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Hello, friends and fellow book lovers! I hope you are staying safe and well during these times. I, like most sensible people, have been self-isolating the past few days, which has actually resulted in not much reading, if we’re being honest. I still have my full course load, so I have to write papers and do readings for school.

I’m also heading home about six weeks sooner than I had originally planned, so I need to pack all my shit AND eat all the food I had stockpiled for the self-isolation. I have two weeks’ worth of pasta, cookies, frozen broccoli, and pizza (most of which I actually bought ten days before the self-isolation when I went to the grocery store to get food for my boyfriend and I for the weekend and thought the weekend was actually three weeks long? idk). So I’m unnecessarily stressing about that.

But anyway, I thought I’d give a bit of a reading update for y’all so I could talk about the books I’ve been reading lately!

Currently reading

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I am currently reading Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel, which is about a troupe of performers who perform Shakespeare in the ruins of the US after the world has been destroyed by a flu pandemic. It’s, uh, timely? I just want to emphasize that I am not reading this book because of everything that is happening! It was genuinely next on my TBR. It’s one of the few books I have on my kindle that is unread, and it is by a Canadian author, and it was on my 2020 TBR. BUT it is interesting reading it given current circumstances. It’s really good and I’m really enjoying it. The writing is fantastic, and I love the dual timelines.

I’m also listening to the audiobook of Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer. It’s really great and I’m really enjoying it. I love Kimmerer’s exploration of her Indigenous knowledge and scientific knowledge and how they interact. The audiobook is narrated by the author, and I highly recommend it.

Just finished

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I just finished reading Middlegame by Seanan McGuire, which I adored. I wasn’t expecting to love it as much as I did, but I really loved it. I loved the characters, I loved the different perspectives, I loved the plot and idea, I loved the writing. It was just so perfect, tbh.

What I’ve been watching

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My boyfriend said the other day that he wanted pop music with better, more interesting bass parts and then remembered that that was just Abba. So he wanted to watch Mamma Mia, and who am I to say no to Mamma Mia. I would highly recommend if you’re self-isolating. It’s so fun, and the music is (obviously) great.

My school put on a production of Grease recently, in which my boyfriend played bass and my friend was playing Rizzo. So I watched the movie the weekend before seeing it AND went to go watch the performance twice. Again, would recommend. Great music, loved it.

I also recently binged Love is Blind on Netflix. omg it was so dumb and dramatic and I loved everything about it. Please go watch it if you want some light entertainment. Prepared to get weirdly invested in some random people’s love lives.

The Bachelor ended recently, and wow, what a shit show the finale was. Unpopular opinion here, but I’m on Team Barb. I’m on Team Anyone But Peter, tbh. I think Barb calling Madi out on live tv was awkward, but it had 👏🏼 to 👏🏼 be 👏🏼 said 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 Glad Madi and Hannah Ann don’t have to deal with Peter’s BS any more though.

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I have also been watching so much youtube lately, so here is a list of some of my favourites, in case you want something to watch:

• Tiffany Ferguson: I am in love with all of her videos. She does a lot of analyses into trends on social media, and I love them all. My favourites are her ones on family vlogging, youtubers being unrelatable and quitting their jobs, and her video on veganism on youtube.
• Ashley @ bestdressed: I have adopted Ashley as my younger sibling, which I don’t think she knows but I treat her the same anyway. She does primarily fashion/lifestyle videos, but she also does apartment makeovers and some really great chatty videos.
• Sarah Schauer: ex-viner turned youtuber, the epitome of chaotic energy. I love all of her videos, especially her more recent ones.
• Julia Cudney: does some amazing movie analyses and stands up for romcoms.
• The White Males who do Commentary and are Funny: these youtubers all have similar content in that they make a video commenting on something in a humorous way. I love them all, please check them out.
  • Eddy Burback
  • Danny Gonzalez
  • Drew Gooden
• Meghan Rienks: I am specifically recommending Meghan’s recent videos on her channel being hacked, if you have two hours to kill. They’re very entertaining (unfortunately for her), and I would highly recommend them.
• Strange Æons: especially this video where she talks about how to dress gay and her videos reviewing Onision’s books.
• Types of videos I find weirdly entertaining and you might as well: there are some videos I love watching that are not from particular youtubers, and I thought other people might find them entertaining too.
  • “What I spend in a week” videos: where (usually) twenty-something women document what they spend in a week. I am obsessed with all of these videos, please don’t ask my why, I do not know.
  • Food budgeting videos: again, idk why I love these videos, but I am obsessed with watching videos on cheap meals and meal planning. Do I have children or dependents? No. Am I a single woman who goes to Starbucks three times a week? Yes. Do I still watch a lot of these videos? Yes.
• Some women who kind of talk about drama but in an intelligent way
  • Smokey Glow
  • Ready to Glare
  • Angelika Oles
• ~more food-related content~
  • Unnatural Vegan: I love all of her videos but especially the ones where she debunks other vegan influencers. She always does so in a respectful, facts-based way and is the most level-headed person on youtube. I love putting her videos on while I clean.
  • Abbey Sharp: very similar to Unnatural Vegan. Talks a lot about other youtubers, but is an actual trained dietician and gives props when props are due.

So, that’s what I’ve been reading and watching lately, pals! What about you? What books have you recently finished? What are you going to read next? What should I read next? Let me know!

Ally xx