Hey friends!
It’s the little sound that tells you your AirPods are out of battery, Sam Cote, back with another Weekly Favorites!
What I’m Reading: I started and finished What Moves the Dead bt T. Kingfisher, and continued The Two Towers! What Moves the Dead is (one of) the first horror books I’ve read, and its a retelling of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of House Usher.” In T. Kingfisher’s retelling, she follows Alex Easton, a war veteran from Gallacia; Madeline Usher, who has contracted a mysterious illness; Roderick Usher, Madeline’s older brother and Easton’s brother in arms; Denton, an American “doctor”; and Eugena Potter, an amateur mycologist who is fascinated by the unique fungi in the lands surrounding the Ushers’ decaying manor. The prose and character work are impeccable, and I found myself quickly invested and constantly uneasy– a great first experience with horror. The cover is also gorgeous. I also started reading We Ride Upon Sticks by Quan Barry– so far it’s a lot of fun, and very halloween-y.
What I’m Listening To: those days (-Light Years II- THE NORTH FACE Sphere A/W) by Haruka Nakamura. It’s been great for reading to! More of a lofi feel than I’m accustomed to with Nakamura’s work. It manages to be quite interesting without being distracting.
What I’m Watching: I finished Rings of Power! I think it would’ve been a great ending if it didn’t have to do so much of the leg work of the season— on paper, the season set up the conflicts at the beginning of the season, and resolved most of them by the end of the season, so it should’ve worked well. I think the types of conflict weren’t strong enough to really grip me, so the resolutions weren’t all that satisfying to me. I think certain plot threads should have been wrapped up sooner in order to make room for more to happen later in the season. I felt substantially more interested and engaged while watching episode nine of House of the Dragon than I did watching the season finale of Rings of Power even though George R.R. Martin’s stories perpetuate some really bad themes. Just goes to show the power of good writing, and how it can engage a skeptical audience in an active dialogue. I can’t really defend RoP ‘s writing, nor do I feel particularly compelled to do so.
What I’m Making: I’m making promotional materials for Orange Appeal’s Spooktacular! It’s out biggest concert of the year, and we’re recreating famous halloween movie scenes to advertise. Stay tuned on our instagram page to see them!
How I Slow Down & Unplug: Most evenings I’ve been reading and having tea before bed 🙂
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