Minneapple

I never post here but I’m pouring one out for all of us from the Beijing Olympics forum who screeched with anger when Kamila was allowed to skate. Justice for Team USA.

The thing that got me about Babel was the language and dialogue. The book is set in the 19th century yet the characters all talk like they live in the 21st century. The discussions about gender and sexuality and race all sound way way way too contemporary. I did enjoy the world building, so maybe I'll still give Yellowface a try. FYI: Amazon has a three-month free Kindle Unlimited subscription if you're a Prime member. I just signed up.

I have Yellowface on my list but I'm actually a bit hesitant as I wasn't too enamored of RF Kuang's other book, Babel. I just finished Happy Place by Emily Henry. Her Book Lovers is one of my favorite chick lit/romcom books of all time so I had high hopes but honestly I was a bit let down by Happy Place. I thought it was kind of boring. The characters felt flat. And the friends were annoying. I haven't read Beach Read yet but I'll probably still give it a try.

Just finished Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann. It's good, but I honestly have a feeling that this might be one of those rare cases where the movie is actually better than the book, which is written in a very straightforward style, almost like an extended newspaper article.

Ava: I see you as a young me Courtney: I see you as an old me. Hah! Love it. I also loved Melissa having to appear in court for throwing a corncob at Ben Simmons, I could totally see her doing that. I had to look away at the mouse scene. Nope. Nope. ETA I forgot Ava’s last quote! “Kids happy, Janine quiet, Gregory fine.”

We went to Back to School night at my son’s school the other night and I don’t envy the teachers at all, all the bullshit they have to put up with. But despite all of it, every single one told us how much they love teaching and how much they love the kids. That was going through my mind during this episode, with Barbara’s effort to find the desk and Jacob signing to the student and Janine getting Gritty to come to the school for the kids. Gritty is the stuff of nightmares yet somehow is still the best.

I finished reading Babel by RF Kuang and it is a worthwhile read, though I wouldn’t mark it as good as the breathless Goodreads reviews have it. The research is top-notch and the information about languages and history is fascinating. However, the characters and their relationships suffer because of that. A lot of people have compared this to The Secret History, and it is like that with the dark academia setting. But I think the characters and relationships in The Secret History are better drawn and deeper. Also, the dialogue in Babel is bafflingly modern. Some of the discussions about race and gender sound like they are straight out of 2020, not 1840.

So thrilled for "Barbara Howard, woman of God," and for Quinta's writing Emmy! What a thrill. Can't wait for the season premiere!

I recently finished: Karen McManus' new one, Nothing More to Tell. I really enjoyed it, almost more than One of Us is Lying. It had a very Veronica Mars vibe to it, and even references VM. The Final Gambit, the conclusion of Jennifer Lynn Barnes' The Inheritance Games trilogy. From what I see online, a LOT of the discussion of these books revolves around (sigh) shipping. Sigh. At least it hasn't seemed to affect the ratings of the book much on sites like Goodreads and Amazon. I am currently reading: Babel, Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution by R.F. Kuang. Promising start. Mysterious with a good atmosphere so far. I have on my list: As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfah Khatouh. I love how many Muslim authors we have now, particularly in YA. We hardly had any when I was growing up as a Muslim girl and devouring books as a tween/teen.

I'm actually kind of curious to read Lightlark now, to see if it's really as bad as all the reviews say. I read quite a bit of YA and YA fantasy, to the point where a lot of the tropes make me roll my eyes (I'm so plain, she thought, as she brushed her long auburn locks away from her face, and then she went to put on the beautiful shimmering teal-colored gown that brought out the green flecks in her eyes). I had it on my Goodreads list because it was getting a ton of hype, I think I even got a Barnes and Noble email with the line about "August's most anticipated YA novel!" or something like that.

Has anyone seen the drama involving the upcoming YA fantasy called Lightlark? This is a novel that is coming out of BookTok. The author has done a ton of TikToks to hype up the novel, talking about the tropes and whatnot in the book. The book has been optioned for a movie before publication and all of this. So there was a ton of hype around this book. Well, they sent out some ARCs and people read it and…apparently it sucks, plus it doesn’t include half of the stuff the author said it includes. The book is getting review bombed on Goodreads and the author is getting a lot of hate on social media. She’s talked about how she has struggled with rejection for “years,” but she’s only 27 and apparently her family is wealthy. I had the book marked on my Goodreads and the rating tanked from like a 4.5 to 2.4 almost overnight. I’ve never seen anything like that.

This is how I've been feeling. I've been trying to get out of a reading rut lately and I just can't. Everything on the bestseller lists is trash or something I've read. I've tried a couple of cozy murder mysteries just for something easy to read and I haven't been able to get past like page 20 of each. I think I need to cull my Goodreads "want to read" list and find something that will get me reading again.

One thing I really did like about Bruno, or Brian, was that he didn't shame Kamala on having feelings for the hot mysterious bad boy. He was still her friend through everything, he didn't pull the classic "nice guy" card like "you should be with me because I'm a nice guy and I know what's better for you than you do." I adored the entire Khan family and Kamala's friends and I would love to see them in future projects.

Kamala and collecting cute boys, name a more iconic duo. I continue to love the slice of life stuff about this show, but the pacing of the superhero stuff is throwing me off. They’re bringing Kamala along slowly while the story itself and the villains move at warp speed. Also it’s a lot they’re trying to cram in with only two episodes left. And now they add time travel! Will Kamala provide the stars that led her grandmother to her father, which creates one of those time travel paradoxes that I can never wrap my brain around? The scenes between Muneeba and her mother, and the toffee scene with Kamala and Muneeba were wonderful. (No way would Kamala’s mom let her out of the house in jeans like that if she knew where they were going and who they were meeting. I speak for all desi girls who ever were told by their mother to change into something more appropriate.) I like that Muneeba and Yusuf didn’t just come to America for a better life. Shows that not all immigrants are poor people just looking for a bootstrap. Nani is super rich, I never would have left. Kamala’s cousin used the term “ABCD,” which means “American Born Confused Desi,” a term that annoys me because I reject the notion that you have to dress or act a certain way to be “Indian.” This was likely at least a partial reference to a movie about this concept entitled “American Desi,” filmed in New Jersey in fact, and starring Kal Penn. Waleed was played by Farhan Akhtar who is a successful Bollywood actor, so I’m surprised they killed him off so quickly.

I love the family dynamic, the scenes with Muneeba/Kamala and Yusuf/Aamir, and how Muneeba and Yusuf have basically accepted Nakia and Bruno as part of their family. Another small detail was how they included Tyesha's family in the wedding dance as a surprise to Tyesha, what a lovely gesture.

Pretty much every South Asian wedding is exactly like what they showed. These days the guys and girls dance together even at Muslim weddings, for some conservative people it’s quite shocking! I love Bruno. His Bollywood moves were excellent! My sister-in-law’s sister got married last year (in New Jersey), I’m sad she didn’t book Brown Jovi for her wedding.

Just finished Book Lovers by Emily Henry, the hottest of all the hot romcoms and beachiest of all the beach reads. Has it been optioned for movie rights yet? I would be shocked if it hasn’t. Usually I’m just meh on the romcoms but I actually liked this one a lot. It’s very meta, the characters are enjoyable, the dialogue sparkles. I thought I knew where the book was going, turns out I was wrong. Next up, I think I’m returning to YA with The Agathas, recommended to me as being similar to One Of Us Is Lying, which I loved.

It was also relevant because they were talking about Bollywood movies and Kingo is a Bollywood star in this universe. Though I’m not entirely sure they’re aware that Kingo is an Eternal. Yelena would call her a poser!

As a South Asian Muslim woman I love this show. I relate to Kamala on a spiritual level since once upon a time I too was a first-generation teenager trying to fit in at an American school. Also the cultural and religious touches are perfect, like playing Jalebi Baby and the Bollywood discussions and the mosque cliques. It’s like a mirror of my own life. ”Mashallah” ”What does that mean?” ”Damn!” Lol. Also poor Bruno. I felt so bad for him trying to get in on the Bollywood movie discussion.

Saw it last night and it’s actually really good. Likeable characters, decent plot, fun callbacks to the first movie. It’s a perfect Memorial Day weekend film.

All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir (author of An Ember in the Ashes series). I think this is classified as YA but it’s so far beyond most YA books I’ve read. It’s a gut-punch over and over, so devastating and emotional and beautifully written. I actually cried reading this book, which I haven’t done in…forever over a book. I will say that as a South Asian Muslim I related to this book on a personal level, so maybe that colors my review of it a little.

From my plane ride and beach reading: The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley. It was ok. Verity by Colleen Hoover. I really liked this one.

I recently finished Smile and Look Pretty by Amanda Pellegrino, a fictionalized telling of the MeToo movement. It's not too bad but the characters were all kind of same-y to me. Also by the cover I thought it was going to be a thriller. Got a plane ride tomorrow and I'm looking forward to The Paris Apartment, the new one from Lucy Foley.

Loved Jacob with the double dutch (though having done step, Janine should have enough rhythm to get in there) and hustling poker. And Melissa being all, “I’m not even mad.” Watch your back, Jacob! I honestly love every character on this show. So glad it’s coming back for another season.

Right, I would never want the Americans to resort to abuse or drugs to win medals. That's not the point. I will say it's exasperating that the American women can't do well, but what are you going to do? At least our athletes do well in other disciplines. And to put a positive spin on it, the American women helped win a silver in the team event, so good for them. I SEE ETERI. You guys, I saw someone on social media suggest Lena Headey for the movie or miniseries and it's PERFECT CASTING.