2023-11-06 10:19:38
In good time, I reached the stage where I can read. More than that: I have reached the stage where I need to read. The less good news: triggers. They are everywhere. Also on the New York Times bestseller list (maybe mostly on the New York Times bestseller list?). The solution: to read books that I have already read, ones that I know for sure will flood my body with oxytocin and transport me for an hour to a stable and hopeful world.
In 2016, I published a list of books, films and series that improve mood (to quote myself: the main characteristic of the books/films/series that find their way to the list is that they do not have a dark side. The main feelings they evoke in you while watching/reading are Warmth and desire to renovate the house), and I still stand by this list, so I apologize in advance if I’m repeating myself (spoiler: I’m 51. and a half. I’m repeating myself. That’s what I do):
/// Books
Heartburn / Nora Efron
it’s always been like this. In the new translation it is called a pinch in the heart and unfortunately it fails to exert the same effect on me as the old translation exerts on me. Which brings me to the thought that probably each of us needs a personalized list and maybe those who didn’t read Sorbet for the first time at the age of 19 and since then have returned to read it every year, won’t get the exact effect I get from it.
You can also read “I hate my neck” and “I don’t remember anything”, two books that are a collection of articles/thoughts by Nora Ephron.
Here is something else I wrote about ‘heartburn’ to Lasha a few years ago.
A fickle year / Melanie Gideon
A book of first world problems that takes place in the San Francisco area and is riddled with problems like how many almonds to eat, when to resume skating and how not to get mad at the person standing in front of you in line at Trader Joe’s.
Life and what I wore / mine gross
Yes, friends, I put myself on the list. Another sign of puberty. The younger version of me wrote it with the hope that it will become a passing object and at least as far as I am concerned as a reader it is success.
Through the artist / Julia Cameron
A non-fiction book that has become a classic and is designed to help release the creative self. As such, it is filled with practical advice of the kind that is essential for those who need a session to feel grounded (don’t worry, these are sessions of the type of writing morning pages or devoting time to spending time only with yourself).
More options: All Jane Austen’s books.
Books I like and appear on the original list but won’t help in the specific universe we’ve stumbled into since October 2023: All Kurt Vonnegut’s books and Edith Wharton’s books. My goal right now is to focus on books devoid of human evil.
/// series (more correctly: series)
Gilmore Girls
The ultimate comforting series. In the Stars Hollow universe, the worst thing that can happen to you is that you get suspended from Yale University because you got into an incident involving the borrowing of a sailboat, or you find out that the name of the street where your boutique hotel is located has been renamed to a nasty name at the whim of Taylor, the mayor and the town’s bad guy (his intentions are always good ).
I think my kids already understand that when they come home and find me (again) on a Gilmore Girls binge, something must have happened.
/// Movies
All Nancy Meyers movies. Includes the worst Nancy Meyers movies (there is no such thing as bad Nancy Meyers movies) and includes the movie Nancy Meyers’ daughter. I can’t take responsibility for the films she made in the eighties because I haven’t seen them since the eighties.
Some of Nora Ephron’s nineties movies (the usual suspects: When Harry Met Sally, Insomnia in Seattle and you have a message. Maybe no Insomnia in Seattle – too triggery).
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For those who take comfort in disaster movies (natural disasters and aliens do not evoke the horror that human evil evokes), here is the list of recommendations from the closings.
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First Aid: The Gilmore Girls Intro
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#Read #books #youve #read #dresser