My reading has fallen off a steep cliff thanks to Netflix. Yup, I have finally crawled out from under my rock and joined the 21st century. I have been resisting Netflix for years because “I don’t have time to commit to TV shows anymore” but, hello, it’s Netflix. I get it now, people, I get it. I have been binge-watching a bunch of murder mystery series, including Poirot, Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries (love the series even more than the books and am obsessed with it but MY GOD KISS HER ALREADY, JACK ROBINSON!!!) and Broadchurch. Highly recommend the latter, by the way. David Tennant is my second-favourite Doctor, and Olivia Colman is fantastic. The season 1 finale delivered a real gut punch.

Anyway, reading. Haven’t done much of it, though I have continued to add to my reading list thanks to thrifting. Hopefully I will have more to report next time. I did manage to breeze through The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, which I loved. If you couldn’t tell from these recaps, I don’t read a lot of non-genre/literary fiction so this was a nice change of pace. I struggle with literary fiction because I have weird, picky tastes. I don’t like reading things that are too depressing, or too sappy, or too fluffy. I prefer action or humour or mystery, though nothing too violent or graphic. I tend not to take risks with fiction novels because I’m afraid I could end up with something like, say, Atonement on my hands. I hated that book with a passion. It is a beautifully written book, but the story made me so angry. It damn broke my heart. Like, ugly-cry broke my heart. Feelings, ugh. No thanks.

Anywaaaaay, GLaPPS (I’m not typing that out again, sorry) is none of things I hate, and many of the things I love. Epistolary novels have been my jam ever since I read Les Liaisons Dangereuses. This one was well executed and heart-warming in a bittersweet, non-sappy way. The various characters’ voices came through very clearly in their letters, and they were all believably lovable. There was a bit of mystery, a bit of will-they-won’t-they romantic suspense, and was somehow joyfully lighthearted despite the fact that the pivotal part of the story deals with the Nazi occupation of Guernsey. The authors have a deft touch that stopped it from becoming an entirely different, much darker book.

If you guys have (literary) fiction recc’s for me — keeping in mind my weird tastes — please share them in the comments. Also, thoughts: I’m debating tracking down a copy of Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan novels … should I?

Moving on, a few cool articles. First up, for the personal finance voyeur in us all (what, just me?) this Refinery29 money diary from a 27-year old single woman making $230K is worth a (longish) read. The reactions from the commentariat (some critical, some supportive) are interesting as well because they reveal a lot about how different people view money (and others’ financial choices). Bottom line: on the internet, people will judge the hell out of whatever you do, no holds barred — probably because money is still such a taboo subject in real life. For what it’s worth, my main reaction in reading the diary was surprise that the author wasn’t working much longer hours, based on her location and industry (NYC, finance). I may have read too many biglaw horror stories from my American counterparts.

Speaking of taboos, check out this article about why women are “not allowed” to age. As I inch ever closer to my 40s, while moving up in my career, I struggle with this more and more. As a professional woman, you want to look wise and experienced — but can you look old? There is SO MUCH tied up in this question, I don’t even know where to begin. It probably deserves its own post, but I have had no epiphanies, and have no real answers, and so the most I can do is ask you all to commiserate with me that It. Is. Freaking. Hard. To. Figure. All. This. Out.

Lastly, this article about feelings which are untranslatable in the English language was fascinating. As a non-native English speaker, I have often pondered how our experience is shaped by the words available to us in whatever language we speak. Needless to say, I loved learning about the feelings which other cultures have decided are important enough to be named. Sehnsucht, saudade, and natsukashii describe, like, 75% of my Sunday mood. (Sunday is the worst day for feeling blue for no reason, amirite?) I was surprised to see that no one has come up with a name for the “mean reds” … although I guess Capote probably nailed it with those two words.

Since I’ve been on a reading tear lately, I’ve been spending more of my thrifting time looking for books. It’s a goldmine, you guys. This was a recent “haul” from Goodwill, and it all came to under $25. I will confess that I have only started to leaf through the Chateaux of the Loire book, and swoon over its beautiful photos. I plan on giving it a thorough read however, as it appears to address the history and architecture of the area in some detail. I have briefly traveled through the Loire Valley some 13 or 14 years ago, but I only saw a couple of chateaux (Versailles and Amboise). One of my travel bucket list items is a longer trip, with many more stops — Chenonceaux, Chambord, Azay-le-Riday. I’ve been obsessed with French history since I was a child, so seeing some of the real life places I’ve read about countless times is a bit like, well, visiting Disneyland.

Moving on, the Sex and the City: Kiss and Tell book was a stroll through the memory lane of my early/mid 20s. The clothes! The endless ‘which character do you most resemble’ discussions! The Mr. Big obsession! The latter was probably the worst of it. Sometime in my early 20s, I got hung up on a guy who was textbook “he’s just not that into you”, but who kept popping up often enough to leave me wondering “what if”. Needless to say, he totally became my Mr. Big (minus the swanky lifestyle and ex-wives) in my very active imagination. I don’t blame the show for my emotional immaturity … but the whole thing was kind of an ode to emotional immaturity (ahem, I’m looking at you, Carrie). Anyway, the book was a lot of fun, although I wish it contained more in-depth analysis of the characters. And the clothes too. Speaking of which, if you don’t follow the Instagram account @everyoutfitonsatc, you should.

I also read the (not Christie penned) Poirot novel which was … kinda looney. In the best way (I lost track of the number of plot!twists! but there were a good dozen probably) and in the worst way (if you stopped to think about it, most of those plot twists were totally improbable). It didn’t feel like a typical Christie novel, although I can’t put my finger on why — perhaps the looney plot. (Christie wrote some doozies, but this was like Murder on the Orient Express + And Then There Were None x 1,000.) I also found the narrator/second banana character to be really odd. Dim policemen are a staple of Poirot novels, but such characters are easier to swallow or overlook when they’re not the ones narrating the plot. As it was, I swung back and forth between thinking Catchpool was extraordinarily thick, and thinking he was somehow complicit in the murders and pretending to be thick. Since I love Christie’s novels, I am totally on-board with the idea of her characters (Poirot, Miss Marple, Harley Quinn) being revived by new authors, but this particular iteration was more of a miss than a win for me.

Lastly, I am currently reading Faithful Place. It’s slower going than the other Tana French novels I’ve read. I’m less than a third of the way through, though, so it’s too early to tell if I’m going to love it or hate it. Based on my past experience, I’m probably going to end up being hooked by the story, and then eventually let down by the ending. Side note: do any French protagonists *not* have a complicated and/or mysterious personal life?

No interesting articles this week (sad face) so if you’ve read something good online, share your recc’s in the comments.

I love “curating” my vacation reading list; it’s one of my favourite things about traveling. In Mexico, I had a fair bit of reading time, what with the kids’ naps and (relatively) early bedtimes. I ended up packing 3 books, which turned out to be at least 1 short of ideal. I ran out of reading material with about 2 days (and a plane ride) to go, but the luggage weight restrictions would have made it impossible for me to lug more stuff with me. This is where something like a Kindle would have come in handy, but I am hopelessly old-fashioned when it comes to books, so never mind.

Part of the reason why I made it through my chosen books quickly is that 2 of them were fast, snappy reads. Cover Her Face is one of the shorter PD James novels; the whodunit was ok, but I wasn’t really fond of any of the characters involved or the way in which the victim (a young, unwed mother) was portrayed, so I speed-read my way through the book to get to the reveal. In retrospect, I felt the murderer was really obvious. To sum up, not my favourite James mystery. The other mystery I brought along was Ruddy Gore by Kerry Greenwood, another Phryne Fisher mystery. I enjoyed the theatre setting, which reminded me of some of my fave Ngaio Marsh novels. The ending was a bit weak, but it was still an enjoyable read overall. Another slim volume, however, which didn’t last me long.

My favourite book of the trip was, hands down, the biography of Queen Victoria by Julia Baird. It was informative and entertaining in equal measure, and my only quibble is that I wish it included more photographs of the royal family. I love historical photographs. After I finished the book, I was dying to read more about Victoria’s extended family so I spent some time surfing Wikipedia on my phone (thank goodness for fast, free WiFi). As soon as I got home, I dug out a couple of books from my library to re-read — Victoria’s Daughters by Jerrold M. Packard and Born To Rule: Five Reigning Consorts, Granddaughters of Queen Victoria by Julia Gelardi. I’ve also been scouring Amazon for more titles to round out my Victorian collection, but have been coming up short. I got a biography of Bertie (King Edward VII) coming my way, but if you guys have other recc’s, let me know.

Speaking of Victoria … the last episode of series 1 of the ITV/PBS show aired the day after I got back from Mexico and, to be honest, it was a bit of a disappointment. I mean, we all knew that Victoria was going to make it through (a) any assassination attempt, and (b) childbirth (she survived both a number of times), so there wasn’t any real tension going on. Nor was there any real development in the Victoria-Albert relationship, which is my current obsession. Having read the Victoria biography, there is SO much material to be mined in that relationship, and I feel like the show is only scratching the surface. Sigh. Anyway, as predicted, the Skerrett/Francatelli romance hit the skids and I will admit that I was a little bit sad about that. On to series 2, please!

[Fun fact: did you know that Victoria ordered that all men in the British army should grow mustachios because she loved the way Albert’s looked? Talk about queenly prerogative — though not without precedent. Peter the Great of Russia went around cutting off the traditional long beards of his (male) courtiers as part of a campaign to “westernize” his court.]

Moving on to things I read online, this Reddit thread discussing an article criticizing the minimalist movement was probably more thought-provoking than the article itself (which, as pointed out by commenters, missed the distinction between minimalism as a lifestyle versus minimalism as an aesthetic).

I also spent some time this week re-reading Anne Helen Petersen’s Classic Hollywood Scandals archives on Hairpin. If you’ve never read them before, do yourself a favour and savour her excellent writing and analysis.

Happy Friday!