Jenn D’s February Recs
Hi folks! I hope you are all looking forward to discount romance candy as much as I am. (Unless Easter candy has already taken your fancy. I am not one to judge in matters of sweets.) It’s time for my monthly recommendations blog, and guys, I’ve been taking notes. Like, throughout the month. So, instead of my usual frantic wracking-of-brains, I can cheerfully pull up a little note only phone and go “Oh yeah! That!”
So, on to the recommendations!
First up:
NEW MITSKI NEW MITSKI NEW MITSKI NEW MITSKI
Book things:
I read Space Struck by Paige Lewis, and it was every bit as good as I had heard it was. Their poetry is raw and good and it left me feeling hungry, but in a good way. Like the universe is so big and expanding and we are so big and expanding.
Anyway I got my copy of Space Struck from Booktopia. I also read a couple of articles about their poetry, which I thought were worth sharing — here and here.
I read two Sleeping Beauty themed books this month, sort of by accident. I had EK Johnston’s Spindle queued up for ages, and I finally got to it! It was so amazing. It’s the second in this series, but I don’t think I needed to read the first book to read the second. I didn’t feel like I was missing out, anyway.
The second one was The Bone Spindle, which was like if Indiana Jones and Galavant had a baby and was about magic and treasure hunting. It was FUN. It’s not a standalone, I don’t think, or else it’s just really open-ended. (Who knows, these days.)
I also started another Mary Roach book (this one is Grunt) and look, she’s such a weirdo, but I exactly love and vibe with her work. She goes and finds weird things to write about and then researches the heck out of them, and then writes them in a funny, engaging way. It’s some of the best nonfiction I’ve come across. (If you like Bill Bryson, I think you’d like Mary Roach.) My favorite remains Packing for Mars, if you’re wondering.
Pod things:
I greatly enjoyed the two-part series on Hit Parade about Milli Vanilli.
I recommended, to Jen V, the five-part series of You’re Wrong About on Princess Diana—it was both heartbreaking and comprehensive and also, worth listening to. It’s two friends chatting (my favorite kind of podcast) but also, learning! You can start here with part one.
Internet things:
Jack Monroe, an amazing advocate for food security, author of Cooking On A Bootstrap, had an amazing thread about the rising of “home brand” food prices in the UK. They’ve started an index of grocery prices, led by people who, like Jack, spent years tracking and accounting these things. If you’re in the UK and save your receipts, it’s an incredible index in the making. Also, Jack’s website (and books) are amazing, especially if you’re budgeting.
I have been fighting the yelling in my head about being “lazy” for all of my life. Holy heck, this article about laziness not being a thing made me feel seen. And now I am telling everyone in my life that LAZINESS IS NOT A THING.
Nadia Bolz-Weber wrote about Nate from Ted Lasso! And in that essential, crisply right way that Nadia has, she absolutely nailed what I’d been feeling about Nate (and the versions of myself riddled with inferiority and insecurity). This line, in particular, felt like a lightning bolt:
“If one person (parent, pastor, teacher, friend, lover, etc…) hurts us, we cannot hand over the responsibility of healing that wound to someone who is a nicer version of them.”
Anyway, this article is free to read and share, so I have no issue popping the link here, but I will say that subscribing to her Substack was a decision I have never regretted.
Also, this made me go “awww!” Sometimes people are just good.
Art things:
I am low-key obsessed with these stained glass mobiles, and I really really want one. Or ten. Or a door made out of them. Or a wall of them.
This painting by Jenna Gribbon makes my heart hurt. Also it gives me grabby hands for painting skills like this.
TV Things:
I watched all of Hawkeye the other day (or, listened to it, mostly) while painting, and it was a gosh-darned delight. I have no idea what the blip or the snap or the smoosh did (or who died and undied?) but honestly, who cares. Jeremy Renner is amazing as the most Over It Clint Barton ever, and my love for Hailee Steinfeld is enduring. (Girl is cute. I’m just saying.) This was the most enjoyable Marvel I’ve experienced since Taika did Thor.
Okay that’s it for me - I hope you all have a wonderful February, and whether your weather is warming or cooling, I hope the change is welcome and refreshing. Have a great month and I’ll see you in March!