weekly reading recs: on beauty, mental illness, emily henry, "lacy," and losing the places we love
recommendations from what i've been reading and thinking about
happy weekend!!
what i write is based fundamentally on what i’m thinking and feeling: and these two sensations are often based on what i’m reading! so yeah basically i thought it would be nice to sort of log articles and books i’m reading and/or thinking about and then share what those are with you… you know, in case you are looking for some interesting recs!
i hope you find as much value in these reads as i have!
on the never-ending quest for beauty
“self-hatred and a diet coke” by
on club reticent is a compelling read about the experience of women growing up with the sense that they will never be beautiful enough. the piece goes far deeper than that though by also examining the origins of self-hatred in our culture itself. this piece really hit me hard and actually helped me think more about "pretty isn’t pretty” by olivia rodrigo in my recent post about her. i hope you will find valerie’s writing as powerful as i did: this to me is an essential read.on romanticizing mental illness
“i’m not a regular writer, i’m a cool writer’” by Amanda!
on the certified readers department is a relatable reflection on the ways in which we romanticize mental illnes when it comes to writing and art in general: and how dangerous this is. i really enjoyed this and found so much to relate to in terms of how she describes the temptation to sit inside those dark places.on the romance goddess herself, emily henry
in “why are we all so into emily henry novels?” by
on hmm that’s interesting, clara looks into why our reading culture just cannot get enough emily henry. what i enjoyed most about this piece is something i feel like i have really sensed about emily henry but have not been able to articulate or explain until i read this piece: emily henry offers us a profoundly compelling take on what true love really means.on “lacy”
while browsing substack i came across this in-depth analysis of “lacy” by
on no, but listen. alina writes a lot of insightful analyses of taylor swift songs as well, but this piece about “lacy” sucked me right in until i finished and then sent me down a rabbit hole of olivia rodrigo binging. “lacy” is such a powerful song and i really enjoyed this post by alina!on letting go of the places we love
this piece, “learning to let go of what is out of my control,” by
was a wonderful read: anyone who has ever lost a stable place in their life will relate to the way she describes the emotions of her grandparents selling their house. i cannot recommend this one enough for a nice read!i hope you enjoy these recommendations!
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love,
andrew
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loved for your mere existence
when i was reading the novel gilead by marylinne robinson, this line, written from a father to his son, stopped me dead in my tracks and forced me to put the book down:
my hair finally free
having long hair while dressing up as a straight man felt like wanting a really cool tattoo but then being forced to get the design that your baptist grandpa sketched out as compensation for not letting you go to prom because dancing is evil. within the narrow bounds of cis heteronormative masculinity, i was always trying to find deliberate ways to make…
Thank you for including me in your post!! That’s so nice of you. I’m going to go read that post about Lacy now, I love that song :)