hello stranger
HELLO yes, i am back! after a month of literal chaos and work-induced stress, i am back to provide you all with the delicious content you have been waiting for. if i had to describe my month in one video it would be this. if you prefer a picture, here’s one of me after getting stuck in the rain during a walk! ari and gaga could never!!!
well it sounds like you’ve had a hard month so it’s understandable
omg??? sympathy???? for once?????
don’t push it
;))))))) i promised myself that i would get a newsletter out before the end of the month even if it KILLS ME. (EDITOR’S NOTE: I WROTE THIS YESTERDAY, APRIL 30TH, SO I ALMOST MADE IT DON’T FLAME ME)
and yet, she persisted!
what i have read in the last 44 days
book 1:
as suspected, the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe slapped.
we would expect nothing less!
exactly. i have never read the book and only saw the iconic 2005 adaptation with an actual alien lifeform who has infiltrated civilization, tilda swinton
what?
TELL ME THIS WOMAN IS NOT AN ALIEN YOU CAN’T:
i see your point
but the book is really good! i enjoyed following lucy, susan, peter, and edmund as they traverse the fantastical land of narnia. of course, it is a moralistic tale that can be read with christian undertones, but i found the story to be comforting in its formula and its hopeful imagery. lucas and i would read it to each other during lunchtime, so it was a nice reprieve to escape into narnia where anything can be overcome with a united front and hope.
although the book does not follow the same rules and logic of the world in the magician’s nephew, it is technically the first book as it was published first, so i cannot fault c.s. lewis for continuity errors.
but didn’t you anyway??
OKAY SO MAYBE I DID but i have grown!!!!
book 2:
if your name is margaret and you did irish dance competitively growing up, you cannot read this next review
so basically this book ruined my life In The Bad Way.
say more
ugh, i have TOO much to say about this one. it follows this unnamed 18 y/o character during the troubles in 1970s belfast as her life slowly spirals when she realizes she is being stalked by a highly influential paramilitary person (general? captain? idkidk). throughout the novel, we meet people that are only named by their relation to her, nicknames, or job titles as she tries to use them to both cope with and hide from her stalker, the milkman. what i found interesting was the themes of community conscience and how a community can act as an organism. assimilation and one-ness were key during this time if you were to survive. you needed your entire block to support you in a time when you cannot trust the state. if you went against this or were seen as “beyond-the-pale” or an outsider for your eccentricities, you were ostracized. we also see all of the characters in the second half of the book struggling to navigate relationships that are deemed inappropriate, immoral, or downright wrongo by the community.
did you say wrongo on purpose?
yes.
so what didn’t you like? that plot sounds interesting!
*SIGH* well i just think it was poorly executed! it has this non-linear structure that takes you on these long-winded explanations into the root problem of each situation the main character encounters (i.e. an argument with her mom would turn into the main character theorizing why her parents never worked out and whether she will find love in belfast??? the mental gymnastics!). this makes keeping track of what’s going on difficult and, while i enjoyed learning and understanding the nuances of her life and situation, it didn’t make me CARE enough about it to read these 10+ page long tangents. PAYOFF MACHINE BROKE!!
the pacing was terrible. there were only seven chapters in this 352 paged book with one of the chapters being 100+ pages?????? i’m sorry but NO!!!! there was a random queer moment and, while i gasped and ate it UP, i don’t think it was necessary to the plot. overall, it was a very difficult book to get through which is why it took me all of february and march to finish!
welp sounds like a hard pass
YOU’RE TELLING ME!!! i did the lord’s work for everyone smh
book 3:
now, this one? that’s my girl right there!!!!
this is a memoir by author extraordinaire maggie o’farrell who took the internet by storm with her book hamnet. here she explores 17 times where she almost died??? which makes me think how many times have i simply almost passed away and survived??? god and satan are fighting over me i guess 💅💅💅💅💅💅💅💅💅💅💅
lol quit with that
i will! i think what i found interesting about each of these is how she describes her near-death experiences. in each interaction with death, it seems that it was a cause for the effect she hoped for, liberation; she was reaching for freedom, although at times recklessly, and barely comes out alive. how many times have i found myself in near-death experiences only because i was running to something? or from? it calls into question how we define freedom, how death is omnipresent in all our lives, and how we negotiate our fears with potential joy.
wow okay, profound moment!
she’s giving versatility!!!!!
currently in érie
lucas and i are continuing our adventure through the chronicles of narnia series during lunch!! this is the third installment and departs from the main plotline of narnia as this focuses on calormen and four characters escaping to narnia. it’s very fun, altho xenophobic but i’ll leave that for my review!
—and i oop
yes.
wait, are there any other books you’re reading??
NOPE! currently, i am taking a little break from my revolving door of 495834 books at once because i am TIRED. i will have many updates in the next one tho i’m sure!!!
the journey through dublin
so HONESTLY
is the best policy
……okay
i have had absolutely not enough brain cells for this book in the past month! i only have one and she was on overdrive!!! sorry, y’all but our kings are still where i left them last time
that’s it for this entry! as a little treat, i will leave you with the most rancid photo i have on my phone 💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋💋
wHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
because it’s my substack and not yours :)
I'm not sure if I'm allowed to comment, since I'm Sam's partner and literally have nothing bad to say!! But, it's been a great experience reading a different side to Sam! These three posts have made me LAUGH OUT LOUD. Anyway, keep posting, love! Yeh. (Sam will randomly put on a British accent at home).