Monthly rundown vol. 15

romance, sisters, Southern literature, and a brave little boy

Hello, hello! This issue is a little later than usual. Can I blame Spring Break for interrupting my monthly rhythms? 

We got home late this afternoon from a weekend in the Dallas area, where we spent Friday and most of Saturday at a church convention, and then Saturday evening and Sunday morning with one set of grandparents. The wildflowers in Texas are at their peak right now, so the drive was lovely, although I didn’t get any pictures of them, sadly. It was nice to get home early enough to feel like I had time to get take a deep breath before Monday and shift gears for the upcoming work and school week. 

Here's what I've been reading lately!

So We Meet Again, Suzanne Park. So We Meet Again is an enemy to lovers rom-com about Jess, a young Korean-American woman who has to move back in with her parents when she gets laid off from her New York City finance job. The setback forces her to take some risks and reevaluate her life. In addition, she reconnects with her childhood rival which definitely complicates things. Like all the best rom-coms there are layers to the story, like Jess’s relationship with her parents and lots of yummy food (have I been researching Korean restaurants? Yes I have).

A Good Man is Hard to Find, Flannery O’Connor. Do you ever get the urge to read “classics” that never made it to your reading list? Flannery O'Connor is one such author I have intended to read for years, ever since my cousin gave me a copy of Flannery O’Connor’s letters. I like a good Southern Gothic novel now and then, and O'Connor is considered a classic in that genre. I started with a collection of short stories, A Good Man is Hard to Find. First, I should say that I understand why she is studied: her writing is vivid and masterful, every word purposeful. The stories are grim, and full of themes and subjects to discuss. The hardest part of the stories, for me, was the Jim Crow-era racism. The casual racism baked into the culture O'Connor grew up in and writes about was tough to read. There's a newish movie out now about Flannery O'Connor that I may check out, and I am curious about her novels as well, seeing how her writing translates to a longer form. 

The Wake Up Call, Beth O’Leary. This is a frothy, swoony workplace romance with characters that were engaging enough to make me overlook the kind of miscommunication trope that I tend to loathe. I really enjoyed the setting and the somewhat whimsical B-plot where the characters try to reunite lost wedding rings with their owners. 

Hello Beautiful, Ann Napolitano. This family saga hooked me from beginning. It’s a story about four sisters as they move through life with it’s joys, heartbreaks, victories, and losses. The characters were nuanced and complex, including a couple of characters that I wanted to smack upside the head (just like real life, right? Ha, ha!); and I thought the story was really immersive and thoughtful.

Odd and the Frost Giants, Neil Gaiman. The latest in my elementary school chapter book tells the story of a little boy who is mistreated in his village because he’s different, until the boy sets off into the woods where he encounters a talking bear, fox, and eagle. His adventure takes him to Asgard where he outwits a Frost Giant to restore Thor, Loki, and Odin to their proper forms. This short book is full of heart and courage, and it would be a really fun family read-aloud.

TV: 

One Day. (TV series, Netflix) I have mixed feelings about this show (which is based on a novel by the same name, which I haven’t read), but it stuck with me so I decided it was worth mentioning. For the most part, I thought this limited series was fantastic. It was heartfelt, nuanced, charming, and emotional. The cast was spot on, and I loved the device of following two people through the years on one day of their life, seeing their friendship and connection evolve and shift over time. I liked seeing these characters’ lives apart from each other as well, and liked that the show portrayed them as whole people with full lives apart from their friendship with each other. They each had their own journey and growth as characters (and they both made their fair share of not-great life choices).. The supporting cast was fantastic as well. All that said, the ending almost ruined it for me. I won’t spoil it, but for me, the ending really undercut everything great about the rest of the story. 

That’s it for today! Have any of you read Flannery O’Connor and did you have the same conflicting feelings I did? Has anyone else watched or read One Day? 

Thanks for reading!