It’s a minute from midnight but my long weekend’s finally over and I can now wrap up the past few days.
This past week has been super busy and eventful, both emotionally and physically.
I don’t think I have to speak on the shooting in Texas and about the fact that the total count of mass shootings following the Texas shooting totaled up to double digits as of now. It’s just exhausting, so very exhausting. I read a stat that kids are now more in danger of dying from a school shooting than what used to be the more common threats.
This past long weekend, I went home to visit with family. I was equally as excited as exhausted at the thought of having to go home. I was pretty done with the week by the time Friday rolled around. I honestly wanted to climb into bed, sleep, and wake up to a new week and a new month. I am glad that I did go home though, as it was immensely restful… well mostly restful.
It was comedically sad how the first time we went to the movies as a family since the Pandemic started, someone in the back of the theater decided to scream and shout, “get the fuck out of my country” alongside a ton of other ineligible stuff as a “patriotic” response to what was playing on the screen. First of all, I have no idea why that man decided to scream at the scene he did but as probably the only people of color in that movie theater, it was more than just terrifying. And as the only people of color who already had an encounter with a mass shooting, it was harrowing. I haven’t included the movie where this incident occurred in this week’s wrap up.
The cumulation of last week’s events is why I wanted to finish up writing this Weekly Wrap Up tonight. I want to write out all the stuff from last week and leave it behind.
This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub
It took me a while to get to the halfway point of this book but I flew through the second half in a day. I’m a bit mixed on this book. It was a lot more low stakes than I thought it would be and for the entire first half, I wasn’t as invested as I thought I would be. But the second half really turned things over for me. I don’t know if I read it at the wrong time or if it just fell a bit flat but I’m definitely going to reread it and give it a second chance.
The Maid by Nita Prose
I absolutely LOVED this book. It was so wholesome and gripping. I know some real thriller and mystery readers described this as being a bit sleepy but as someone who doesn’t gravitate towards those genres, I found it pretty gripping. I also know understand the hype around cozy mysteries and I’m excited to deep dive into this genre. I’ve already got my hands on a couple of mysteries and thrillers so I’m halfway there to becoming a thriller reader!
Left on Tenth by Delia Ephron
I finally finished this book and wow. This memoir just really did it for me and it’s one I’m going to have to revisit. Trigger warnings for loss of loved ones, cancer, and grief. This book takes you through some of Delia Ephron’s most harrowing, trying, and lowest points of her life. Delia Ephron is revisited again and again by loss, cancer, and grief in so many different forms. Yet this book is also somehow wholesome in the way it takes on the meaning of community, friendships, neighborhoods, love of different places and countries, and also of finding love when you least expect it. The writing is easy to read but somehow still so evocative and memorable.
The Pharmacist
This is a four episode documentary series following a pharmacist avenging his murdered son. It talks about addiction, especially addiction to OxyCotin so if you’re be triggered by that or murder or loss of a loved one, maybe steer clear of this one. This was interesting to watch. I think the pacing’s a bit weird and while I felt for the pharmacist and understand why he did what he did, I’m a bit mixed on how I feel about him. I think he got lucky a lot of the times and he really put himself in danger.
RRR
This is a South Indian movie set pre-Independence. We follow two different South Indian men who are following two completely different paths. One is an officer serving the British empire and the other is trying to rescue a little girl who was taken from his people by a British lord of some sorts. I loved the aesthetics of this movie, the music, the exploration of the relationships, and how everything tied together. I mean yes, the graphics could have been better and there were a lot of physics defying actions and scenes, especially towards the end, but it was so captivating that I didn’t even notice that three hours had passed by until the movie ended.