September R.E.P.O.R.T.

I read 9 books in September, making it 71 so far for the year. But two I wanted to highlight:

The Big Story by David Grzybowski

As a lifelong Philadelphia-area local, I have a deep familiarity with the obsessions local have over TV news, especially weather and sports. The Big Story was a fun read, particularly when the reporters and personalities interviewed shared their recollection and reflections on big news events that happened before I was born and the behind-the-scenes memories of things that happened during my lifetime. It’s been years since I was a regular TV news viewer, but I have fond memories and relationships (or impressions of) many of the people in the book. A special shout out to fellow Blue Hen Rob Guarino for being included and the lone voice who pushed back on the Storm of the Century kerfuffle.

The Secret of Secrets by Dan Brown

I’ve read all of Dan Brown’s thrillers, and while this was not the worst one he’s written, it is far from the best. While his books are typically long, the details about art and history make you feel like you’re learning a little bit as you go through the twisty plots that typically take place all in 24 hours or less. That angle is missing here, replaced by a lot about noetics and consciousness that feels more like science fiction than facts with a thriller laid on top. The Secret of Secrets, however, is a two-pounder with very thin pages to not deter casual readers from its size and only features some fun stuff about landmarks in Prague. It is still entertaining, but Dan Brown could also use an editor because there is a lot of repetitive description and recap.

I love to cook, and I like this “Eating” section mostly because I rarely find the place to talk about how much I love cooking. So this section (no matter what it ends up being called, will stay.

Porc a la normande

Anyway, I recently tried a new recipe, called “Braised Pork with Apples” or “Porc a la normande” from the Instantly French! cookbook by Ann Mah. I’ve never used apples in a stew before, and I added potatoes to the recipe (as well as some other allergen accommodations for my roommates) to bulk it out. What resulted was a delightful, filling, and autumnal-feeling stew. While InstantPot is yet another success story ruined by private equity, I love mine, as pressure cooking is a fantastic way to make a meal like this on a weeknight.

Donkey Kong Bananza

I play maybe 2-6 video games in a given year, but the ones I do play I tend to spend a lot of time with, because I am slow at games, and also not very good.

But Donkey Kong Bananza, the latest game featuring 80s icon Donkey Kong, is kind of perfect in its own way. While ostensibly a 3D platformer (from the team that made the also excellent Mario Odyssey), the main goal here is smashing things. DK gets to go on a Hulk-like rampage on the environment, enemies, and many other things in the game in order to find giant gems in the shape of bananas and thwarting the bad guys who are digging to the planet’s core. It is a very different kind of mechanic from any other platformer that I’ve played, and the game is full of colorful environments, great music, and general weirdness that feels invitational and not like gatekeeping.

Paul Thomas Anderson

I’ve never been a huge fan of Paul Thomas Anderson, but going through and watching/rewatching most of his filmography helped cement what I like and don’t like about him. I think it is common for people to get hooked on an artist (in any medium) when they are young or early in their career, and nostalgia takes hold. But like many artists, PTA has only gotten better at his craft over the years.

Here is my ranking of all of his films for MovieJawn, and I also wrote a long review of One Battle After Another for MJ as well. I talked about its connections to other films, American history, and more.

We Speak Through the Mountain is the third novella I’ve read by Premee Mohamad this year, and the best one so far (I will write a post soon about how I fell in love with novellas generally this year). This is the second in a trilogy about Reid, a young girl living in a post-post-apocalyptic world, the ruins of our civilization. In this book, she is faced with reckoning that something she thought she wanted wasn’t what she thought it was at all, and specifically finds herself away from the community-oriented home she came from and in a place where individualism and even isolation is the norm. While the book always maintains Reid’s point of view, it manages to capture big themes from a ground view standpoint, asking questions about what things are important to us and what we owe to those around us. I am eagerly looking forward to reading The First Thousand Trees–the final installment in this trilogy–out today.

Since the pandemic, I have been treating myself to early spooky season. I decorate for Halloween shortly after Labor Day, and start watching spooky movies.

This year, some standouts so far have been: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), The Unknown (1927), The Brides of Dracula (1960), and Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person (2023).

▶ Working at: my desk at home

▶ Podcast in my ears: Blank Check (just finished the O Brother, Where Art Thou episode

▶ Current reads: America, América: A New History of the New World by Greg Grandin, The Shattering Peace by John Scalzi, Cinema Speculation by Quentin Tarantino

▶ Albums on repeat: I quit by HAIM, Dracula by John Williams

▶ Find me: