april 29th, 2025

i started and finished sunrise on the reaping the day after my birthday. i have incredibly mixed emotions about it and had to let it simmer in my system for the past week. 

i personally finish every book thinking it is my new favourite book of all time, similar to leaving a movie theatre and logging the film into letterboxd as 5 stars then later changing it to 3 when you've left the atmosphere of the theatre and have a regained sense of clarity. Once the honeymoon phase ends between you and the new piece of media, usually my opinion becomes more clear. with this book, I became more confused as time has gone on (writing this may 9th). 

i think the writing style is great (obviously, hello?? suzanne collins) and it truly made me appreciate haymitch so much more as a character. 

without spoiling the book for anyone who hasn't read it and would like to, i think there was a lot of plotholes created by the attempt to integrate familiar characters to keep the readers entertained. also, the arena seemed much more advanced and carefully crafted in the 50th year compared to the 74th and 75th. the epilogue was amazing and made me cry. 

i think overall, i give it a 4/5 stars. if you want to discuss this more in depth please call me and we can chat about details. 

i tried to read this with my lover Johanna Ritter West but she didn't get the book in time and I read it in one day so bookclub was an ultimate fail. i cannot bookclub with people because i start a book without knowing whether i will read it in 2 days or over 2 months, no matter the length. 

reading on april 8th, 2025

the woman destroyed by simone de beauvoir 

this book is a collection of 3 short stories of women and their unexpected crises through life. i find it very beautiful and very depressing. i love being a woman but also it is so hard. this book reminds me of that every day. it's been a slow read as it is not very light. 

on earth we're briefly gorgeous by ocean vuong

a letter written by a vietnamese-american man to his illiterate mother, shattering portrait of a family, a first love, and the power of storytelling. i am really really loving this book. i am only about half-way through. it's also really heavy but really entrancing. updates soon. 

textbook by amy krouse rosenthal 

an interactive memoir (kind of) organized into classic textbook subjects. amazingly brilliant, funny and real. i am almost done and started it yesterday. quick read that humanizes all the little things we don't think twice about in our lives. i fucking love this book!!!!!

edit: i finished this book the next day in the library, i was teary-eyed in the last pages. maybe because i really loved this book, maybe because i really love this life. read this book. a collection of observations, and an exploration into interconnectedness. explosively human. if you would like to borrow this book, please text me. it's yours.

listening

april playlist 

genres: electronic, experimental pop, post-punk, dream pop

1. disparate youth -santigold

2. L.E.S. artistes -santigold

3. can't do it without you -caribou

4. i don't know you -mannequin pussy

5. i summon you -spoon

6. cowboy gangster politician -goldie boutilier 

7. backwards directions -abby sage

8. pressure to party -julia jacklin

9. hollywood forever cemetary sings -father john misty

10. all i ever asked -rachel chinouriri

11. honey -drugdealer

12. chinese translation -m.ward

13. here i dreamt i was an architect -the decemberists

14. prove it to you -brittany howard

15. made out of memory -nilufer yanya

16. death & romance -magdalena bay

17. earth sign -brittany howard

18. call it love -nilufer yanya

19. charmed -stella, redinho

20. boys -indigo de souza

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0hi4a5n8ATqEIx09g8Mw2f?si=6fa3319b94544468 

watching