A wise and beautiful book from Deary—his voice and prose was lovely, and the book’s thoughtful and kind exploration of our natural fragility to be deeply necessary.
Month: July 2024
Butter, Yuzuki Asako
A thrilling mix of food, gender and identity politics, Japanese culture, and self growth. A longer read, but golly, one I enjoyed every page of.
All Things Are Too Small, Becca Rothfeld
One of the best essay collections I’ve read. Rothfeld’s writing is incredible and compelling. The central thesis of the book is one that I found provocative and compelling and has be considering my relationship with minimalism. I will say, though, the essay on mindfulness and meditation felt substantial worse than the others, and Rothfeld herself commits many of the things she later criticises of other authors in her essay on consent. Still, highly recommended.
Made in Abyss, season two
Heart breaking, beautiful, funny, deeply distressing. A powerful combination of juxtapositions.
The Apothecary Diaries, season one
Sometimes I panic when I realise a season has 22-24 episodes instead of just the usual 12-13. Not in this case. I galloped through this, inhaling deeply and enjoying my time with it immensely.
We Need to Talk about Xi, Michael Dillon
Slight. Not much more illuminating than Xi’s wikipedia article.
Dawn of the Deep Soul, Kojima Masayuki
Few series pull off the tricky combination of very cute aesthetics with deeply disturbing existential terror. This movie in the Made in Abyss world manages to exemplify the appeal of the series, while telling a tight and affecting story.
The Stuff of Life, Timothy Morton
A beautiful and meaningful collection of essays. There is a magic to Morton’s writing.
The 8 Show, season one
This squid game-adjacent piece starts strong but soon collapses under the weight of mediocre and unbelievable plotting. A few compelling performances kept me watching, but I wished for something deeper.
The Ritual Effect, Michael Norton
An incredibly thin book with little useful or applicable advice or ideas. If you’ve read any pop-psych or self-improvement type books you’ve come across 90% of this book before. It’s the same tired mix of personal anecdotes, the same handful of studies (the marshmallow test! skinner box! etc) and the same attempt to stretch out quite a thin premise over a few hundred pages. A real shame that it comes across as vacuous as a ted talk.
Bad Cop, Lech Blaine
Blaine sets out the curious case of Peter Dutton; a person seemingly motivated by hate and fear more than anything else. A politician who has frightening implications for the state of Australia’s political system.
No Judgement, Lauren Oyler
These ponderous, meandering, often intentionally obtuse essays remind me of some of my own writing: far too long, far too pretentious and ultimately quite enervating for the reader. My fear is that I am Lauren Oyler, or perhaps Lauren Oyler is all of us.
Essentialism, Greg McKeown
Thin and repetitious but valuable. I’d prefer it not have had such a focus on BUSINESS. I’d also have preferred it not to have such a trite and extensive use of quotes, which gave it a sophomoric quality. I also passionately dislike the cover, and it hurts me to have to use it here.