Legal Dramas, Twitter Grief and Book Babies [#115]
Legal Dramas, Twitter Grief and Book Babies [#115]
Plus, Succession is back, and it's best enjoyed as a sitcom.
Hi from Los Angeles, where it’s finally sunny again!
We have been through something like 14 atmospheric rivers this year, which meant Yosemite National Park, where our squad was slated to spend Spring Break, was functionally closed this week. So we’re home instead. So let’s get to the links!
Reading
If you couldn’t get enough of Gwyneth Paltrow’s richest, whitest dispute ever put on trial, let me turn your attention to another extremely wealthy person, Tiger Woods, and the legal trap he’s in after his latest breakup. The return of the nonstop Trump news cycle, ugh. I don’t know if anyone’s left on Twitter but the radicals, but Elon Twitter is now labeling NPR a state media organization akin to Xinhua. When asked for comment, Twitter replied with a poop emoji. Climate change is imperiling the hair freezing contest. Now that thrifting is all the rage, is thrifting ethical? An ode to a Texas staple — Mrs. Baird’s fluffy white bread. RIP to the founder of DTF. And by DTF I mean Din Tai Fung.
Watch and/or Listen
Mad Honey, the audiobook version, read by Carrie Coon. My daughter Eva and I blazed through a listen of this and got super into theorizing what went down and got into rather heated discourse about characters. It has high school romance, a suspicious death, a courtroom drama, domestic abuse, LGBTQ+ issues, the science of bees … this book, it has everything.
I finished binge-ing Insecure (chefs kiss), am back on the Ted Lasso train (I love that Zava!), and having so much fun with the return of Succession. If it seems like the plot circles in on itself, that’s the point. Watch it as a sitcom like Seinfeld, where nothing happens and the stakes are never really “high” for anyone. It’s precisely what makes the comi-tragedy such great entertainment.
Werk Werk Werk (Which is basically just book news from now until May)
Over on the Flawless insider newsletter, I had a fascinating behind-the-scenes conversation with my editor, Cassidy, about her side of bringing the book to publication, and I shared what it was like reading the audiobook, by the numbers. And the book trailer is out, if you haven’t caught it yet:
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Flawless tops Electric Literature’s list of 7 Books About the Sham of Wellness. It’s on The Next Big Idea Club’s May 2023 Must-Reads. And I talked about it with Shoshanna Hecht for her podcast season finale. Pre-order from anywhere you want, but to support independent booksellers I’m linking here to Bookshop.org if you haven’t reserved your copy yet.
Today we shared the book tour dates and locations, just for subscribers like you! So to come hug it out with me in person, sign up for any of the (free) book events on the tour and invite your own friends and neighbors and squads:
New York Launch at the Korea Society, with Yu and Me Books, in conversation with writer Hannah Bae. In Person AND Virtual!
Los Angeles Launch at LAist’s Crawford Family Forum, with North Figueroa Books, in conversation with NPR’s Ailsa Chang
Culver City Book Talk and Signing at my local bookstore, Village Well Books, in conversation with fellow Culver City author Rachel Swaby
Austin Book Party hosted by my besties in Texas, in conversation with the 19th’s Amanda Zamora
Houston Book Talk and Signing at Brazos Bookstore, in conversation with arts critic Chris Vognar
San Francisco Book Talk and Signing hosted by The Asia Foundation and DPR, with Sausalito Books by the Bay, in conversation with KQED’s Mina Kim. (RSVP link to come next week).
Seattle Book Talk and Signing at Elliott Bay Books, in conversation with former Seattle Deputy Mayor Hyeok Kim
Hoo boy that was a lot I just unloaded on ya. I am going to stop typing now. Be sure to keep sending me memes and links you are loving, and maybe I can share with the group.
Keep being rad,
Elise