Two Weeks in the Making
Currently reading:
Another Country by James Baldwin
Books of Blood: Volumes One to Three by Clive Barker
Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury
Devotions: The Selected Poems of Mary Oliver by Mary Oliver [ongoing]
Extracting the Stone of Madness: Poems 1962–1972 by Alejandra Pizarnik [ongoing]
Books of Blood started out as a school read, but since I only had to read one story from it and I decided on my own to read the rest of the book, I’ve decided to count it toward the Library count. Expect a review in coming weeks!
Books finished this week: 2
★★★☆☆
Where this book came from: a nostalgia-fueled Barnes & Noble run
Why this book: The cover drew me in——though I did very much think it was a bar of soap until I held the book up close? I watch a ton of deep-dive YouTube content about influencers and the dark side of the internet, so the summary really resonated with me too.
Thoughts: This was slower than I expected from a thriller, and I found Hazel to be such a bland protagonist. I’m mildly obsessed with family vloggers, thanks to the many YouTube commentary channels I watch, so those parts and the reflections on what’s fucked up in that world were interesting and, I think, really well done. But, yeah . . . just more boring than I’d thought and hoped it would be.
★★★☆☆
Where this book came from: Bibliotheque, for my birthday celebration<3
Why this book: The cover——I’M SORRY!!
Thoughts: Paraphrasing what I said in Goodreads, this was weird, but I was okay with it, until it got too weird for me. Some really gorgeous prose and profound reflections on life and grief, so I didn’t hate it, but it was sometimes just not my cup of tea.
Library updates:
Full disclosure, I’m starting the draft of this missive on the Sunday before it will go live. It is currently just after 5pm on Sunday, July 28, and I literally forgot I had a blog until about three hours into my ultimately five-hour-long trip to the hair salon. I thought about hurrying to draft something up, but you know what? It’s been a busy week, and I’m giving myself the grace to take a break.
I started reading Clive Barker’s Books of Blood a few days ago, because I had to read one of the short stories from Volume 1 for my Dread and Fear horror writing workshop class. Did I proudly read it at the beach yesterday? Yes. Did I feel like reading it at the hair salon would make me an outcast, so I started reading Death Valley today instead? Also yes. But I really have been enjoying Books of Blood—especially realizing that “Midnight Meat Train” is a Barker short story and not just a strange horror movie—and watching horror movies for this class has inspired me to watch a ton of additional movies and has also really made me wish for fall.
So here’s a ranking of the horror movies I’ve watched this summer (so far), in case you’re also ready for spookier, cozier times:
BEST: An American Werewolf in London——classic
Abigail——baby vampire! Fun!
Late Night with the Devil——literally immaculate ’70s vibes
Cape Fear (original)
Stir of Echoes——not terrible, but not a favorite
WORST: It’s a tie! Cape Fear (1991)——very terrible——and In a Violent Nature (2024)——very boring
HONORABLE MENTION: Madame Web, which is horrifying in its own special way (but still fun)
And now I’m wrapping this up in the correct week. Amazing how time flies within the span of a line break! I saw friends (hi, Tori! Hi, Bowen!) at Pioneers and took myself to Flower School on Saturday morning to create a hand-tied bouquet. I also did a therapy/chat with friend (hi, Brendan!) double feature on Friday night, which did my heart and soul good.
Otherwise, it was a relatively quiet week and I don’t really have anything else to add, so we’ll call it here.
Closing thoughts:
End on a high note.
