224. READ. LOOK. THINK.
Dainty little man, which touched me, yearnposting, body grief, fear of time, a house tour better than most novels.
I’m suddenly alone in house on holidays so here is a surprise RLT!
READ.
I am rereading all the Janet Frame autiobios in this nice omnibus I got during a Virago sale. She’s obviously a genius.
My ‘wrapping Christmas presents’ audiobook was the enjoyable From Hollywood with Love: The Rise and Fall (and Rise Again) of the Romantic Comedy.
The BBC Script Library has so much to explore including all the scripts for Normal People.
LOOK.
Why is this house tour better than most novels????
Ian Curtis at his office Christmas party 1979.
Being a member of the See Also Patreon has already paid for itself with this Guide to Sydney and Melbourne.
I was riveted by Anatomy of a Fall, a French thriller about a writer who may or may not have killed her husband, a less successful writer. ‘She seems to have an almost self-destructive commitment to the truth’ / ‘It manages to calmly, methodically evoke various forms of unbearable turbulence.'
Really lovely gingerbread recipe that worked well for me.
I’m sad Literary Friction is over, it always felt so vivid and relevant. They loved Dopplegangers by Naomi Klein too!
Not affordable but I love the look of the Land Gardener’s gardening bag.
Poached pear pavlova recipe (very luxe).
I pre-made my Christmas gravy because it’s always just beyond me somehow on the day. I used a combo of this and this and it was good!
'I feel like a dainty little man when I eat an apple'... probably the most charming Grub Street ever?
‘At one point we had to cross a little stream. Bob had boots on, but I only had sneakers, so he picked me up and carried me across, which touched me.’ (I love the Sydney Morning Herald’s Two of Us interviews so much I put a pretend one in my book!)
THINK.
You don’t have to wait three months to tell people you’re pregnant.
'On one side I don’t care about looking “beautiful” anymore – all that matters is a healthy, happy baby. But on the other hand I mourn my old, “pretty” self, the one I relied on for so many years. Is it normal to feel this way?'
‘(Swift’s rep did not respond to an email seeking comment on whether or not the singer was part of a psyop.)’
‘Here is the basis of libertarian authoritarians’ post-truth politics: the inability to know the changing world around them and a yearning for political participation. The authoritarian personality wants all opinions (especially their own) to be taken seriously.’
Nobody knows what’s happening online anymore.
The great noticing.
Chronophobia is a fear of time.
Solarpunk books and art ‘encourages optimistic and sustainable envisioning of the future.’
From the archive, a very brilliant analysis from Emily Naussbaum: How jokes won the 2016 election. I also had lots of links about Trump’s scary possible return but we will cross that bridge when we come to it…
Jess X