Reading
I’ve been reading less since work picked up and got busy in a big way. Also, because I’m doing research - it means I’m reading for work, reading for study… and reading for pleasure becomes third on the priority list! But I completely ADORED Romantic Comedy, the latest book by Curtis Sittenfeld (author of Eligible and Rodham, both of which I also adore). Romantic Comedy is a smart, funny and cozy read about Sally, a mid-thirties TV writer for The Night Owls (very much inspired by Saturday Night Live). Sally doesn’t believe in allowing people close enough to get hurt by them. Her convictions are challenged when she meets the famous, handsome, and somehow charming Noah, a singer/songwriter that Sally assumes will be dull and narcissistic. I don’t want to spoil anything, but the title is a clue about what ensues. I think Curtis Sittenfeld wants readers to be happy - which is good, because I want the books I read to make me happy! That doesn’t mean her novels are lighthearted or twee, they definitely make you think about the world in a very specific and thoughtful way. But there’s so much warmth and perceptiveness in her prose, I can’t help but stan.
Listening
You may already know that I’m multilingual - I speak English and Hindi as my main languages, but also understand and use a little bit of Punjabi and French. So I’ve been listening a lot to some popular Bollywood songs on Spotify lately, but the thing I’m playing on repeat is the First Love soundtrack. First Love is a Japanese drama on Netflix and its soundtrack is AMAZING. It contains beautiful songs by Hikaru Utada that I’m familiar with through my teen days, as well as these very melancholic songs by Paul Otten that are so moving. It has the fantastic score within the playlist too -- I’ve loved reliving the moments from the drama whilst hearing the music play in the background as I cook or drive.
Watching
This will be a shocking revelation to some, but I had never in my whole life seen any of the Star Wars movies. Not because I don’t love sci-fi (I do), but perhaps because it was so completely entrenched in culture that I didn’t realise I was missing out on it. When a speechie friend learnt this last week, they suggested we immediately rectify this situation! We watched the first of the Star Wars movies (IV: A New Hope) together on the weekend. Turns out, the hype about Star Wars was all 10000% warranted! I was hooked from the very beginning. I’d been warned the special effects may seem dated etc, but honestly I thought they were pretty good. The plot of the movie wasn’t at all what I expected, it moved along so quickly, and yet I could see how much all sci fi movies since this one have relied on the way it shows various scenes and common plot points in science fiction. WOW. I will DEFINITELY be watching the rest of the series, even though I’m very, very late to the party.
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