Live, Laugh, Toaster Bath ✌️
Straight from the tortured poets department 🖊️
I’ve been in my sad girl era for a minute now, and when I tell you I’ve been leaning the fuck in!?! I’ve been loving it and embracing aspects of it, but also sinking in a little too deep into others, approaching a full bum-out a little 2 fast 2 furious.
When the Pope passed, (segue, do I know her?), may his memory be eternal, my immediate reaction (after yelling “Conclave! Conclave!”) was “great, another major institution is about to take a turn toward the authoritarian.” And I felt the heaviness of my heart swell. Ironically, it gave me the vocabulary to name this repulsive feeling growing inside me: pessimism.
On the whole I’ve lived my life as a proud optimist. Even in the lowest moments and scariest seasons of my life, I’ve been able to maintain my grip on an optimistic outlook.
Maybe I’m late to the party, but I’m struggling to find anything to hang my hope on these days. My country is self-destructing, my industry is evaporating, my goals feel untethered from reality, and between some new meds and a body embarking on its fourth decade I am physically incompatible with binge-drinking and all-nighters that got my through my twenties.
Now that I can name this feeling, I am, of all things, optimistic that I’ll get over it. One day soon I hope to put the Taylor Swift on pause and queue up the Andy Grammer backlog, but in the meantime here are the books I’ve been reading to amplify my listlessness.
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
The book that kicked off my sad girl spiral. A month and a half later: I’m still obsessed.
Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
As I embarked on my feminist classics deep dive, my English Major friends came through with some great recommendations. I picked up Mrs. Dalloway on the recommendation of Will$ (friend of the stack). Virginia Woolf definitely piled on Sylvia’s foundation of impossible womanhood while incorporating more themes and experiences, centered in a post WWI London. I’m amazed how authors can create a “simple” story structures and thoroughly incorporate so many themes.
This short novel included a moving portrayal of “shell shock” (WWI PTSD) and the nuances felt by both those experiencing it and their loved ones.
The Awakening by Kate Chopin
Another English-Major-turned-second-assistant-production-accountant, Erin (mispronounced “Ahhh-rin” by yours truly), came through with this The Bell Jar pre-curser published in 1899. Kate Chopin’s novel follows a morose woman stuck in a stifling marriage in stuffy New Orleans. It was ahead of it’s time in portraying female infidelity and specifically the psyche of a woman driven to extramarital affairs.
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Cynthia Erivo read me a short story and I'm a happy girl. (It’s free included with an audible subscription.) I'm going to have to wikipedia this one and keep digesting. Parts of it I really appreciated and parts I felt sail straight over my head. I was surprised how much it reminded me of Mexican Gothic. If I'd read this before, I might have had a greater appreciation for it. (I did NOT like Mexican Gothic, but it was my fault for not knowing what a “gothic” was. And what it is is not my cup of tea. & that’s the 🫖)
Big Swiss by Jen Beagin
This is the most lighthearted on the list, but the FMC Greta is determined to keep her life uncomfortable as a weird subconscious penance that fits the feminine ennui themes of live, laugh, toaster bath.
I love Jen Beagin’s writing! It's fun and quirky in a way that just appeals to my constant stream of consciousness. However the plot and characters didn't particularly do it for me. Like I didn't dislike them, but they weren't obsession-worthy. It did have incredible audiobook production!
Shoutout to full sentence named girls and friend of the stack Rachel for the rec! All Fours is next on my quirky, sexy, cynical tbr!
Motherthing by Ainslie Hogarth
I’m glad my book club selected this short little domestic horror for me to leave my comfort zone. Nearly yacked at my desk though. Some of the writing was delightful and right up my alley, but ultimately the genre and central themes are just not my vibes so it was a miss overall for me.
The Woman in Me by Britney Spears
It’s giving: “Perfect Celebrity” by Lady Gaga
Another Will$ recommendation. He warned me that before long I wouldn’t know where Britney Spears ended and White Michelle Williams began (speaking of Dying for Sex seems like the ultimate live, laugh, toaster bath show 👀), and he was right! 10/10 recommend listening to the audiobook for this one!
BONUS RECOMMENDATIONS:
My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Otessa Moshfegh
It’s bonus because I listened to this back in April of 2022. This novel is the most extreme experimentation in disassociation ever imagined.
New Releases:
Notes to John by Joan Didion
"An act of intimate storytelling. . . . Didion fans (we know who we are) will feel hypnotized by these pages, not quite sure they should exist as a book, but leveled by the writer who produced them, by her honesty and heartbreak." —Vogue
Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry
“What begins as a charming if standard rom-com evolves into a hauntingly beautiful meditation on what makes a life well lived in the latest showstopper from Henry . . . This is a stunner.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
[I had to include some sunshine for you. Self-described as her “least romantic” (which is saying something has her contemporary romances have all toed the line of general fiction). I’m going in with reservations.]
* The books linked to BookShop.org are through my affiliate link. If you purchase a book via that link, I may receive a small commission. *
Hyper-fixation du jour: Light Summer
Last weekend we went down to West Palm Beach, Florida for Jenn’s bachelorette. Not only did I come out one step closer to having a legal sister, I adopted her crew’s hyper-fixation: the seasonal color wheel! While I haven’t spent the pretty penny yet on an official assessment, we think I’m a light summer and I have spent more than a pretty penny online shopping for a new wardrobe….
BONUS HYPER-FIXATION [picked up from the girlies]: 🦗 Cricketing 🦗
If you want to purchase any of the books mentioned in this article, please consider using my affiliate link with my favorite independent book store, The Ripped Bodice, or using my referral link to libro.fm for an audiobook!