Monday Miscellany: You point, I’ll drive

Notes from February 17 - 23

Feb 24, 2025

Ah, the start of a new week. Welcome. Last Wednesday and Thursday we saw back to back snow days here in North Carolina, but today the sun is out and the weather is notably milder. After I send this letter out to you, I might just go for a run—it’s been a while. But first, books! music! other stuff! Let’s get into it, friends.

Currently reading

Coming off of a somewhat disappointing reading experience last week, it felt so good to spend this one getting lost in several things I really enjoyed.

First up was an advance copy I’d been saving for the right moment, The Echoes by Evie Wyld (out now). It’s a story about Max, a man who has passed away pretty young and is now lingering in his old apartment benignly haunting his partner, Hannah, as her life continues. There are also frequent flashbacks in which we learn more about Hannah’s childhood and upbringing, slowly building to the turning point that has left her estranged from her family and living in England, all the way across the world from where she grew up in Australia.

Wyld is an expert at building tension, doling out bits of description and plot at exactly the right pace. The way she sprinkles certain details into the present day scenes and then later shows their origin in the past is also lovely. It reminds me of what Mike Mills does in the film Beginners: Oliver in the car with Anna after a party early in the film, for example, telling her from the driver’s seat “you point, I’ll drive,” and then farther along, young Oliver on the passenger side as his mother says the same thing to him. Not much happens in The Echoes, but the vibes are gorgeous and heartbreaking. We watched A Ghost Story (2017) after I finished reading and the two make a perfect pairing.

McSweeney’s #77 showed up in the mail recently, so I chose it as my monthly Quarterly Concern. At only 150 pages, it’s a shortie, but they really packed some bangers into the limited space. I loved it from start to finish. Solid gold, no skips. It starts off strong; the first story, “The Orts” by Emily Crossen, is about a woman writing a story by accessing her inner rat self, which is just as weird and excellent as it sounds. Another immediately memorable one, “Hell is a Thousand Eyeballs” by Icarus Koh, imagines an ophthalmologist providing an exam to a celestial being who wants both frames and contact lenses for all one thousand of its eyes. The topics and themes of these pieces run the gamut, but they’re all at least a little bizarre or surreal, and there’s a lot of dark humor sprinkled throughout.

Also! When I read the author blurb for another standout, “Côte de Nuits” by James Kaelan, I found out that the story was an excerpt from his novel 999 Years of Peace, “of which only 132 copies were ever made, and which is currently wandering from reader to reader like a purloined library book.” Whaaat? It gave information for how to request one, so I did! Can’t wait to report back once it arrives.

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned buying Sad Janet by Lucie Britsch at the used bookstore largely based on its opening sentences: “It’s eight A.M. on Sunday, and I’m taking a dump at work. Or trying to.” Well, I’m happy to report that the rest of the book holds up to the promise of those lines. Janet is a self-proclaimed sad girl, and she is fine with that despite her family’s and the rest of the world’s insistence that she do something (preferably get a prescription) to make herself happier. This is another mostly-vibes-not-a-ton-of-plot situation that did feel a little one-note at times (I’m sad! I don’t need medication! I’m not great with people! I work at a dog shelter! Leave me alone!), but it’s also fast-paced and dryly funny and generally a good time. Set in the months leading up to Christmas, I would call it Love Actually for cynics, if that movie was just one plot line about a twenty-something-year-old grump.

Added to my to-read list this week

Mickey7 by Edward Ashton: I remember Liberty Hardy talking about this science fiction novel when it came out a few years ago, but it’s on my radar anew because the film adaptation (confusingly renamed Mickey 17) is coming to theaters soon and I plan to go see it with some friends.
Black in Blues: How a Color Tells the Story of My People by Imani Perry: This is a new release, a nonfiction exploration of the color blue and its history in relationship to Blackness. I’ve been meaning to read Imani Perry’s work and this feels like a good place to start—pairing it with Bluets by Maggie Nelson (or a re-read of A Field Guide to Getting Lost by Rebecca Solnit, with its many “The Blue of Distance” chapters) might make a nice color-themed book flight…
Sinkhole and Other Inexplicable Voids by Leyna Krow: I’ll be reading this story collection for Gretagram book club next month, and I plan to go in knowing as little as possible about the content. Honestly, the gorgeous cover and that intriguing title are all I need.

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Currently listening

Our calendar this past week contained but a single social engagement, which meant we were at home a lot in the evenings, and one thing about me is that if I don’t have anything else going on at the end of the day, I’m almost certainly going to take a bath. And while I’m filling the tub and doing my little preparations before getting in, there’s going to be something good on the shower speaker to get me all hyped up for relaxation. These days, that soundtrack is the first four songs from Breakaway by Kelly Clarkson, which (since everyone else is too scared to say it, I will) are absolutely flawless.

Leading off an album with the title track, thereby announcing to the world exactly what your fresh-faced 22-year-old reality-show-winning alto diva self is out here about to do? Baller.

Following that with one of the catchiest and most savage breakup bops of all time? We love it. Without fail, “Since U Been Gone” also takes me back to my college acappella days (nerd alert) and makes me want to watch Pitch Perfect, which is a fun bonus.

And then! We get the one-two punch of “Behind These Hazel Eyes” and “Because of You,” a couple of the best power pop ballads of our time, if I may be so bold. If you’re looking for a karaoke selection that will instantly get the whole crowd on board, look no further than either of these. This applies to a home bathroom setting as well, I can attest! The audience (of a spouse and two cats) absolutely eats it up!!

The rest of the album is great too, and I know I should probably start with “Gone” next time I’m getting ready for a soak, to give those other songs their due. But that might have to wait until I get tired of these four.