactly this reason—sorry!
I’m seeing a lot of new faces around here lately. I don’t know if it has something to do with the energy of summer; my new posting consistency; a sudden popularity in Substack/Notes with people who are more likely to find my newsletter interesting; or just the fact that I posted a seasonal TBR that reached a more general book-ish audience.
Whatever brought you here: Hi! Welcome! Thanks! (I’m Courtney, btw!)
Reading [Books]
I finished Sally Rooney’s Beautiful World Where Are You this week, and I’m a bit mixed on my feelings at the moment. Initially I loved it; but something about the last third of the novel put me off. I certainly have some opinions, so I’m working on a little essay, and hoping to get my thoughts together to share with you. At the very least, I find it to be critically-engaging, as I’m still spending a lot of time thinking about it days after reading the final sentence.
I listened to Homebodies by Tembe Denton-Hurst on audio. Not many thoughts except to say that I enjoyed it. We follow a young Black woman as she loses her media job in NYC, falls out with her long-term girlfriend, and then goes home to try and sort her life out.
Lastly, I am currently reading Faraway the Southern Sky by Joseph Andras, a sort of fictionalized exploration of Ho Chi Minh’s years in Paris. I picked this up because I liked the author’s previous book, Tomorrow They Won’t Dare to Murder Us.
Reading [Online]
“Thinness is routinely associated with morality and fatness with immorality. Characters are often made fat as a shorthand to tell the reader that they are gross, weak, evil, cruel, stupid, unimportant, or mentally ill.”
Watching [Movie]
Leave the World Behind (2023)
An adaptation of the 2020 novel by Rumaan Alam. I tried to read the book a while ago, but didn’t feel drawn in so put it down pretty quickly. I liked the movie fine—though I don’t feel like the story was all that interesting, or maybe I’m just burnt out on this type of story. I think a lot of substance was missing in the character dynamics (I mean, I feel like that was meant to be the point of the story?), and it only felt suspenseful because it was loud sometimes…
Watching [TV]
Ripley (Netflix, 2024)
You may or may not know that I love The Talented Mr. Ripley, so I was a little surprised I didn’t hear about the latest adaptation on Netflix sooner. It’s a limited series, starring Andrew Scott as Tom Ripley. It’s done in black-and-white with heavy shadows and lingering shots, visually playing on the noir genre. Quiet, elongated scenes show the tediousness and calculating nature of Ripley’s cons. It’s a totally different take than Anthony Minghella’s well-known 1999 film—in some ways more true to the book, in some ways not. Overall, I really liked this series (biased), and I loved Dakota Fanning as Marge!
I’ve been wanting to re-read the book anyway, but now I’m thinking I’ll move it up the list. I did put it on my summer reading recommendations, so it’s clearly been on my mind as of late!
Listening [Music]
I made this playlist last summer for sweaty, ratty hijinks.
Listening [Podcast]
The Heritage Foundation & Project 2025 (Part 1 + Part 2) — Pick Me Up I’m Scared
Does Criticism Still Matter? — LARB
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