crying in h mart

Crying in H Mart: A Memoir by Michelle Zauner
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

4.5 and rounding up (again slightly biased reader) i’ve been awaiting this memoir for some time and needless to say it doesn’t disappoint. i identified with the push and pull of a mother-daughter relationship that was anchored in food as love and unfulfilled expectations of a parent. lastly, peter is a saint. michelle really grabbed a good one.

we run the tides

We Run the Tides by Vendela Vida
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

i had a feeling this would be in my wheelhouse growing up in san francisco albeit NOT in sea cliff. vendela has captured the landscape of the foggy beaches of san francisco to a tee. something i constantly have to clarify to non-left coasters about the major difference between northern and southern california. i saw someone compare vida to ferrante, and i'd have to say vendela's depiction of teenage female friendship hits deeper for me. the characters are more engaging for my taste and the lies more tangible. again, caveat that i'm probably overrating for my affinity to my hometown as it's resonance is personally palpable.

the family upstairs

The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

okay, i've been a fan of lisa jewell since ralph's party and was in a anglophile reverie in the early aughts. i have since been fortunate to live in london and now can picture vividly the places that jewell writes about. for this latest suspense turn (i still miss the early chick lit jewell novels), i have to say i enjoyed it much more than her past efforts. jewell has always had easy reading prose that i can devour in a sitting. this story unfolds with a few red herrings and tidies up to an amiable ending. recommend!

2020 mixtape invitational

my coworker sam puts together an annual collation of top song for the year end.  my third year participating here are 2019 and 2018. 

niners win!

 

Christian Petersen/Getty Images

niners were out of the wild card race last weekend, so their win today against the cards was a welcomed surprised. i'm glad the d laid it all out on the line because saleh will likely not be back with us next year. felt like the d-line was going extra to make him proud, especially fred warner.

hbo max

 

i haven't written words in a while, but wanted to pay homage to hbo max for entertaining me for the past few months.  i've heard folks mention not watching original content on hbo max, but friends there are gems.  i started off with the anna kendrick-led series, love life. it was cute.  then, i watched season two of search party. i was late to the party and feel like i didn't miss much.

but this month has been stellar with two standouts, stylish with jenna lyons and house of ho.

as a fan of j crew in the aughts to the introduction of madewell, lyons was at the helm. this sorta competition show to become an associate for jenna's new venture only further my love for lyons.  also, made me rethink tulle.  she is such an empathetic boss that i would drop everything to work with her IF i had any style.  jenna help me.  noted: reinvent classics, denim on denim, monochromes!

house of ho is a revelation in a sea of silly family-based reality shows.  first off, yes crazy rich asians meets that other rich family show that's finally off the air.  it's more than that as it tackles multi-generational and cultural norms that have rarely been tackled on television. there's also lesley, who isthe wife of the eldest ho son.  she wasn't born into money and provides a nice dichotomy, though she can be a bit of a control freak. 

lastly of note is the bee gees documentary, how can you mend a broken heart. it's a great profile of the gibb brothers from decades of reinvention to formidable songwriters. 

from the mixed up files of mrs. basil e. frankweiler

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler: Special Edition 

by E.L. Konigsburg
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

on the heels of the met reopening this coming weekend, it was a joy to read this book in anticipation. my edition included an afterword that konigsburg wrote for the 35th anniversary edition. she compares what she's written back in 1967 to a post-9/11 of the then present. though she past several years ago, i wonder what ms. konigsburg would think of 2020 manhattan.