3 recs & 9 reads from February
The best pants I've ever owned, a fantasy series I gobbled up in 2 days and my new favorite movie...
Good morning and happy Saturday! I usually send out The Weekender on Saturdays, but seeing as it’s the end of February and time for a reading and recommendations wrap up, I thought I’d switch it up.
Winter is so whack— at once it flies by, and on the other hand I feel so pale I am little more than a translucent husk of cells with no joie de vivre or felicity whatsoever.
I do feel like we’re staring down the barrel of Spring. I don’t usually let myself get excited because in New York I find that the weather doesn’t actually get consistently decent until… June. But even the ability to walk comfortably in a light jacket without snow on the ground would be good enough for me these days, so let’s call a win a win!
This has been one of the nuttiest seasons of my life, and I wrote a long update to hide behind the paywall that I may or may not send, but as always, I tend to feel slightly overexposed on the internet when I do share that much. So not today! But maybe soon :)
This scalp massaging brush from Arey feels so good— like a really nice head scratch— and does a really fantastic job. Very necessary on a dry scalp in the winter, and to be honest, I also love that it’s a smooth, beautiful wood and not made of plastic.
My sweatpant jeans. I used a gift card from Christmas to buy this pricier pair of sweatpant jeans, feeling like it was one of those treats I couldn’t normally buy for myself— WRONG. Price per wear, these would be a rational purchase. They are the best pants I’ve ever owned, I wear them constantly. My friends and family members keep stroking my leg because they’re in awe that the pants are not actual denim— my mom touched my leg once, felt the fabric, and promptly ordered her own pair on the spot. If you’ve been on the fence, this is me telling you to just do it, you will not regret it— I considered it for well over a year and I feel dumb, I could have been wearing comfortable cute pants that whole year!
Wuthering Heights. And before anyone goes on about how it’s not a faithful adaptation from the book— I really don’t care. Liking the book “first” is not a personality trait! I swear, the way people are acting like there’s a prize at the heavenly gates for reading Emily Bronte and hating Emerald Fennell… there’s not!
Now that that’s out of the way: this was simply the best movie I have seen in so long. It was everything I want out of a movie and I think about it at least once every two hours. It is cinematic in a way that plays best in a theater, I confess I liked it so much that the day after I saw it I got my fiancé to set up an illegal German stream of it in our living room so I could watch it on our couch as a blizzard hit. It was all I could think about, and I am not a Jacob Elordi person. I am capital O obsessed with Wuthering Heights right now.
Caveat, it is DEFINITELY not for everyone! If you don’t like maximalist, freaky, stuff, or you’re really attached to the book, just skip it. If you love vivid, thrilling costumery and the score by Charli XCX, go and ignore the nagging voices of people who don’t get it! And if Kate Bush’s Wuthering Heights is stuck in your head all day every day… just know that I am walking through life singing it in my head too. Heathcliff! It’s me! I’m Cathy! I’ve come home! I’m! So cold! Let me in your window!
I wrote about a few of these books in my round up to break your reading slump (here!) earlier this week, but I found a few absolute diamonds in the rough— or maybe just diamonds, nothing rough about them— that were standout hits for the month. Also: a few new releases that should absolutely be on your radar!
Full book reviews for paid subscribers below, including…
A new release that I think will be big and buzzy— what Wicked did for the Wicked Witch of the West, but for the “evil” stepmother in Cinderella… I think fans of Barbara Bourland’s The Force of Such Beauty will like this one. (Fun intersection of worlds and interests: this book is written by the founder of one of my favorite puzzle brands!)
If you liked The Knight and The Moth (I did!), you have to read this duology I’ll get into below. I liked it even better (!) and tore through both books in 2 days (!).
An action-packed fiction read inspired by Asian fairytales that really surprised and delighted me.