The April Round-Up
A monthly rundown of what I found interesting and/or worth sharing.
Coming at you a few days late this month - sorry about that! The end of April suddenly exploded with lots to do plus a very costly trip to the car mechanic that happened right after I made the biggest purchase of my life thus far (details on this below). That’s just how it goes, right?! Today’s round-up is quite literature-heavy, so I hope you’re in the mood for some reading!
Happy spring everyone, enjoy your May and I’ll see you again at the end of the month.
Freya x
I bought a gorgeous baroque violin and bow!!! Feeling slightly daunted - mostly by handing over a check with so many 0’s… - but so ready to explore this musical world. More to come on this I’m SURE!
Denis Johnson’s debut novel, “Angels”. Exactly the kind of contemporary American literature that I love, and his prose style is just so captivating. Big trigger warning for this book; it’s pretty heavy, contains violent content, and is darkly depressing. Still, very much enjoyed! Why aren’t more people talking about this author?
I finally made the effort to make use of my local library and… it’s bloody brilliant. That’s where I found Angels, and I’ve currently got about 6 other books on hold. Sure, it takes some forethought, involves actually walking there, and if the books you want to read are new releases, you may have to wait a little bit. But I kind of love the whole process - it feels like I’m playing an exciting new game. Here’s your sign to go and try it out if you haven’t already!
Staying on the book theme with this article from the NY Times about how Barnes & Noble is turning itself around and, shockingly, we are all for it! And who is to thank? None other than Mr. Daunt himself, founder of my favorite bookshop in the world, Daunt Books.
This profile of Elizabeth Moss in The New Yorker. I know her personal religious beliefs are… questionable. But I still find her to be one of the most talented actresses of her generation and such a badass all around.
A colleague recently referred to my Fiat as “iconic”, which really tickled me.
I was so glad to read in this NY Times article that there are people just as confused as I am about tipping. It was a tricky thing to grasp in America before Covid. Now it is just baffling.
I recently read Toni Morrison’s novel, “Sula”. So different from “Beloved” and “The Bluest Eye” in its language style, but nevertheless still in that magical world of Morrison. I couldn’t not share this passage; ”I sure did live in this world.”
”Really? What have you got to show for it?”
”Show? To who? Girl, I got my mind. And what goes on in it. Which is to say, I got me.”
”Lonely, ain’t it?”
”Yes. But my lonely is mine. Now your lonely is somebody else’s. Made by somebody else and handed to you. Ain’t that something? A secondhand lonely.”Making it into this round-up just in time is a new game I played on the last day of April called Anomia. It’s quick, simple, and deadly fun to play with a group of friends over a beer.
An art installation piece called “Restos-Traces”, by artist Marta Pérez García, now on display at The Phillips Collection in D.C. Comprised of 19 female torsos, this work is a comment on the uptake of domestic violence since the beginning of the pandemic. Each torso is different - made of different materials, each featuring its own unique words/messages - but each one has a symbolic spine, to indicate the strength of these women. I found it to be very quietly sad, powerfully moving. So worth seeing.
“Restos-Traces”, by Marta Pérez García
