i woke up this morning at 8 am, finished a book, then did dishes. i’m still riding high off of pride from it. by the time i wake up tomorrow morning i’ll have forgotten what steps to follow to reach this feeling…
onto the recommendations!
hi sophie,
the movies that are the most reliably soothing to me are those that take place in the office buildings of the 80s — working girl, head office, 9 to 5, and the secret of my success, for instance. the naiveté and lightheartedness with which these movies depict corporate life is comforting, even if it comes from a somewhat smug place on my end. it’s like when you watch a movie that’s set in the future but made decades ago (say, blade runner) and all of the movie’s predictions about the way life would be, even if these decisions were made to create an intimidating environment within the film, seem almost quaint.
all that is to say, i appreciate and relate to the specificity of your request, though i know that these movies are completely beside the point of what you’ve asked for. here are some picks that i hope will satisfy your craving:
damages
the good wife (my sister would die on the cross for this show)
billions
dear tammy,
i’m an avid memoir reader, but i also think that the category means a lot of different things to different people. because of that, i’ve done my best to cast a wide net. here are my picks for you:
the faraway nearby by rebecca solnit — solnit reflects on her mother’s struggle with alzheimers, her own life, and the nature of memory itself. with its careful consideration of the importance of memoir as a genre, it makes for a good entry point.
wow, no thank you by samantha irby — extremely entertaining slice of life essays on a range of subjects. some writers can write about themselves in a way that evokes little more than “ew, get a room, this has nothing to do with me,” but she manages to write it in a way that specificity about her own life only makes you feel more involved. if you’re a fan of nora ephron’s later self-reflective work (i feel bad about my neck, for one), you should definitely check out irby’s work.
just kids — the resident celeb memoir of this list, though definitely the least celeb memoir-y book in the category. you will cry a lot reading this, then emerge from it with a deep understanding of why it’s a mainstay of the genre.
the vanity fair diaries by tina brown — society could survive on the gossip contained in this book alone for CENTURIES. technically, yes, it’s diaries and not a memoir, but i really do think everyone should read it so i had to include it.
the personality brokers by merve emre— this is more of a biography by way of a history of the myers-briggs test, but as this book will teach you, the most important thing you can learn about the myers-briggs test is that it’s 1% based in some kind of observed fact and 99% a product of the strange mother and daughter pairing that created it.
this is one of those books that is so specific in its content on the surface, yet really changes the way the whole world looks after reading. the myers-briggs women are fascinating in the same way the women of grey gardens are, or maybe if you’re feeling optimistic, the way everyone is when you look close enough.