November 2025
lots going on there
Read
Audition, Katie Kitamura
I read the first chapter on the plane to Copenhagen and was immediately hooked; I haven’t read anything first person in a while and it felt wonderfully intimate and confessional from out the gate.
The writing is indulgently interior and it felt like all the best bits of something like Overstaying or I’m a Fan. You feel almost like you shouldn’t be reading the narrator’s thoughts which, if you ask me, is what confessional writing should be.
It also did, in terms of plot, my favourite thing a book can do, i.e. it got really weird toward the end. I’ll be seeking out others by Kitamura as a result.
Small Game, Blair Braverman
I heard Braverman talk about her book on her You’re Wrong About episodes which I would so, so recommend. The episodes on the Dyatlov Pass incident and flight 571 especially I go back to again and again.
The premise of Small Game is a survival show and honestly, as an audiobook especially, I found myself listening in breaks between work, whilst commuting, and trying to find snatches of time to continue the story.
You can tell Braverman is a survival expert by the details in the story itself and whilst some narrative points felt a little unfinished (not including the ending which I actually liked) and the dialogue occasionally was a little dry, I thought this was, like some of her podcast episodes, quietly life-affirming.
The Four Spent the Day Together, Chris Kraus
After what was categorically the most diabolically conducted author interview Abby and I have ever sat through, I regret to inform the room that the payoff wasn’t even that worth it.
Reading this it felt like Kraus was writing in defense of writing this book for most, if not all, of the novel, and this gave her no space for the gut-wrenching exposure of her usual autofiction which is what made me fall in love with her writing in the first place.
There were some good bits, mainly in the final section, where I loved them because it felt like Kraus was writing, in her own words ‘by default—the times when she was possessed by an idea too large and upsetting to formulate’. The rest registered as, if not a defence, then at least a response, which really took me out of it.
Watched
Frankenstein, Guillermo del Toro
With the seasonal setup assembled in the kitchen (several stools, an extension cord, homemade snacks courtesy of Bella) the only thing missing from this flat film night was that we all agreed it would have been worth a cinema trip to see it in all its glory.
It did what I think all the best adaptations do which is not necessarily stick rigidly to the original (which it didn’t) but take something and make a beautiful story out of it. Add to this the costumes (!), the colour symbolism (!), Mia Goth’s costumes (!) and Oscar Isaac just being there; 10/10 from jessica.
Discourse about Jacob Elordi as the monster aside, I fear this is going to be far better reviewed than the upcoming adaptation of Wuthering Heights which, to be clear, I still plan to be watching in the cinema on its release on Valentine’s day. I’m sure there’ll be all sorts of discussions about what is an adaptation really, what do we mean by that—equally sure I’ll be taking part.
Die My Love, Lynne Ramsay
As Abby neatly summarised as we left the cinema, ‘lots going on there’. Even with the slight sway of being given a free promotional pin badge as part of the trip, I feel this fell a bit into the trap I think Nightbitch did and it didn’t land quite how I think it was intended to.
Some of this might just be that Jennifer Lawrence’s performance was not my favourite, but I do think there were some interesting features in terms of how the story was told temporally that I might feel differently about on a rewatch.
Diane Arbus, Sanctum Santorum
Stumbling across this exhibit at David Zwirner was an excellent way to spend a bit of a Saturday. A series of photos taken in private places, I loved seeing which ones I felt like an intruder and which I didn’t.
I noted down my favourite and funnily enough it’s the one used as the cover image in the exhibit advert.
Eva Helene Pade, Ropac
I also loved this exhibition nearby where all my favourites had a common theme of hands. This is one of my favourite Electric Lit essays it reminded me of.
Listened to
Joy Crookes in concert
Everyone say it with me now: thank you Warefta for an excellent birthday present. Gorgeous performance and another night of feeling very grateful to live so close to all this excellent live music.
Favourite songs
Characteristically eclectic, this, this, and this is what I’ve had on repeat this month.