Carolyn

Refreshing Reads: The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston

Carolyn, Free

When I first saw the title of this book on Bridget’s coffee table, I thought it was going to be some boring historical fiction that overly romanticizes (ha ha) certain historical figures. It is definitely not.

Once I started it, I thought it was going to be a very typical romcom. Nothing wrong with that.

What I found was a delightful, romcom storyline set in a very clever frame. The premise and interesting side characters make this read truly refreshing. I especially want to highlight the inclusion of many LGBT characters, including a non-binary character whose identity is always accepted and never questioned. For anyone who is looking for a pleasant romance that is  interesting and unique, without sacrificing any of the romance, the Dead Romantics is the book for you.

This would be a great read at the beach, the lake, on a picnic, or curled up in the air conditioning. (Guess which one was me…)

P.S. What do I think of this book’s portrayal of ghosts? I quite enjoyed it. The ghosts in this book are much more mobile than I have ever been, but are just as mysterious. I try not to judge portrayals of ghosts in literature based on my experience. No author knows what it’s like while they’re writing, so how would they know?

-Carolyn

The author’s website is here, and you can always check out your local library!

book cover of Arsenic and Adobo.

Refreshing Reads: Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala

Carolyn, Free

I love a good, cozy murder. But I don’t always want to read about the gory details. Sometimes I want a cozy murder full of well-deserved happy endings, and at least one well-deserved killing. These books do exactly that. I’m not Filipina or a human (anymore) but I found Lila to be very relatable. I’ve been a young woman without direction and I’ve recently shared an apartment with two in a row. Lila is so relatable and her story is the perfect escapist fantasy of finding both professional and personal purpose. She makes mistakes, sure, and the aimlessness comes back out of the shadows, but Lila and everyone in the book is written with such a charming earnestness, you can’t help but root for them.

Without giving too much of the plot away, I will say that these books boast and abundance of cultural and LGBT+ representation. You will wonder how a small, Illinois town could be so diverse, but you will also want to go there. The book (and the author’s website) include some bonus delicious Filipino and Filipino-American fusion recipes at the end. This book did not last long in Bridget’s apartment. She read it almost immediately and returned it for the next one, although she has yet to make any of the recipes.

-Carolyn

P.S. The author’s website is here https://www.miapmanansala.com/arsenic-and-adobo, and you can always support your local library!

Refreshing Reads: When you need something distracting and different

Carolyn, Free

As much as Bridget annoys me, she has someone who is recommending good books to her. The last few books she has read were quite a departure from her normal reading. I’m not sure who this person is, but I do know that she gets her books from the library and she does not take them with her when she leaves for work, which means I get to read the books while she is gone.

I will be reviewing the books here. These won’t be full-scale book reviews, just enough to bring your attention to an interesting book. And I want to be clear, I will only be reviewing the books that I find interesting, regardless of when they were published. These are not going to be sponsored reviews meant to drive sales numbers or boost the popularity of a new book. This is just meant to highlight a title that is new to me that I find somehow interesting. If you want to read any of these books, I recommend getting them from your local library.

-Carolyn

Reversal of Fortune: When the Tenant Haunts the Ghost

Carolyn, Free

I was so sad to see Erica go. Of course, I cannot blame her. The space was getting too small and, I too, remember the frustrations of not having my own thermostat. She does think of me often, as do Ella and Jane, and I get a warm fuzzy feeling inside that I wish could cancel out the grating annoyances of the new tenant.

I want to preface this by saying nothing the new tenant does is wrong. We are just wrong for each other. The best thing to do in this kind of situation would be to simply admit the wrongness, and part ways before for any resentment or animosity grows. Unfortunately, we do not have that option. And two years is a long time to be stuck with the wrong person.

So with that mutual understanding between us, please allow me to vent just for a moment, about Bridget.

She is the most oblivious person I can imagine. I could write my name every day in the dusting of makeup on the sink and she would never even look. Of course, that would be too frightening for a first introduction, but she would never notice anything more subtle.

She is very loud. She is either play music, watching television, or on the phone entire time but she is home. Were we able to establish communication, I doubt I would be able to get a word in edgewise.

She likes the exact kind of books that I hate.

And so I spend hours and hours and hours watching her scroll through her phone and it is slowly but surely driving me insane. The worst part is, she cannot even delight in the misery she causes me. She has no idea.

-Carolyn

The Scarce and Ephemeral Joy of Novelty (Repost)

Carolyn, Free

There are some things I was never meant to enjoy for very long. First, of course there was my life. Now, there are all these cute things you make and take into the office. I understand why. Work spaces can be so bleak and a little personal touch can go a long way.

I suppose for me, it is my craving for novelty that conflicts with your desire to make pretty things and take them away. You can follow your things to the office. And you can go anywhere you like and see new things that others have created. I have only these three rooms (I don’t count the bathroom).

You have lived here for what, three or four years? And that is already long for this building. I have been stuck in this apartment going on 30 years. Sure, a new tenant brings a little bit of excitement, different furniture and decorations, different lifestyles and personalities to observe. And while I must say, Erica, I like you the best of all, at times I do still chase that quick burst of excitement. I can’t help myself I have lived with you for 10% of my afterlife and in reality if you have done very little to change the decoration of this apartment.

I don’t say this to convince you to redecorate at a rate that would satisfy me. That would not be sustainable on any budget. And I understand the amount of effort you have put into this apartment and environment. I say this only so that you will understand how delighted I was watching you plan and create these delicate little trays with match jars. It was a side of you I had never seen. Measuring out the dimensions of the items you wish to keep there, squirrelling away cardboard cereal boxes as you finished them, carefully measuring out the dimensions of each separate piece and of cardboard and peace of paper, cutting them all out and assembling the final product.

I was there with you the whole time. I delighted in your success and the thought that every time I looked at the tray would be a pleasant reminder of those evenings we shared watching television and me watching you create something.

So you can understand my disappointment when this little tray was soon sequestered away to your office. It is selfish, I know, to want something of yours to fuel my happy memories. But it is difficult when new good memories are so few and far between. I am not saying that you should have done anything different. I just hope that the next time you make something pretty, it sticks around for a while.

-Carolyn

Think of Your Aesthetic as a Journey (it’s cheaper too) (Repost)

Carolyn, Review

July is a free review month! This post would normally be for Patreon subscribers, but is being reposted for free. If you’re not a Patreon subscriber, this is what the Patreon posts are like. If you are a Patreon subscriber and have been wanting to share this post, now you can! (please do).

So much social media these days, or at least the social media I read over your shoulder, is concerned with the concept of “aesthetic.” Back in my time, we would have referred to it as “style,” although aesthetic seems to be more narrowly defined. In your case, it seems to mean an Instagram feed full of pastels and leatherbound books and the breeze blowing through embroidered curtains.

I see you looking at these pictures and then at your own apartment and sighing. No, you don’t have a place in your apartment that’s a perfect background for photos, but that’s okay. Yes, your shelves still hold modern books with mismatched covers and *gasp* some DVDs that you still hang on to. That’s all okay.

Creating a cohesive environment takes time and money, both of which you have in short supply. A complete overhaul is out of the question, not to mention wasteful considering much of what you have is still perfectly useful. And even though you know deep down, you still need reminding that just because it took you an instant to look at a picture of a perfectly set table or swoon-worthy bookshelf does not mean that it took an instant to put together.

Remember, you’re starting where you are, and that’s someone who’s just a few years out of college. You still have an apartment full of thrift store furniture that you bought because it was cheap and you just needed furniture. Or its your first real piece of furniture that you bought new from the store and you don’t want to let go just yet. Either way, there is a good reason your apartment looks a bit eclectic and a good reason to get every little bit of use out of that furniture. You also like to make things yourself and display gifts from other people, two tendencies which can be difficult to incorporate into a cohesive aesthetic.

While these tendencies might mean that it takes you longer to put together a room you’re satisfied with, they have many hidden benefits. Yes, it is frustrating to watch packages and packages of homewares arrive for your neighbors while you’re not in the best financial spot, but waiting until something needs replacing will be cheaper in the long run. Whether it’s propagating your own houseplants or an inventive way to make your DVDs look like fancy books, you’ll always have a better story than “I wanted it so I bought it.” This is not to say that anyone who has already arrived at their own sense of style or has decided to completely renovate their living room to cope with quarantine is wrong. It’s just that every path has their advantages, whether or not they’re immediately appealing to Instagram.

What’s more, taking time to really develop an aesthetic means it can continue to evolve as time goes on. While certain sentimental objects will remain staples, you can replace things with something that both matches your aesthetic and is significant to you. Don’t think of the end result as the final look of the room, but rather the criteria you use when choosing new items for your apartment. Your apartment will never look quite as polished as the pictures you sigh at on rainy days, but it will be vastly more interesting, especially for me.

-Carolyn