Three recs, nostalgia edition
A novel about stories, a historical thriller, a teen romcom series
Happy Friday, kids!
I spent the last few weeks visiting my family in California, which has been lovely and sunny, but has also meant an unexpected break in my TV watching and podcast listening. My mom doesn’t have a TV, and the one time I tried to watch something on my computer before bed, jet lag got the better of me 10 minutes in. (It was great, I intend to continue and hope to be able to recommend it soon.) And, shockingly, everyone else I saw wanted to, you know, hang out, and not catch up on TV with me.
However, I did get to plow through a bunch of books, thanks to the Libby app and my two library cards. What were my faves, you ask? You know I’ve got you covered below the fold.
Another thing I did was clean out boxes of my stuff that my mom has been bugging me to deal with for ages. And, whew, that was a nostalgia pie in the face that I was not expecting. All my childhood, middle school, high school, camp, summer program, college, and study abroad friendships came back through photos, letters, cards, and memorabilia. My years upon years of soccer trophies and team photos, my stack of American Girl magazines from the mid-90s, the newspaper and mag cut-outs friends gave me of all things Star Wars.
I found my very first screenplays (nope, you may not see them), the I-cringe-to-read short stories and novel-beginnings that somehow won my teachers’ encouragement, the front page (reported) story I wrote for a local paper during an internship, the journals I kept all along the way. I even found the shot list for a parody hardboiled-kung-fu-feminist-noir short film my sister and I made with one of our best friends when we were tweens. (I still cry with laughter thinking about it.)
It felt strange to look at these things that once meant so much to me. That still mean a lot, but in a different way.
It somehow feels related that, one afternoon during my first weekend in CA, we stumbled upon an estate sale. The woman had a gorgeous collection of hats that I wish had fit me, but alas I could only admire. You could see the evolution of the hats she’d bought as she’d gotten older – the ones from her younger days were elegant pillboxes and feathery fascinators, while she’d more recently bought a Christmas-y straw hat with colorful red and green decorations. A life told through hats.
That’s enough nostalgia for now. Let’s dig into the recs!
Rec 1
Cloud Cuckoo Land (book)
Regular readers will have realized by now that I do this thing where something gets a lot of acclaim and I think it can’t possibly live up to the hype, so I let it slip further and further down my list even as I tell myself I’ll eventually get around to it.
The ne plus ultra of this is Anthony Doerr’s Pulitzer Prize-winning All the Light We Cannot See (UK link). I spent years meaning to read it even as I figured it couldn’t possibly be as good as everyone said. When I finally did get around to it, well, let’s just say that I stayed up til 3am to finish it only to wake my husband up with my full-on wracking sobs. He sat up, panicked, worried something was wrong, only for me to choke out, “My book… It’s so sad… It’s so good…” The next day, he borrowed it from me to read it for himself. (Consider this my rec for that book and count this as a twofer.)
And yet, despite being an evangelist for All the Light We Cannot See, it took me another couple years to finally get around to reading Doerr’s follow-up novel, Cloud Cuckoo Land. When I finally did, I tore through it in a few days and finished it by crying softly to myself while sitting in the back seat of my mom’s car en route to my aunt and uncle’s house.
A quick primer on the book itself: It’s a non-linear, multi-timeline book about books and how stories do or don’t survive. Most of the main characters are kids, much like in his previous novel, which allows him to show us the world in different ways that we might normally experience it.
It’s not quite as easy to sum up the plot as it is for All the Light We Cannot See, but essentially Cloud Cuckoo Land is about the impact of a fantastical, lost Greek children’s story on five different people. There’s a bit of climate change, there’s some historical fiction and some speculative fiction, there’s a lot of meditation on permanence and impermanence, there’s the scope of a sweeping epic. The prose is stunningly beautiful, and the story will simultaneously break your heart and put it back together again.
Where: Reserve it at your library or order from your non-Amazon bookseller of choice (like Bookshop US or Bookshop UK).*
Rec 2
The Marriage Portrait (book)
You know Robert Browning’s poem “My Last Duchess”? About the real-life Italian Renaissance duke showing off a portrait of the wife he murdered? Northern Irish novelist Maggie O’Farrell – also known for the highly acclaimed Hamnet (which I haven’t read yet, to my great shame) – takes Browning’s premise and turns it into one of my favorite reads of the year.
It’s a taunt, tense thriller with shades of Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca and Edgar Allan Poe, while somehow still capturing the joy and vibrance of its adolescent heroine. The compelling Lucrezia’s first-person narration successfully walks the tightrope between being the voice of a woman (girl) of the era and being written for contemporary audiences. O’Farrell also clearly did her homework when it came to life in Renaissance Tuscany and Ferrara – as compelling as the story and characters are (and they really, really are), the vivid details and nuances of girls’ and women’s lives struck me time and again. And then there’s the stunning ending, which has kept me thinking for days.
For my fellow history nerds, the historical accuracy holds up across the board: According to O’Farrell’s author’s note (verified by a quick and very official google search), the aforementioned duke (of Ferrara, mid-1500s) was rumored even at the time to have killed his first wife, who happened to be a Medici daughter. Obviously we have no way of knowing if the rumors were true, but it’s a compelling starting place considering that the guy went on to have two more wives and no kids. We all know who men of that era blamed when their wives didn’t get pregnant…
Lest you need any more encouragement, this is the book I’m about to bring to a book exchange with several very discerning ladies. As if you needed any more encouragement.
Where: Reserve it at your library or order from your non-Amazon bookseller of choice (like Bookshop US or Bookshop UK).*
*(In the name of full transparency, I’ve included affiliate links to Bookshop.org – if you’re going to order from them anyway, please use my link so I can make a little extra cash! If you want to see/order any/all of my book recs, I’ve made lists on Bookshop, too: US version, UK version.)
Rec 3
Never Have I Ever (TV)
To go with this issue’s high school nostalgia vibes: Next time you’re feeling like you want a high school romcom with maybe a little more bite than the To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before movies, this Mindy-Kaling-for-Netflix series is the one for you.
The setup is that 15-year-old straight-A student Devi is about to start sophomore year in the wake of her dad unexpectedly dying – but also she really wants to get a boyfriend (in particular, the hottest/coolest guy in school) and have sex. John McEnroe narrates. Yeah, it’s weird, but somehow, against the odds, it works. And anyway, I like weird things.
It’s the show I’ve gone to over the last few years for guffaws and warmish fuzzies and a few tears – I binge each season whenever I realize it’s on, and never regret it. Is it going to blow your mind? No. Will it hit the spot when you want something fun, charming, and cozy? Absolutely. It’s smart, funny, and sticks the landing when it’s what you’re in the mood for. Bonus: it’s only 3 seasons (all of which are now out) and it’s a half-hour show. We love those short eps.
Warning for teachers and anyone else with teen casting gripes: No, these actors are obviously not high-school aged.
Where to watch: Netflix
That’s all for this week! What are you reading/watching/listening to that I should be aware of? Drop me a line (or comment) to let me know if you check out any of my recs and what you think.
Please spread the word and I’ll see you in a couple weeks!
xo
Kate
Did someone share this with you?
recommending a show - Special Ops: Lioness on Paramount+. only 4 episodes in but I'm enjoying it x
Thx, Kate! I’ve now placed both of your Doerr and O’Farrell recommendations in my library hold queue. I urge you to move Hamnet way up your priority reading pile...it’s a wonder. 😎❤️