Greetings, friends! We are approaching the eve of a new year, and I am feeling quite optimistic. By the time you see this posted, I’ll be at home snuggled with my cat and maybe knitting another blanket. I wanted to keep our first discussion thread fun and fresh by talking about our favorite rose and thorns of the year regarding art, literature, music, culture and everything in between.
I’ll start: Solar Power was one of my biggest letdowns (for multiple reasons), but 333 and a touch of the beat gets you up on your feet gets you out and into the sun more than made up for Lorde’s flop era. Also, contrary to what the streets are saying, I think the new Adele was really nice. As previously established, Little Universes by Heather Demetrios was my worst read of the year. I think I’ll Give You The Sun by Jandy Nelson (as much as Oscar/Jude deserves to be dealt with) or Any Place I Hang My Hat by Susan Isaacs are my best. I feel like I watched no movies, and neither of the following came out this year, but since this year was the year I watched them, Succession and Dare Me are my top TV picks. Are we surprised? Speak and be heard, and have a blessed New Year! I’ll be in the comments like an English teacher hovering over discussion groups, but don’t mind me.
i didn't actually listen to much music that came out this year (the new PUP EP was interesting, but it felt a bit too pop-y for me—the consequences of being punk lol) but i listened to a lot of the music i listened to as a kid again for the first time in ages! so it's been a weird mix of the magentic fields, beyonce and amy winehouse lol. i wanted so bad to like the new willow album—it was good, it just wasn't my style!
i read a ton of books towards the end of the year since i've been trying to read a bit before bed to help my sleep, and my favourite of those reads was probably The Left Hand of Darkness (ursula k le guin really was a genius huh!!) i read annihilation in about 3 days over my summer holiday, and it also knocked my socks off—it's one of those books that gives you emotions unknown to humankind. thorns: my mum challenged me to read orlando by virginia woolf, as she thought i'd like it, but i really hated it. it had this constant break-neck pace, there were no pauses in the plot at ALL, and also it was. by virginia woolf. and included, yeah, some of her.... attitudes shall we say.
i didn't watch much movies or tv this year, but i thoroughly enjoyed space sweepers, an insanely fun found family in space movie with a clever commentary and some truly bonkers twists. and the great british bakeoff is always just very good.
i'm ordering some new books at the moment (christmas book voucher gifts are always good): the echo wife by sarah gailey, the traitor baru cormorant by seth dickinson, mexican gothic by silvia moreno-garcia, and a memory of empire by arkady martine!
thanks for tuning in!!! i had a few friends who loved the willow album, but i never got around to it so i may add it to my list. you can never go wrong with some le guin, and it seems you can always go wrong with virginia woolf. space sweepers sounds really fun, so maybe i'll add that to my winter break watchlist!!! as seen above, mexican gothic definitely sounds worth the read, so let me know if that ends up being worth your while. have a wonderful new year <3
i'm late, because i've been out of town, but HELLO LITERATELEAH NATION.
my musical rose has to be 'who hurt you' by jensen mcrae. this album singlehandedly got me through 2021 and ushered me into my twenties gently and all at once. i was more than disappointed with billie eilish's new album - there are a few songs that i listen to, but as a whole i really didn't like it. she's not my favorite person but i still wanted to like her music (esp. after my embarrassing phase after her first album came out) so it was like :-/ when only two songs were any good.
any book you've recommended, when i was able to read, made me extremely happy. my other literature roses include 'Mexican Gothic' by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and 'Firebreak' by Nicole Kornher-Stace, which i could talk about for 8000 years.
my thorn was probably 'The Box in the Woods'. i was obsessed with the original Truly Devious series back whenever it was released, and on paper TBitW sounded exactly like my perfect book... but it was so lackluster that it just made me sad. i really wanted to love it.
um... tv and movies. huge shoutout to Doctor Who and the Hunger Games trilogy for helping me find out i'm autistic. i don't think that obsession is going anywhere soon.
also, i'm still upset Dune (2021) isn't theaters anymore, because it took over my brain so completely that it took me a while to think about anything else.
i finally watched Psych: The Movie from 2017 and it was so depression-inducing that i can't believe i finished watching it all the way through. i loved that show as a kid. the movie felt like they reanimated its corpse and i was watching it go through the motions of being alive again.
YAYY better late than never always. re: who hurt you i LOVE jensen's covers and i have never gotten into her original work but obvi now i have to. i never listened to billie's album but from what i'm hearing/heard i have no desire to! mexican gothic has been a tbr for SOOO long i'm just waiting until i'm in the right headspace to truly ready myself. marking down firebreak for future reference. my thg rekindling occurred EARLY quarantine like april may 2020 so i feel like that wound is still smarting and alas i never dove into dw but i feel it will have its time and place... i'm so hesitant about fantasy/sci-fi grrrr. along the same vein (plus various trusted critiques that sounded very um. icky) i never watched dune but watching such a niche literature success go to the screen has been thrilling to say the least. i also never watched psych but that weird shift from series style to a feature is so jarring :/// have the best best new year love thank u for the recs <3333
Dec 27, 2021·edited Dec 27, 2021Liked by leah ollie
Oh this is fun! I'll start with a rose: "Jubilee" by Japanese Breakfast... amazing album, got me through the dog days and is still on repeat months later! "Solar Power" was a big disappointment for me too, but "Punisher" by Phoebe Bridgers, which released last year but I first listened to in this one, saved the day.
"Succession" was definitely a favourite, along with "Young Royals" (snappy, clever, but never without a certain warmth and the essence of coming-of-age stories). The 4th season of "13 Reasons Why" was the worst of the lot, could barely get through it.
For books, I'm honestly just thankful I got back into reading after a few years of only textbooks. I was so pleasantly surprised by "The Raven Cycle" by Maggie Stiefvater (my first fantasy in ages) which I devoured all four of in 2 weeks time. It has its flaws, for sure, but I fell in love with the scattered plot (or lack thereof) and the characters. Cannot say the same for "One Last Stop" by Casey McQuiston... other people have talked about all the ways it was bad a lot better than me but for me, I was quite bored halfway through it.
Also, taking note of your roses to check out in the new year, thank you!
ooh so many hits here!!! i also loved punisher i listened to it way back in january and it really set the tone. i’ve also seen loooots of hype for the raven cycle so perhaps it’s finally time to buckle down and read 🤍
oh very cool!
i didn't actually listen to much music that came out this year (the new PUP EP was interesting, but it felt a bit too pop-y for me—the consequences of being punk lol) but i listened to a lot of the music i listened to as a kid again for the first time in ages! so it's been a weird mix of the magentic fields, beyonce and amy winehouse lol. i wanted so bad to like the new willow album—it was good, it just wasn't my style!
i read a ton of books towards the end of the year since i've been trying to read a bit before bed to help my sleep, and my favourite of those reads was probably The Left Hand of Darkness (ursula k le guin really was a genius huh!!) i read annihilation in about 3 days over my summer holiday, and it also knocked my socks off—it's one of those books that gives you emotions unknown to humankind. thorns: my mum challenged me to read orlando by virginia woolf, as she thought i'd like it, but i really hated it. it had this constant break-neck pace, there were no pauses in the plot at ALL, and also it was. by virginia woolf. and included, yeah, some of her.... attitudes shall we say.
i didn't watch much movies or tv this year, but i thoroughly enjoyed space sweepers, an insanely fun found family in space movie with a clever commentary and some truly bonkers twists. and the great british bakeoff is always just very good.
i'm ordering some new books at the moment (christmas book voucher gifts are always good): the echo wife by sarah gailey, the traitor baru cormorant by seth dickinson, mexican gothic by silvia moreno-garcia, and a memory of empire by arkady martine!
love your substack!
thanks for tuning in!!! i had a few friends who loved the willow album, but i never got around to it so i may add it to my list. you can never go wrong with some le guin, and it seems you can always go wrong with virginia woolf. space sweepers sounds really fun, so maybe i'll add that to my winter break watchlist!!! as seen above, mexican gothic definitely sounds worth the read, so let me know if that ends up being worth your while. have a wonderful new year <3
i'm late, because i've been out of town, but HELLO LITERATELEAH NATION.
my musical rose has to be 'who hurt you' by jensen mcrae. this album singlehandedly got me through 2021 and ushered me into my twenties gently and all at once. i was more than disappointed with billie eilish's new album - there are a few songs that i listen to, but as a whole i really didn't like it. she's not my favorite person but i still wanted to like her music (esp. after my embarrassing phase after her first album came out) so it was like :-/ when only two songs were any good.
any book you've recommended, when i was able to read, made me extremely happy. my other literature roses include 'Mexican Gothic' by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and 'Firebreak' by Nicole Kornher-Stace, which i could talk about for 8000 years.
my thorn was probably 'The Box in the Woods'. i was obsessed with the original Truly Devious series back whenever it was released, and on paper TBitW sounded exactly like my perfect book... but it was so lackluster that it just made me sad. i really wanted to love it.
um... tv and movies. huge shoutout to Doctor Who and the Hunger Games trilogy for helping me find out i'm autistic. i don't think that obsession is going anywhere soon.
also, i'm still upset Dune (2021) isn't theaters anymore, because it took over my brain so completely that it took me a while to think about anything else.
i finally watched Psych: The Movie from 2017 and it was so depression-inducing that i can't believe i finished watching it all the way through. i loved that show as a kid. the movie felt like they reanimated its corpse and i was watching it go through the motions of being alive again.
happy new year!
YAYY better late than never always. re: who hurt you i LOVE jensen's covers and i have never gotten into her original work but obvi now i have to. i never listened to billie's album but from what i'm hearing/heard i have no desire to! mexican gothic has been a tbr for SOOO long i'm just waiting until i'm in the right headspace to truly ready myself. marking down firebreak for future reference. my thg rekindling occurred EARLY quarantine like april may 2020 so i feel like that wound is still smarting and alas i never dove into dw but i feel it will have its time and place... i'm so hesitant about fantasy/sci-fi grrrr. along the same vein (plus various trusted critiques that sounded very um. icky) i never watched dune but watching such a niche literature success go to the screen has been thrilling to say the least. i also never watched psych but that weird shift from series style to a feature is so jarring :/// have the best best new year love thank u for the recs <3333
Oh this is fun! I'll start with a rose: "Jubilee" by Japanese Breakfast... amazing album, got me through the dog days and is still on repeat months later! "Solar Power" was a big disappointment for me too, but "Punisher" by Phoebe Bridgers, which released last year but I first listened to in this one, saved the day.
"Succession" was definitely a favourite, along with "Young Royals" (snappy, clever, but never without a certain warmth and the essence of coming-of-age stories). The 4th season of "13 Reasons Why" was the worst of the lot, could barely get through it.
For books, I'm honestly just thankful I got back into reading after a few years of only textbooks. I was so pleasantly surprised by "The Raven Cycle" by Maggie Stiefvater (my first fantasy in ages) which I devoured all four of in 2 weeks time. It has its flaws, for sure, but I fell in love with the scattered plot (or lack thereof) and the characters. Cannot say the same for "One Last Stop" by Casey McQuiston... other people have talked about all the ways it was bad a lot better than me but for me, I was quite bored halfway through it.
Also, taking note of your roses to check out in the new year, thank you!
ooh so many hits here!!! i also loved punisher i listened to it way back in january and it really set the tone. i’ve also seen loooots of hype for the raven cycle so perhaps it’s finally time to buckle down and read 🤍