My friend Asiah described August as the Sunday of the year and I love that framing. It feels like elasticity, like sanctioned laziness, like grace for getting this newsletter out 11 days into a new month. About August—mine was surprisingly productive. I didn’t write much on the novel front but I did manage to put out an essay I’m proud of and read more than usual. I did some interviews for some forthcoming franchises, which I’ll try to get out over the next few weeks. I’ve also been deep in wedding planning. I’m getting married in a few weeks, on my birthday weekend no less (virgo sun, leo moon activities) so while I’ll likely schedule a story to go up for then, forgive me if it gets a little quiet in the lead up and after.
Despite being 28 I feel like a child bride and keep looking around to see who allowed me, a young lady to get married like a full-on adult. It feels surreal. Weddings are also complicated things and rarely, if ever, do I see them represented as the tangled affairs that they are. Every bride I talked to has revealed oodles of drama surrounding their big day—often rooted in family and friends. I’ve experienced my own share of this (homophobia is alive and well) but I wish there was more nuanced storytelling around it (a movie? A book, maybe?). It’s all budgets and outfits and place settings and six questions to ask your partner before tying the knot but very rarely how to navigate all of the stuff that comes up in everyone that isn’t the person you’re marrying. Anyway. I’m excited about it. I still need to buy another pair of shoes. Onto the post!
Highlights - standout moments from August
I went to the Robert Glasper and Yebba concert with Crystal and held my breath listening to Yebba sing. It was my first time seeing her live and it did not disappoint. She also brought her person a la Aretha Franklin. Icon shit. It also felt very full circle because a few years before I was seated next to her during my first Robtober at Blue Note. At one point the concert turned into a mini gospel concert and we sang Happy Birthday to his adorable daughter Lola. I also ran into friends at the concert which was great because, serendipity.
Being up until 1AM with friends talking about our fears and anxieties and laughing about the precarious state of the world.
Our friends Sean and Dontai came over for a date night. They’ve been together almost as long as me and C and we always say they’re the boy versions of us. We have two cats, they have two dogs, we live in Queens, they’re in Brooklyn. We’re practically twins.
Met up with my New York-dwelling agent siblings. We gushed about our love for our fearless and brilliant rep,
and chatted about second books, advances and the lit landscape at large. A few of them have books coming out soon so dropping links to all of those because they’re all brilliant.
Olivia Wolfgang-Smith is the author of Glassworks (her paperback and hardcover are out on the same day!). Her new novel, Mutual Interest is about a couple in a lavender marriage building a beauty empire. I don’t think I need to say more. Out February 4.
Charlee Dyroff released her debut Loneliness & Company In May. It’s set in near-future New York and is about a woman working on a secret government project to combat loneliness. I have this one on my shelf and need to move it to the top of my TBR.
Jinwoo Chong, author of Flux Is releasing I Leave It Up To You in March 2025. It’s about a man who wakes up from a coma to a different world than he remembers: his job, boyfriend and apartment are all gone and in this disorientation he moves to New Jersey. I’m seated!
Gina Chung has published two books. Her debut Sea Change, came out last year, and this year she published Green Frog, a collection of short stories that explores Korean-American womanhood, bodies and transformation. Love a short story collection, love Gina’s work!
I went home to DC for a week and spent it babysitting my baby sister, finalizing wedding details, eating soft-serve from B&J, long strolls around Target and shopping for wedding bands. If you’re ever in the DC-area I recommend Town Jewelers for both vintage and custom stuff. Tell Hamid I sent you!
I was in a two-person book club with Ochuko, who writes one of my favorite newsletters, as seen on. We read If An Egyptian Cannot Speak English by Noor Naga, which I really enjoyed. More on that below, but keep an eye out for our discussion, out on her newsletter soon.
I sent an email to my tax guy that I’ve been putting off for six months. It took all of 10 minutes. Admin anxiety is so real.
I discovered a laundry hack by way of my favorite baking TikToker, M. Kathleen Meisinger. She cleans meticulously, which I admire and aspire to. In the video, she soaks and washes her white dish towels and oven mitts and they come out sparkling clean. I spent the following weekend soaking everything white I could find in her recommended concoction and it worked! Also shoutout to my friends who acted excited about the videos I sent of dirty laundry water.
My brother asked me for $20 in a hilarious fashion.
Lowlights
Our car needed a new battery which we found out by coming out of our wedding venue and the car not turning on. $200+ later things were back to normal but it was a reminder that adulting is ghetto!
It took me six months to write an email.
Things I Read
Evenings and Weekends by Oisin Mckenna
I felt like I was seeing this novel everywhere at the beginning of the summer and after hearing one convincing recommendation too many, I decided to pick it up. It’s an ensemble-cast style novel about a cast of interconnected characters over a summer weekend in London. There’s also a beached whale that everyone’s thinking about, which seems to operate as a metaphor for being stuck in circumstances almost incidentally. About being somewhere you’re not supposed to and having the courage to find your way out. The various characters experiment with this notion to varying degrees of success, and we’re invited to witness these small journeys while also thinking about what is said and unsaid between people who love each other. All in all, I liked it, but I found a lot of the intimacy, save for the relationship between one of the characters' parents, to be fairly shallow. It wasn’t just that the characters couldn’t have difficult conversations but that there would be a setup for those things to happen with no payoff. Lots of moments of aborted catharsis and the general sense that their relationships with one another were either the result of time passed or convenience. I wanted these people to love each other, but it felt like attachment instead. All in all I enjoyed it—I think the book accomplished what it set out to do—and I understand why people have been talking about it so much.
Playing in the Dark by Toni Morrison
I wrote a longform review about this but it blew my brain open. I loved it!
All Fours by Miranda July
Review forthcoming.
If An Egyptian Cannot Speak English by Noor Naga
As I said earlier, I read this one with Ochuko and I really enjoyed it. It’s about a girl who moves to Cairo post-revolution in the hopes of finding herself and connecting with her Egyptian heritage. While there she meets a boy and he becomes a representation of an authentic experience while also having complications of its own. I liked how Naga plays with format and structure and interrogates questions of power and migration. It’s a book that inspires discussion and is ideal for a book club.
Currently Reading
The New Naturals by Gabriel Bump
I ended up repurchasing this during a recent trip to Barnes & Noble. The book is marketed to fans of The Sellout by Paul Beatty and The Candy House by Jennifer Egan, so essentially, me. Percival Everett also blurbed it, which added in another layer of social proof. It’s about a Black couple who decide to start an underground community in the woods and end up attracting an array of people. I’m not even at the halfway mark so it’s been a lot of setup so far and I’m interested in seeing where it goes.
Things I Watched
I’m actually shocked by how much TV I’ve watched
The Good
The Other Two (HBO)
Everyone raves about this comedy, which follows the two non-famous siblings of a Justin Bieber-like teen popstar. The characters are not at all likable (except for the mom, she eats) but it’s funny enough and made for great background noise while I worked. Would recommend.
The Umbrella Academy (Netflix)
I loved the final season of The Umbrella Academy, which reunites the siblings and once again has them facing the threat of armageddon. Yes we watch for the fight scenes but we’re really there for the messy family dynamics and this season it was on full display. I liked the storyline a lot this season and the ending felt cathartic but not too sappy. I can’t say more without ruining earlier seasons, but it felt like a proper sendoff.
Notes on a Scandal (Max)
Someone mentioned this movie in a Substack post, I can’t remember who, but I decided to watch it on a whim. I enjoyed it even though the subject matter is disturbing. It’s about a teacher who sleeps with a student and the other teacher keeping her secret. It’s a twisted story about a complex relationship and the actresses give compelling performances. Would recommend if you enjoyed Baby Reindeer.
Chimp Crazy (HBO)
Like everyone else I’m watching Chimp Crazy, which is about a woman named Tonia who’s accused of harboring a Hollywood chimpanzee named Tonka. It’s made by the same people who made Tiger King so there’s the same absurdist tone, which works even better with Tonia, who is one of the best documentary subjects I’ve seen in a while. She’s equal parts earnest and manipulative and also generally kooky. Episode two had me screaming at the TV.
Enchanted (Disney+)
My little sister has never seen Enchanted so C and I watched it with her. I forgot how good it was. 10/10, no notes.
Kaos (Netflix)
I liked American Gods and Good Omens so it’s no surprise that I really enjoyed Kaos, which imagines the Greek gods as a modern, dysfunctional family. The show centers around an ancient prophecy and the character’s anxieties about it coming true. It’s solid on all fronts and has an interesting cast of characters. Season one was solid and I’d be interested in a season two, but I’m concerned that, like the comps above, the following seasons will go off the rails.
Worst Ex Ever (Netflix)
I don’t like calling this “good,” because it’s bad vibes across the board, but this is essentially the domestic violence equivalent of Worst Roommate Ever. Every abuser in this show is diabolical and it’s hard to believe some people’s capacity for manipulation and violence. The last episode is particularly haunting.
The Fine
Only Murders in the Building (Hulu)
This show has all my favorite things: compelling characters, a mystery, beautiful set design. I also love it because I walked by the Arconia many times throughout my childhood (my grandma moved to the Upper West Side when I was 11) and was always curious about who lived inside. I watch every season excitedly but the first episode of this felt a little lukewarm. I was excited for the gang to get back together but something feels a little off this time around. Hopefully things pick up in the next few episodes.
The Fall Guy (Peacock)
C and I love an at-home movie date. We’ll rent something recently-released that we missed in theaters and she often creates a little spread. This time she got us red wine and put SkinnyPop in little containers as if we were at the actual movies. It was incredibly romantic and very cute. This month we watched Fall Guy, which is a second-chance-romance meets murder mystery about a stuntman and a director. It was fine! I enjoyed it. I don’t remember the ending but do remember laughing a few times.
Tokyo Swindler (Netflix)
I watched a few episodes of this which is about a group of land swindlers who make money by conducting fake land sales. I watched a few episodes of this and liked it. I haven’t picked it back up though, so I don’t have any overarching thoughts.
Sunny (Apple TV)
I know Rashida Jones for her romcoms so it was fun to watch her in this role as the grieving widow of a robotics engineer. The show, produced by A24, is an adaptation of the novel The Dark Manual by Colin O’ Sullivan, and feels very much like an A24 production. I generally enjoyed it but there were a few moments where the mystery folds in on itself and it becomes predictable. I liked it best when we were close to Rashida’s character and her grief, watching her cycle through sadness, despair and disbelief. It’s also nice to look at so if you watch TV for the vibes, you’ll probably enjoy this.
Cowboy Cartel (Apple TV)
This documentary is about the Zetas cartel and how they were taken down by a rookie agent. The way they caught the cartel was sort of serendipitous and involved horse racing and wiretaps. It would be a good FX show and was a decent documentary.
The Tale (Max)
This was in the recommended film section at the end of Notes of a Scandal and I was in the mood for another film so I gave it a chance. I also like Laura Dern. If I could do it over I wouldn’t watch the two back to back. The film follows a woman as she grapples with a defining relationship of her childhood with two coaches. As a teenager, she had one view of their interactions but revisiting it in adulthood sends her reeling. She starts digging into her past in an attempt at closure and ends up unraveling in the process. It was traumatic and fine.
We Own This City (Max)
This miniseries is about the Baltimore Police Department and the ways they terrorized the city’s citizens through planting evidence, theft and assault. It came out in 2022 and definitely feels like something that was greenlit in 2020 in the wake of George Floyd’s murder. It’s heavy on themes of injustice and light on plot.I don’t know how I sat through this. It wasn’t bad as much as it was boring, and a general reminder that protect and serve is a slogan, not a vow.
Pieces of Her (Netflix)
This show is based on a novel with the same name and follows a girl whose mom isn’t exactly who she says she is. I got through most of it before abandoning it even though it has all of the components of a show I would like: a family secret, a double life, and Toni Collette. Unfortunately all of the pieces didn’t quite come together.
A Man in Full (Netflix)
A mid show about a scrambling real estate tycoon that had a lot of potential.
American Murder: Laci Peterson (Netflix)
I’d never heard of Laci Peterson before this documentary but I ended up wondering if Gillian Flynn had been inspired by the case (according to Reddit, apparently not). It’s about a pregnant woman who was probably killed by her husband and makes the convincing case that Scott is a sociopath.
The Abysmal
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder (Netflix)
A series of improbable and increasingly absurd events with a main character that frequently makes nonsensical choices and decisions. I put my brain on airplane mode to watch this and can’t tell you anything about it except that I didn’t enjoy it. It’s based on a YA novel of the same name, which according to the Reddit threads I trawled through is much better than the show.
The Union (Netflix)
The premise of this film made little sense. Essentially Mark Wahlberg and Halle Berry are high school sweethearts and Halle is a spy who recruits him for some confusing reason. There’s lots of random explosions (we played a drinking game where we took shots every time someone blew something up) and tried to follow the plot. They have zero chemistry.
Face to Face With Scott Peterson (Peacock)
I watched the companion documentary which features present-day interviews with Scott Peterson from prison. While the Netflix documentary leaves off with the death penalty verdict from 2004, the Peacock documentary focuses on the effects of the case on Scott and the less-than-sterling police work. It didn’t convince me that he was innocent but the missteps by the local police department did convince me that rigor and excellence were in short supply and that it needed to be more thoroughly investigated so that we aren’t shifting the conversation from the victim to the perpetrator.
Best Bites
C’s chicken quesadillas
C’s pasta salad - peach, prosciutto, arugula, grape tomatoes and balsamic vinaigrette
Pizza from Sky Zone in Bowie, MD (hear me out, extra hot, it’s kinda good!)
My wedding food, the chef really snapped
Soft serve from B&J
On my wishlist
A dining room table, preferably an expandable one that starts as a circle and becomes an oval — suggestions very welcome. I’m also checking FB Marketplace obsessively feel free to send those links too.
An office chair so I can actually work from my desk. Keeping my eyes peeled for a reasonably priced Knoll Pollock chair (Carrie and I send links regularly) but if anyone has a Design Within Reach connect, please send my way.
Jewelry from Faris, particularly this stud-cuff situation
As always, 20K more words of my draft
Expense Report
Some stuff from The Real Real: Silk Donna Karan Pants, wide leg Jil Sander trousers and lace-up sandals from Reike Nen (none of it worked, it’s all going back)
A foldable pine table from Muji
Wedding guest dresses from ASOS (also going back!)
A jersey dress from Brandon Blackwood
Toiletries for my little brother, who went off to school
Lots of deposits for wedding vendors
How was your August? I wanna know.
I’m an early September Virgo, so I always feel like the last week of August is just stretchinggggggg on with no end. It’s not my favorite, but I do like your Sunday metaphor. It feels like the pause before an exhale and the back to school rush.
I also wore Faris jewelry to my wedding! Good luck – the last few weeks before the wedding feel like that first upward incline of a roller coaster. It inches excruciatingly slower right before the drop arrives, and then suddenly, you're in it, and it's all weightless thrills.
Priya Parker has written beautifully and compellingly about the non-logistics elements of weddings, and how they tend to be Trojan horses for larger group and family conflict – it's why I usually buy friends her book The Art of Gathering right when they get engaged!
Very different than If An Egyptian Cannot Speak English, but if you're interested in books that explore modern Egyptian identity (as well as, seemingly, all of human experience in a single book) I can't recommend Shubeik Lubeik highly enough. My first ever graphic novel and one of my top books of last year, if not my top (only competition on its level was Demon Copperhead). I was so deeply moved.