Things I Loved in August and Looking Ahead
Monthly Digest | August 2024
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Dear Inklings,
It’s been a busy, busy month, but many highlights! My ten-year anniversary with my husband (still the bestest after all these years), a girl’s trip to Colorado, school starting.. Autumn is upon us.
Also, a happy reminder that the Lord of the Rings reading challenge will take place in September! There’s a separate section for it, so you can opt in or out as you choose. Same goes for the serialisation of the short story anthology I co-wrote with my son, Ren.
In this post, I share some great books I read—many of which have been on my to-be-read list for a long time. There are also discount codes to be a sponsor of my work, starting at $10 per year. These are valid until my one-year Substack anniversary on September 20.
For paid Inklings, I whine about landscaping, exalt over good food and relationships (obviously the relationships more than the food, but y’know).
For Everyone
For Paid Inklings
Fiction
(* indicates a reread/rewatch)
🎧 The single most important parenting strategy (Dr. Becky, 2023). A short podcast episode on the importance of repair with your child. Dr. Becky’s exercise at the end of imagining your parent calling you out of the blue to repair your relationship did give me a visceral reaction. We really never outgrow the primal desire for our parents’ love.
📚 The Broken Earth Trilogy (N.K. Jemisin, 2015). Wowowow. I need a second to recover from the sheer amazingness of this trilogy. The world-building, the writing/narration style, the twists. Oh my god. I wish I could delete this from my brain just so I can read it for the first time again. This is what I want all my fantasy to be like. Thanks again,
and ,for recommending this to me! I need more books just like this—just a damn good story.🍽️ Annette (American restaurant in Aurora, CO). I know; I’ve never recommended anything local, and it’s not even local to me! But after eating at Annette on a complete whim on the day my best friend and I flew in to Denver, we had our minds blown by everything we tried. We had to go back the night before we left because it was just so fucking good. Most items on the menu are seasonal, but our favourite, the beef tongue on marrow toast, is a staple. Highly, highly recommend if you’re in the area.
📺 Mastermind: To Think Like a Killer (Hulu, 2024). If you’re familiar with serial killers, you’ve probably heard of John E. Douglas and Robbert Ressler. They’re the FBI agents famous for developing psychological profiling based on interviews with notorious serial killers such as Ted Bundy, Ed Kemper, and more. Mindhunter (Netflix, 2017), for instance, was based on their work. Less well known is Ann Burgess, though she played an essential role as a consultant for Douglas and Ressler. Typical, of course—a brilliant woman letting the men take most the credit. Burgess has been content to stay away from the spotlight until relatively recently, and this documentary does an excellent job of finally highlighting just how much of an impact she has had—not only on law enforcement—but on society: giving women a voice and dignity. Her work started with bringing awareness to the fact that rape victims were, in fact, victims. If you want to learn about a badass woman who more than held her own at a time when women weren’t at all respected, watch this documentary.
📚 The Secret History (Donna Tartt, 2004). Well, this has been on my list for years, and I have finally read it (Sierra, if you’re reading this, be proud! I thought of you the whole time). Donna Tartt’s writing is wonderful, but to be honest, I didn’t love The Goldfinch in spite of all its accolades. It was one of those books I could appreciate for the author’s writing prowess without connecting to the story on a personal level. The Secret History, however, was an old-fashioned room with cushy, dark green chairs and walls lined floor-to-ceiling with genuine oak bookcases, flickering candlelight, a robust fire crackling in the hearth, and classics—oh, the love for the classics just dripping through every page. It starts with murder… And okay, none of the characters are likable, and there’s this segment that drags on for way too long, but I still enjoyed it. I would read it again.
📺 Longlegs (Osgood Perkins, 2024). The horror genre is so wide-ranging. I can appreciate high-brow, “artful” horror that’s more about deeper themes of human nature. Sometimes, though, I just want to be scared. This movie is both. It’s disturbing in a way that got under my skin. It was creepy. It made me wonder what I would do in certain situations. It’s just a well-made film. A serial murder kills families without even touching them. How does he do it? Who is he? “What is going on??” was what M and I kept yelling at each other throughout.
🎵 “Other Side of the Tree” (Min’O, 2022)* This is one of my go-to albums for writing and relaxation. It transports me to the middle of a Ghibli film. I’ve been listening to it on repeat during writing and reading sessions this month. It’s just a lovely album.
The Night Parade (Jami Nakamura Lin, 2023). A bonus mention, because I finished this book just before the letter is scheduled to go out. Nakamura Lin writes her memoir about living with bipolar disorder and the death of her father through the lens of Japanese folklore. It’s the way she processes deep trauma by looking to stories that really gets me. Her writing is mesmerising and lyrical. I can’t recommend this book enough.
Articles I enjoyed reading recently
Beautiful essays by
reflecting on what makes a meaningful life, writes about failure, growth and mortality, after almost losing a piece of herself. writes about a female friend breakup. shares about her struggles with self-harm and OCD. shares about how she found God in the midst of grief and suffering.In culture and society,
discusses how homelessness is also a problem of hyper-individualism and Freddie deBoer also examines the “compassion” of letting the homeless choose their own fate ( , you might appreciate this one). implores churches to be messy instead of pretending to be perfect.On Substack and writing,
shares why she went with indie publishing instead of traditional and I also enjoyed her interview with . says trying to go viral makes use weaker writers; her reasons for implementing a paywall are similar to mine. wants to spend less time on Notes and just focus on writing. gives her tips for revision with 9 key questions and 26 craft keys and reflects on the paradoxical nature of writing a memoir. questions the notion that things used to be better for writers.In literature and fiction,
writes about the point of literature by comparing Susanna Clarke’s Piranesi to C.S. Lewis’s The Magician’s Nephew.
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