Coffee Break #007: What day is it?
Lesbian vampires, ping pong champions, and the Lit Girls vs. the Booktokkers.
Dear Friend,
This is late because I have absolutely no idea what day it is. I haven’t been to work since December 19th and I don’t know the last time I wore hard pants. I’ve been in a blissful cocoon of books, Switch games, knitting, watching movies, and sleeping til 11am. God bless the weird week between Christmas and New Years. I think it’s my favorite time of year, getting to microdose unemployment without any guilt or anxiety lol.
Since a new year always spurs some sense of creativity and need for change, I have been fiddling with the branding and content plan for Parenthetical in 2026. Not much is changing, don’t worry, but I am super excited for what’s to come and I can’t wait to share it with you all. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to enjoy my last day of sitting around in sweatpants with zero idea of the passage of time before I have to wake up and remember how to do my job tomorrow morning.
In Brief
This week smells like…
Champagne toasts.
Fresh croissants with butter and jam.
The last of the ginger and cinnamon as
This week sounds like…
The New Year by Death Cab for Cutie
This Year by the Mountain Goats
Waitress Song by First Aid Kit
This week feels like…
A sigh of relief.
A new beginning.
Not knowing what day of the week it is.
Bookshelf
Currently Reading
Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab – I’ve had this book on my side table since it came out in June and just could not focus enough to sit down and read it. Finally having some downtime in this bizarro week between holidays, I picked it up and was immediately enraptured. I’m still only about halfway through (she’s big!) but I’m utterly enchanted by it. Schwab’s writing is so gorgeous! I’m definitely finally picking up The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue after this.
Pinboard
Things I’ve read, saved, shared, or bought this week.
I got this cute and inexpensive under eye brightener stick this week and I think it’s actually working! I have pretty intense genetic under-eye shadows and since I’m no longer 22 I no longer think it looks waifish and romantic, and instead it makes me look like I haven’t gotten sleep since the Obama administration (I mean…). I’ve only been using it for about a week, but it really does have a quick brightening effect!
I devoured this searing and eloquent piece dissecting Taylor Swift and the mythological canon of America. Look, I love Taylor Swift, and have been the exact intended audience for her music since the start, but it is impossible to talk about her career without talking about her capitalism, victim complex, and – as of late – her blatant money-grabbing schemes. Whether she herself is architecting these things or not, you can’t really deny it at this point. Anyways, I’m very much looking forward to reading the second part.
I’m completely and utterly obsessed with Elsie Larson’s ship chandelier. How dreamy is this??? I need it immediately.
On New Year’s Day, my husband and I went and saw Marty Supreme at our local theater and WOWOWOW I loved it. I think this is my favorite Safdie film yet. Be warned though, these movies are stressful af, and not usually feel-good movies at all, so if you’re not familiar with the Safdie brothers’ previous work (Good Time, Uncut Gems) maybe… proceed with caution.
Speaking of films, I’ve already watched four movies this year! I’m very impressed with myself. Also they have all been huge bummers (thematically that is, they were all very good). We watched Strange Days (gritty and dark, but I loved it – also hello young Ralph Fiennes 👀), Marty Supreme, as mentioned above, Videodrome, and Eddington. I need a good rom-com next for a palette cleanser. I really want to watch more movies in 2026 instead of defaulting to just watching Youtube or scrolling on my phone. If you’re on Letterboxd, come follow me and let’s be pals! My friend thinks it’s hilarious that my top 4 on Letterboxd are Practical Magic, Children of Men, Legally Blonde, and the Last Picture Show. I contain multitudes!!!
Growing up is becoming who you were at 12, except this time you like her from Side Quest. This piece perfectly summed up my like, entire life thesis. There’s not much else to say, but please go read it.
Literary It Girls vs. Booktokkers by Callie Kazumi – this one made me giggle quite a bit, but also it was a really interesting look at how reading has become a) very popular and b) weirdly cliquey and judgmental. Like, if you’re a lit girl thought daughter, you can’t read any cute romance novels, and if you like booktok-popular books you might as well be brain dead. Okay!!! I spent this past year unlearning a lot of weird internal biases I had toward romance novels and fluffy, feel-good cozy reads because of this exact thing. I always wanted to be a ~intellectual~ who read Didion and Plath and kept a copy of My Year of Rest and Relaxation in my purse at all times. Well, I do love Didion and Plath, but I actually kind of hated MYRR and turns out, I love Emily Henry books and cozy fantasy romances. And guess what! That simply makes me a well-rounded human who seeks things that I enjoy.
ICYMI
What’s been on the ‘stack recently.
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Great roundup, and that ship chandelier is absolutley stunning! The link you shared to Elsie's Instagram shows such a cool blend of vintage nautical aesthetics with that dreamy lighting. I saw something similar at a coastal antique shop once and the way those fixtures refract light is pure magic, especially in high-ceilinged spaces. Also vibing with the Lit Girls vs Booktokkers piece, it's wild how reading communities can get gatekeepy when enjoying a mix of genres is probly the healthiest approach.
Schwab is one of my favorite authors! Loved Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil. Very curious to hear what you think once you finish it! She considers Addie its happier sibling and is one of my all time favorite books. Skews more literary than her other work with gorgeous prose. Definitely check it out!
(Also I have a fantasy book podcast and we covered Bury Our Bones for our October book club! There are soooo many themes to discuss with that book)