July, I ❤️ New York
photos and books and sandwiches and hot dogs
I went to New York, and boy, oh boy, did I have a good time. It was like the world stopped just for me, or maybe I entered vacation mode for one of the first times in my life and was able to successfully focus on my trip and just my trip. The humidity in New York City was absolutely awful, and if Seattle suddenly felt that way, I’d complain way, way more than I complained while I was on the east coast. Not that I didn’t complain. It’s one of the main topics of conversation, even for people who live in the city and swears up and down that this humidity is particularly bad this July!
My friend Luisa told me she always picks a book to represent her trip, like whatever book she was reading during the vacation; that’s the book that kind of stands for that trip. I’ve never done that before, but I will always do that now. I didn’t plan ahead, though, so the book I read—The Face on the Milk Carton—has nothing to do with my trip at all. Regardless, it’s the book I read (or rather, re-read) on my plane ride home when the wifi was completely not working, so shoutout to both Caroline Cooney and Judy Blume because I also watched Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, and I loved it and wanted Rachel McAdams to hold me.
Here’s my July.
[Books I read]
Pet by Akwaeke Emezi (2019) | Quick summary: When Jam meets Pet, a figure straight out of her mother’s painting, things in Lucille are no longer as peachy as they seem.
I have never read a book written by Akwaeke Emezi I didn’t thoroughly enjoy. Pet is YA, but Emezi’s writing isn’t as YA as you might assume. Though this genre isn’t really my favorite, I was wholly invested in Jam, Pet, Redemption, and the concept of “no more monsters in the world.”
[fiction-fantasy novel, YA written by a Nigerian multidisciplinary artist and writer based in liminal space, shortish read]
The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline B. Cooney (1990) | Quick summary: Janie’s life is flipped upside down when she realizes she’s the missing girl on the milk carton.
I read this book once or twice as a kid, and after reading Paperback Crush, I was inspired to revisit a few favorite books from my childhood. What a great idea that was! I was so impressed with how good Cooney’s writing is, in a way that I don’t typically expect or anticipate from a YA book, especially one from the early 90s. Loved re-reading this, and the sequel just came in on my Libby app, so expect more later.
[fiction-mystery novel, YA, written by a white American author, shortish read]
Beach Read by Emily Henry (2020) | Quick summary: Two writers stuck in a rut challenge each other to write books in each other’s respective genres as they fall in love.
Henry is a fun author. There is an abundance of fun, lighter romcom books in recent years (thank god!), and even in spite of that, Henry’s writing style stands out in that space. Dialogue in romance books will always make me cringe, even if it’s the best writer in the world but the strength of Henry’s writing otherwise makes up for the insistence on making men say things they’d never even think.
[fiction-mystery novel, YA, written by a white American author, shortish read]
The Rabbit Hutch: A novel by Tess Gunty (2022) | Quick summary: Interweaving stories following a young teen in foster care, a former child star on her deathbed, her disturbed son, and an obituary writer.
This is one of those books I’m so happy I read digitally because it had beautiful sentences and highlighted so many of them. Beyond the characters I found myself deeply drawn to, even if I had nothing in common with them, I was obsessed with Gunty’s sentence writing. What a strong story, interesting characters, great writing. Thank you, The Book Bully, for bumping this onto my radar! And for being pretty.
[Books I heard]
Fat Off, Fat On: A Big Bitch Manifesto by Clarkisha Kent (2023) | Quick summary: Cultural critic Clarkisha Kent unpacks being fat, Black, and queer in this society.
This was one of the worst books I’ve ever read/listened to. I’ve really enjoyed writing my paid newsletter, “I Hated This Book,” and while this was a worthwhile submission for that approach, you’re not going to catch me out here dragging a Black woman for her shitty memoir. But I’d skip this one if you’re hoping for insight into being fat, queer, and Black and only pick it up if you want to read about Kent’s immature hook-ups, which I did not!
[nonfiction, memoir, written by a Nigerian American writer, culture critic, former columnist, and author, longer listen, read by the author]
Raw Dog: The Naked Truth About Hot Dogs by Jamie Loftus (2023) | Quick summary: A deep-dive into hot dogs!
There is no reason this book should be as good as it yes, and yet! Loftus has created a book I cannot stop thinking about. Equal parts history, humor, and politics, Raw Dog has a title I hate, a cover I love, and a growing fan-base, if my office is any indication. I listened to this but it’s one I’ll buy and read again at some point, or force on other people if they want to be delighted. Warning: there are graphic and relentless descriptions of how hot dogs are made but Loftus makes that clear before getting into it!
[nonfiction, food and history writing, written by a white American comedian, Emmy-nominated tv writer, and podcaster, medium-length listen, read by the author]
The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece: A novel by Tom Hanks (2023) | Quick summary: The making of a star-studded, multimillion-dollar superhero action film, from many perspectives.
I feel exactly the same way about this novel that I do about Hanks’s short story collection, Uncommon Type. Hanks’s storytelling is fine! Decent, even. It’s interesting but not compelling. It’s familiar and not overdone, but not exciting. I think he should keep writing books because I’ll keep reading them, and I also don’t think Hanks’s writing is why we all adore him so deeply. That all said, this was a fun listen. Hanks does the majority of the narrating, which is why I chose to listen to a fiction novel, which I don’t usually do, but there’s a full cast to fill in on and represent the various characters. In the end, it slipped into Daisy Jones and the Six’s audiobook style almost exactly, which is fair because that’s a great audiobook. But it bothered me. Regardless, it’s Tom Hanks, so I had a great 15 hours of listening.
[novel, literary fiction, written by a white American actor and writer, longer listen, read by the author and others]
[What I recommend]
If you’re looking for darn good fiction: Pet and The Rabbit Hutch
If you want to laugh and maybe never eat another hot dog or only want to eat hot dogs: Raw Dog
If Tom Hanks’s voice soothes you, listen to: The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece
It’s August 1st. It’s my birthday month! I’ll wax poetic about that next month, though. BE good to yourselves and others. If you have extra money and are like, I want to give money to something Jess cares about this month, check out the loveliest person I know’s gofundme or my baby brother’s “get out of deep debt” fund.
Welp, guess I need to read this book about hot dogs.
RAW DOG! I didn’t love it quite as much as you did but damn did it make me laugh out loud!