Things I Loved in September and Looking Ahead
Monthly Digest | September 2024
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Dear Inklings,
It’s been a crazy month. For those new here, I just started homeschooling my six-year-old. And in the midst of that, I decided to be dumb and launch two things at once: my Lord of the Rings reading challenge and Revenir, the short story anthology I wrote with my son, Ren. To say I grossly overestimated myself would be a gross understatement haha. But alas, I doubt I’ll change my ways. I’m having too much fun and way too ambitious.
In this issue, I share some horror movies I watched, my favourite audiobook, and an essential book coming out in October. Below the paywall, I talk more about my homeschooling experience and my inability to focus on one project at a time.
For Everyone
Lord of the Rings Challenge
For Paid Inklings
Fiction
(* indicates a reread/rewatch)
📺 “Oddity” (Damian McCarthy, 2024). A tad predictable, but still enjoyable. A blind medium uses her power to solve and avenge her sister’s murder with a creepy antique mannequin. I liked the atmosphere and the ending was so satisfying.
🎧 David Tolk. I started listening to Tolk’s music at the end of August. His beautiful, sweeping instrumentals make another nice background for writing or meditation. Thank you, Kieran Jane, for recommending this.
📺 “Barbarian” (Zach Cregger, 2022)*. I watched this in the cinemas when it was first released, but the rewatch did not disappoint. This movie was just as creepy as the first time, even though I already knew all the twists. It’s a horror film with multiple layers and themes centered around misogyny and abuse.
🎧 Sherlock Holmes: The Definitive Collection (Stephen Fry, 2017)*. This is one of my favourite audiobooks (which might not be saying much, considering I don’t listen to many). Excellent, unabridged, narrated by
. It’s perfect.- , 2024). This is a must-read for Asian-Americans seeking to understand and reclaim their own history in the U.S. It’s well-researched and compassionate, giving space to wrestle with difficult topics and questions. Thank you, Ellie and for providing me with an advanced copy of this essential book.
📖 When Breath Becomes Air (Paul Kalanithi, 2016). This book quickly made it to the list of my top favourite books. It’s not an easy read and deepened my emotions of grief, but not in a way that was despairing. Paul was a neurosurgeon diagnosed with terminal lung cancer just before he was about to graduate from residency. He wrote this book in the year before he died, and his family published it on his behalf. In it, he reflects on what makes a life meaningful, how to face death with dignity. We all die; we just don’t know when. I’d compare it favorably to Victor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning, another highly influential book.
📺 Beezel (Aaron Fradkin, 2024). A truly horrifying horror film I enjoyed! It was spare and didn’t give much explanation, but the atmospheric dread and suspense were top-notch. A great entry into October/spooky season. Not that I ever need an excuse to enjoy some good, old horror.
