With the new year comes new
goals, new hopes, new dreams.
For many, “read more books” is
near the top of resolution lists,
which is both commendable and
conventional in this day and age.
Nevertheless, it can be difficult
to set your tasks and technology
aside to dive into a book.
Whether you spent New Year’s
Eve finishing your Goodreads
Reading Goal (I finished my
“Daisy Jones & The Six” reread
just before midnight) or you’re
only now getting back into the
habit, I’m sure there’s a book
out there that will engross you if
given the chance. I’ve compiled
a list of books that I believe will
do the trick for kick-starting your
2023 reading goal.
Who’s afraid of the big bad
book?
I am, and I’m not ashamed to
admit it. I am not only intimidated
by 800-whoppers — I’m terrified
of them. I was incredibly close to
rigging my book club’s January
selection when people voted for
“Anna Karenina,” and, for a brief
time, loathed my friends who
recommended “The Priory of the
Orange Tree” to me. Though both
the aforementioned works ended
up pleasantly surprising me, no,
dear reader, I’m not recommending
you start out the year carrying a
boulder around in your bag.
Starting off 2023 with a short,
fast-paced book will not only
launch you ahead in your race
of reading, but will give you
the
motivational
satisfaction
of quickly finishing a book and
encourage you to pick up another.
Madeline Miller’s “Galatea” is
only 20 pages long — yes, you
read that right — and will have
you eager to follow it up with her
full-length novels “Circe” and
“Song of Achilles.” As is shared
in her afterword, “Galatea” is
Miller’s
“response
to
Ovid’s
version of the Pygmalion myth in
the Metamorphoses.” Galatea is a
marble sculpture of Pygmalion’s
that comes to life after his
pleading to the Greek God Venus,
and Miller’s short (and I mean
short)
story
centers
Galatea
and her position as a fetishized,
oppressed being. Miller’s Galatea
is intelligent, witty and fierce.
Before the first few pages are
up, you’re rooting for her and for
Pygmalion’s downfall. “Galatea”
is a small testament to Miller’s
writing prowess, which teems
with electricity and emotion.
A
more
substantial
(but
still
short)
recommendation
is Michelle Hart’s “We Do
What We Do in the Dark,” a
222-page read that will have
you
simultaneously
intrigued,
disgusted and devastated. The
story follows Mallory, a freshman
in college who has recently come
out and accepted her sexuality as
a lesbian. She meets a (married)
professor at her college — who is
only referred to as “the woman”
throughout the novel — and the
two have an on-and-off affair.
Though their relationship is
the driving force of the story, a
secondary plotline concerning the
death of Mallory’s mother is also
critical to the novel. Mallory’s life
is constantly evolving, wavering
in its complexity as we move
throughout time, flashing back to
the past and forward to the future
as Mallory wrestles with her grief
and her identity.
For those who want to laugh
but don’t want to cringe
It’s a tricky line to toe, but
Jill Gutowitz has figured it out.
Her debut work “Girls Can Kiss
Now” is a collection of essays that
chronicle her life as she discovers
and explores her Queerness,
dissects pop culture, unpacks her
past relationships and makes you
laugh out loud along the way. I
listened to her essays, and I’m glad
— I’ll always rally for listening to
personal works and memoirs over
reading because of how much
more intimate they feel. Hearing
Gutowitz share her stories and
memories out loud made her
feel like an older sister: someone
who
simultaneously
provides
solid advice while also making
you gasp and giggle. Besides
the fact that Gutowitz’s pen is
praiseworthy, the structure of the
book makes it a great work to start
the year off with. The division of
the work into easily digestible
essays quickens its pace and will
have you feeling accomplished
sooner rather than later.
Ali Wong’s memoir “Dear
Girls: Intimate Tales, Untold
Secrets, & Advice for Living Your
Best Life” is another book that
lands on the funny side of the
line. Similar to Gutowitz, Wong
divides her memoir into sections,
or letters to her daughters. Wong
shares details — both hilarious
and outrageous — about her life as
a comedian, but also speaks to her
experiences growing up in San
Francisco and as a college student
abroad. Though I remember
the
laughs
from
my
time
reading, I also remember feeling
sentimental listening to Wong
craft a book for her daughters
first and foremost.
To my lighthearted readers
who crave emotional turmoil
Also known as my favorite
genre — and no one does it better
than Carmen Maria Machado
and Celeste Ng. Their respective
works “In the Dream House” and
“Everything I Never Told You”
are modern classics in the making
(and my favorite reads of 2022).
“In the Dream House” is an
unconventional
memoir
that
focuses specifically on an abusive
relationship of Machado’s. Each
section of the book, which vary
in length though never in gravity,
glimmers
like
vignettes;
the
memoir is painfully beautiful,
staunchly severe. It is devastating
and it is completely absorbing. I
read it all in one sitting, though it
can be read in chunks and pieces.
Depending on your approach, “In
the Dream House” can be read
quickly or slowly, allowing you to
dedicate as much time as you can
without fear of forgetting what
happened or interrupting its flow. I
would recommend researching the
trigger warnings, but would still
encourage any interested reader
to pick it up and stay updated on
Machado’s next releases.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Nine books to jumpstart your New
Year’s reading resolution
LILLIAN PEARCE
Daily Arts Writer
On Oct. 21, I received a text from
my best friend telling me that she
“wanted to hear my Midnights
thoughts.” About an hour later, I
FaceTimed her and we immediately
began
discussing
our
various
impressions and hottest takes on
Taylor Swift’s newest album, which
was only 12 hours old at the time.
We came to the conclusions that
“Midnight Rain” was written for
Jo and Laurie and that Lana Del
Ray did the best she could with her
0.2-second feature on “Snow On The
Beach,” and eventually moved on.
After another hour of complaining
about seeing people we knew
around our respective campuses,
brainstorming Halloween costume
ideas and her telling me about a
guy she knew who looked “JUST
like JJ Maybank” (Rudy Pankow,
“Uncharted”), we finally hung up.
I
have
been
best
friends
with the same girl since I was 9
years old. We mess around, take
0.5-zoomed pictures, talk about our
ex-classmates or celebrity crushes
of the week, and somehow always
end up at Target. We may not be
perfect, but I always have her back
and I know she always has mine.
This is what I’ve grown up knowing
female friendship to be. So when
I open any streaming service to
watch my new favorite show or
rewatch an old obsession, why am
I rarely, if ever, told the same story?
When it comes to writing strong
female
friendships,
the
media
doesn’t exactly have the best track
record. Over the last 18 years of my
life, I’ve watched Paris constantly
switch from Rory’s friend to bully to
friend again in “Gilmore Girls.” I’ve
watched Cassie hook up with her
best friend’s abusive ex-boyfriend
in “Euphoria” and Serena and
Blair do everything under the sun
to sabotage one another all while
referring to each other as a “best
friend” in “Gossip Girl.” Even pairs
like El and Max from “Stranger
Things” or Sarah and Kiara from
“Outer Banks,” whose friendships
I eventually grew to love, began in
places of jealousy or mistrust.
Sure, I’ve seen female friendships
like this in real life — sometimes
people just aren’t as compatible
as they’d like to be. But do the
majority of women have some
sort of vendetta against their best
friends or secretly want to see them
fail in order to gain attention or a
mediocre love interest? No.
While a few shows, like “The
Summer I Turned Pretty,” were
able to feature non-toxic female
friendships that took place on the
sidelines of the show’s main plot
(Laurel and Susannah are the
blueprint, let’s be honest), one show
truly stands out to me as being the
series with the best TV friendship
of all time (while simultaneously
featuring this friendship on a
regular basis as an important part
of the plotline). In the words of Ben
Wyatt (Adam Scott, “The Good
Place”), “let’s talk about ‘Parks and
Rec.’”
Leslie (Amy Poelher, “Saturday
Night Live”) meets Ann (Rashida
Jones, “The Office”) in the pilot
episode of “Parks and Recreation,”
when her future best friend comes
to her as a citizen in need of help
from the Pawnee government.
Over the course of the show’s
seven seasons, the two women
form an incredibly close bond,
becoming acquaintances, friends
and eventually the iconic pair we all
know and love.
So where did Ann and Leslie go
right? It all starts in the show’s first
season. Even during the weirdest
point in their relationship —
featuring a brief interest in the same
man — Ann sits down with Leslie
and genuinely makes sure she’s all
right with her going on a date with
him. She even addresses the fact
that Leslie may feel pressured to
lie to protect her feelings and tells
her she’ll skip the date if Leslie is
uncomfortable. Even throughout
the most stereotypical plotline of
their relationship, Ann and Leslie
are respectful of each other’s
feelings and willing to sacrifice
their own romantic interests in the
name of their friendship, proving
once and for all that uteruses do
come before “duderuses.”
Another important aspect of
these characters’ friendship is their
willingness to stand by one another
even through hard or awkward
times. From scavenging in a ditch in
the middle of the night for Leslie’s
“gummy penises” (it’s a long story)
to becoming Leslie’s campaign
manager despite having no political
experience, it’s no secret that Ann
was willing to put her life on hold
to be there for Leslie when she
needed support. But Leslie always
held up her end of the bargain as
well by not only snooping around
her boss’s home for clues that he
may be cheating on her best friend,
but skipping a huge milestone in
her career to drive Ann home after
a humiliating miscommunication
with her ex.
These best friends also went
out of their way to never make the
other feel stupid for their flaws
or shortcomings. From “poetic,
noble land mermaid” to “talented,
brilliant, powerful musk ox,” Leslie
blesses Ann with just about every
strange compliment under the sun.
Even after a misunderstanding with
her ex leads Ann to believe they’re
still dating, Leslie doesn’t point out
her embarrassing inability to read
the situation, but claims that Ann
couldn’t have possibly understood
her rejection — she was too
beautiful to know what it felt like to
be dumped. Although well aware of
one another’s flaws (proven when
Ann points out Leslie’s tendency to
be a “steamroller”), the two friends
are loyal to a fault and only ever use
their knowledge of one another’s
traits (both good and bad) to uplift
their friendship, never to tear it
down.
In a world filled with distorted
media (often produced by men), it’s
seemingly become a radical idea
that two female characters may
actually like each other without
the demeaning stereotype that all
women want to stab each other in
the back. As these Blair and Serena-
esque friendships have become an
unfortunate commonality in the TV
world, we can only hope that more
creators and writers begin to wrap
their heads around the idea that
true female friendship is something
fun,
something
genuine
and
something entirely real, whether it’s
reflected well in the media or not.
How “Parks and Recreation” got female friendships right
Wednesday, January 11, 2023 — 3
Read more at MichiganDaily.com
OLIVIA TARLING
Daily Arts Writer
Arts
Courtesy of Lillian Pearce
‘Begin Again’ the new year with
Emma Lord’s upcoming YA novel
It’s only the first day of school,
and Andie Rose’s perfectly curated
plan has already gone awry.
In Emma Lord’s “Begin Again,”
Andie transfers from her local
community college to the uber-
competitive Blue Ridge State —
her dream school that happens to
be the same school her boyfriend,
Connor, attends — only to find
out Connor has transferred to her
community college. Her bookish
roommate, Shay, needs a to declare
a major and Andie needs help
passing statistics. To top it all off,
Andie finds herself in a unique
position giving people advice on
her school’s pirate radio show —
the same one her mother founded
when she went to Blue Ridge.
Then
there’s
Milo,
Andie’s
overly-exhausted
and
over-
caffeinated
resident
advisor,
who throws her for a loop. As
Andie deals with her strained
relationship with Connor, her and
Milo’s friendship continues to
grow; they bond over the loss of a
parent and their love for bagels.
Both Milo and Andie are extremely
family-oriented: Milo’s siblings
make frequent appearances, as do
Andie’s two grandmothers who
raised her, which allows for the
perfect balance of platonic and
romantic relationships needed in a
YA novel.
With
a
long-distance
relationship hanging by a thread, a
new job and advice to give, Andie
learns that her usual fix-it attitude
can’t fix everything in her new life
at college.
“Begin Again” is a delightful
and comforting read. As her
fourth YA novel, Lord’s writing is
consistently heartfelt and filled
with delicious descriptions of food.
This is her first novel to focus on
college-aged characters, which
is refreshing, if not relatable to
everyone. Lord delicately discusses
college finances and the issues
surrounding financial aid that the
characters confront. Milo’s passion
for the lack of work-study jobs
available to students at Blue Ridge
is admirable. Though it’s a fictional
university, Blue Ridge’s situation
certainly reflects the struggling
state of financial aid programs at
schools across the country.
The characters in “Begin Again”
are charming, especially Andie
and Milo, who go through their
own self-growth journeys. As a
first-year transfer student at a
super competitive state school,
Andie feels inadequate compared
to her peers, something many
college students can relate to since
feelings of insecurity and imposter
syndrome are common in college
students. Andie faces the same
struggle of paying the high costs of
college tuition that most students
encounter, while also balancing an
overwhelming academic workload
with working at the local bagel
shop like many working-class
college students.
Fans of NPR and podcasts will
appreciate the radio show aspect
of “Begin Again.” The secret show
on campus called “The Knights’
Watch” is where students get all
the dirt on Blue Ridge. Andie faces
anonymity and early mornings as
the show’s “Squire” doing what she
does best: helping people with their
problems (while simultaneously
ignoring her own). As she grapples
with her mother’s legacy on the
show, Andie creates a legacy for
herself by creating the life she
always wanted, with the support
of her family and new friends at
college.
Andie’s college experience won’t
be everyone’s experience, but it’s
still entertaining to read. With
a slow-burn romance, a lovable
friend group and an overarching
theme of starting over woven
throughout
the
story,
“Begin
Again” is the perfect book to read
in the new year.
AVA SEAMAN
Books Beat Editor
Cover art for “Begin Again” owned by Wednesday Books.
Read more at MichiganDaily.com