It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these! I’m just now getting back on a good reading schedule, and dinners have been… well, you’ll see shortly. I also have a bonus movie review!
First up- I finished this:
Huh. I think… I didn’t really like it? The premise is, an aspiring writer sees the chance to steal another writer’s manuscript, and publishes it as her own.
It wasn’t that I couldn’t get behind this, exactly. I kept wanting to root for the main character, but then she would do something else just slightly too icky for me. It was interesting that I wanted to like her, but couldn’t quite bring myself to. As a matter of fact, the whole book was interesting. Diversity, racism, the evils of social media were some of the topics explored.
I enjoyed parts of it, but overall I didn’t have a good feeling while reading this book. A while ago I read Babel by this same author, and I enjoyed that more- but I probably won’t read any more books by R.F. Kuang.
Now I’ve started…
I love it!!! I want to launch into a whole discussion about it, but I’ll save it for book club.
Dinners. Oh God. I’m really hitting the wall here. Several nights last week were so busy that I ended up eating a peanut butter sandwich in the car for dinner, and I wish I could just do that every night instead of having to cook. But, Sunday I rallied and made chili! I doubled this recipe from Nora Cooks. We ate it during the Chiefs/Bills game.
Then I announced that we’re eating chili for dinner every night this week unless someone else wants to cook. Things are starting to get dark around our house- so dark that I think my husband might actually cook dinner tomorrow.
But let’s bring things back up. I saw a movie!!! I rarely go to movies, but it was my husband’s birthday and he wanted to see A Complete Unknown, which is the story of Bob Dylan.
I LOVED IT! The acting was incredible. Timothee Chalamet played Bob Dylan and did all his own singing (side note- whoa. Total dreamboat.) The other actors were amazing as well. So much music, and it all takes place in the 1960’s, which is a decade that fascinates me and somehow keeps coming up in my reading (Stephen King’s 11/22/63 and Ken Follett’s The Century Trilogy.)
It was interesting seeing Dylan’s rise to fame, and then the conflict between an artist wanting to evolve and the fans who resist that. I grew up in the 1970s and we still listened to Bob Dylan, and I used to play his songs on my guitar. I haven’t listened to him in a long time, but I’ve pulled up a Bob Dylan playlist on Spotify, and “The Times They Are A-Changin'” has been going through my mind all day.
Have you see A Complete Unknown?
Did you like Yellowface?
Top photo by Blaz Photo on Unsplash
19 Responses
Here’s where I have to admit that 1) I liked Yellowface, but I didn’t love it. I wanted it to pick a lane and be more biting if it were satire or more sympathetic to the main character if it were not satire and 2) I haven’t even started reading the chapters for The Blue Castle yet, let alone started the book club post. I better get into gear on that! I’m glad you are liking it, though. That’s exciting to hear.
Engie, I absolutely love it! I’ve decided to read the entire book all at once, instead of dividing it up week by week. I enjoy it more that way.
I liked yellowface AND hated the protagonist!!! Haha 🙂 I think RF Kuang was okay with us hating her!
SAME
Yep, I agree ladies! RF Kuang definitely did that on purpose.
The chili looks really good though! If your husband cooks dinner, you’ll have to let us know what he made.
I haven’t seen A Complete Unknown, but I’m not a Bob Dylan fan. However, I do like musical biopics like Bohemian Rhapsody and Rocketman, so maybe I’ll end up seeing this one too. Another really good one that’s actually more of a parody is Weird, about Weird Al Yankovic. It’s hilarious because it a lot of ridiculous things in it that never happened, but pretends to be a biopic!
Ha, Weird sounds good. And- to be honest I wouldn’t have said I was a Bob Dylan “fan” and was a little skeptical when my husband picked this movie. But then once I got into it I was like “oh yes I remember this song, and this one… etc.”
Hot take! I loved the main character in Yellowface even though she was unlikable. No, I would never steal someone else’s writing and pass it off as my own (1) because I wouldn’t and (2) even if I did I wouldn’t have the talent to rewrite it and get it published. But I understood the temptation plus the ability to pull it off. What I didn’t like about the book was I felt that it jumped the shark toward the end and got too “let’s make fun of woke culture”.
I’m looking forward to Blue Castle!
Yes, it did make fun of woke culture (and I liked the part where the right wing got behind her, hee hee.) I could totally understand the temptation to steal that manuscript and could almost imagine doing it under certain circumstances- but after that I just wanted to like the character more, and couldn’t.
I would say I felt meh about YF. I loathed the protagonist. I can like a book with unlikeable protagonist but YF was just a bridge too far!
I should see the Dillon movie since I like in his home state. I will prob wait for it to be available on a streaming service for free. Phil is NOT a fan of his music as he thinks it’s a lot of mumbling. Lol. So I will prob watch it alone. But I am going to take Paul to Dogman this weekend! Don’t be jealous! 😉 But I am actually looking forward to it. Paul is obsessed with the books and has been excited about this movie for months. And if it’s boring for me, I’ll just read a book on my phone or doze off!
Ugh meals. That is tough in our house. I cooked my first meal yesterday and it took so dang long. Phil cut things up for me in advance but it was still so hard and then I was so focused on meal prep that I forgot that I agreed to go get Taco since Phil had his annual physical at the end of the day. Phil came home with Paul and I was like – where is Taco and he then reminded me we talked about how I was going to get him on Tuesday. Sigh. Daycare was still open when we went to get him but boy did I feel like an a-hole. 🙁
Lisa, someday I’ll tell you the story of my friend who one day forgot to pick up her daughter entirely from school (everything worked out fine, but still…)
Bob Dylan’s music can sound like a lot of mumbling! And it can be kind of repetitive- I don’t love all of it. But there are a handful of songs that I think are really good, and I remember from my childhood. Plus, the actor… you’ll like him : )
I liked Yellowface but didn’t love it.
That chili looks amazing. Yum. I am literally living inside a winter wonderland and we are having stew and baked potatoes for supper because #comfortfood.
I am LOVING The Blue Castle. I love Valancy’s spunk. Don’t tell Engie…I read ahead.
I’m reading ahead too! Actually I think I’m going to finish the whole book tomorrow.
Oh I really liked Yellowface, but then, I don’t need to like a main character to like a book. I went to find my review of this, because I read it in like May 2023 so the details weren’t clear. This is what I said: “I really love when a book has a lot of nuance, a lot of questions, and nothing that is black or white. This satirical novel about a woman stealing her dead friend’s manuscript, editing it, and passing it off as her own is absolutely incredible and full of so many unanswered questions. The biggest question it poses is who gets to tell what story? This is a very interesting question to me and I think about it a lot. For example, years ago I read American Dirt and really enjoyed it; it was only afterward that I found out about all the controversy surrounding the author. But does that take away from the story? For me it didn’t, for you it might. It’s important to note that women have been telling men’s stories, and vice versa, and I don’t tend to think that’s wrong. Of course, there is the added layer of the publishing industry and the biases and exclusions involved. To add to the irony, the author tells a story about a white woman, which she is not. In addition to the big question, there are many small ones. What about the creative process? Where do stories come from? If an idea comes from a conversation, and a book is written about it, was that a stolen idea? Another theme in this book is the role of social media in our society and the “pile ons” that can happen. There were just so many things that brought to mind the last fifteen years of social media, trolls, etc., and how they affect real people. This book shows the competitive nature of publishing and how everyone is scrambling to get a piece. At the heart of it, this book shows how a lie can turn into a giant web of lies, and how keeping secrets can kill a person from the inside out. I almost never say this, but wow, this book lived up to the hype!”
So obviously it was a hit for me! I am excited to reread The Blue Castle, I haven’t read it since 1988, if the date on my book copy is any indication! I haven’t started it yet because, Jenny, I just finished rereading FLOWERS IN THE ATTIC. Lolololol what a weird ass book. It is TERRIBLE but so bad it was good?
I haven’t seen A Complete Unknown but I’ve heard it’s good. Here’s the thing: I cannot STAND Bob Dylan’s music. The only song I like is Lay Lady Lay. (also, how weird is that song? His clothes are dirty but his hands are clean? I mean, great. But also, washing machine.) I do think Timothee Chalomet is a good actor. Apparently he’s all that and a bag of chips for the young girls these days, and it’s a sign of age that I think he looks like a tiny boy. Anyway, not a Bob Dylan fan, it’s his voice that does it. For the same reason I cannot stand Tom Petty! Too whiny and grating of a voice for me. But I’ve heard the movie is great. I just assume it will be music heavy so I’ll pass.
It is music heavy, and Timothee does an amazing job of imitating Dylan’s voice.. which means you won’t like it. : )
OMG Flowers in the Attic. Yes, so so weird but so compelling. I don’t think there’s a single girl from my generation who didn’t read that book.
It’s funny because when I read your review of Yellowface, I agree with all of it. And then I’m like, I guess it WAS a good book! I agree there were a lot of nuances, and a lot of interesting questions. I guess what it boiled down to for me was, although I wanted to find out what happened in the end, I can’t really say reading it was an enjoyable experience.
I havent seen many movies lately besides Wicked. Definitely want to see that movie… I used to like Bob Dylan but haven’t listened to him in a long time.
You would really love this movie then Darlene! Highly recommend.
I’ve not read that book. I am excited for grilling season (not freezing out) because Coach grills and I don’t. Wink wink. I should learn to grill, because I know it’s easy but also – I don’t mind that there is a chore that doesn’t get categorized as something I do. Ya know? I’m making a pot roast tomorrow of Friday? Because I haven’t made one yet this winter.
I rarely go to the movies, but I did see A Complete Unknown at the theater with Tank and Mini before they went back to college after break. I liked it, but I didn’t love it. I was hoping to learn more about him, like his childhood or something. I did enjoy it and I do think it was well done, and Timothee, well, he is just the cutest, but also her makes me feel like an old woman, because he just looks SO young. Right? I dated a guy in Ireland when I studied abroad who was basically obsessed with Bob Dylan. I do like his music and long before this movie came out, I was asking Alexa to play Bob Dylan music for me. If you haven’t seen the documentary about the making of the We Are The World song, I highly recommend. Bob Dylan is in that, and he looks a little out of place, or at least Coach and I felt like he looked out of place. It made us chuckle.
Off to choose the correct name when I post this and a variety of options pop up. 😉
Ha ha, I know- I was originally going to say Timothee Chalamet was “hot” but then I felt like I was way too old to say that about him. Or he’s way too young- whatever. It’s true they didn’t go into his early life at all, and that would have been interesting.