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 iām thinking and feeling: and these two sensations are often based on what iām reading! so yeah basically i thought it would be nice to sort of log articles and books iām reading and/or thinking about and then share what those are with youā¦ 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
āself-hatred and a diet cokeā 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 isnāt prettyā by olivia rodrigo in my recent post about her. i hope you will find valerieās writing as powerful as i did: this to me is an essential read.on romanticizing mental illness
āiām not a regular writer, iām a cool writerāā 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 āwhy are we all so into emily henry novels?ā by
on hmm thatās 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 ālacyā
while browsing substack i came across this in-depth analysis of ālacyā by
on no, but listen. alina writes a lot of insightful analyses of taylor swift songs as well, but this piece about ālacyā sucked me right in until i finished and then sent me down a rabbit hole of olivia rodrigo binging. ālacyā is such a powerful song and i really enjoyed this post by alina!on letting go of the places we love
this piece, ālearning to let go of what is out of my control,ā 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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Thank you for including me in your post!! Thatās so nice of you. Iām going to go read that post about Lacy now, I love that song :)