book worm: quarter three

1. Margo's Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe

2. The Secret History by Donna Tartt

3. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

4. Woman Hating by Andrea Dworkin

5. Nobody's Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice by Virginia Roberts Giuffre

6. Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert

7. Blue Nights by Joan Didion

8. The Hobbit or There and Back Again by J.R.R. Tolkien

Happy Fall my fellow internet friends. Reading season (in my opinion) is upon us now. Will this mean I read more next quarter? Only time will tell...I fear the start of medical school will be detrimental to those aspirations. Anyways, that is the future, we are here to discuss the past three months! Again, with a short reading list, I feel a top two is appropriate.

1. Blue Nights by Joan Didion Joan Didion is aspirational. She is a haunted woman who puts her thoughts so beautifully onto the page, you cannot help but be transported into her mind. To catch a glimpse and think that maybe you can understand how her mind works. The way in which I consumed this book added to my delicious digestion of it. I woke up one morning and decided I wanted to do nothing but read all day. I finished a couple books and by late morning I was ready for a new one. I picked this up and read it in one sitting. I read it mostly inside with coffee, but at one point, read outside to lighten the mood. Didion is the writer that most inspires me and gives me hope that I too have thoughts and feelings and ideas worth immortalizing. I would say this is now my second favorite of her books I have read (Slouching Towards Bethlehem being my favorite). I am excited to pick this book back up later in life and see how time transforms my depth of understanding. It made me want to know my mother even deeper, and I want her to read this book too.
   

2. Woman Hating by Andrea Dworkin This book is a call to action. If nothing else, it will make you think about everything you think you know. I will try not to get too into the current affairs now. Unfortunately the Cornell gang rape that is circling the news is nothing new. We experience it every day to some degree. "We are all Jane Doe". We see it in the people who voted for Donald Trump. We see it in the Epstein Files. We see it in all of our sisters in one way or another. Somehow none of us escape unscathed and yet nothing ever changes. This week I finally got pepper spray to carry around everyday. A long time coming. This book will educate you on the depth of societal narratives that put women down. I remember when feminism seemed like too extreme a descriptor of me. That was the patriarchy trying to tell me, to tell us, that feminism was anti-men, was too aggressive. It is neither of those things. If you are a woman and not a feminist, what is your lived experience? Who do you really think benefits from you denying your own right to life? I digress - read a book - maybe it is this one. Educate yourself. Question the norm. Keep fighting for the change you wish to see. Love yourself as an act of opposition.

Unfortunately, this post is ending a bit heavy, but such is life. Happy Friday! Happy weekend! I am wishing you many pages read this fall and winter. Excited to check back in at the end of 2026 (how?!). In the meantime, for god's sake make a goodreads and let us not have to wait an entire quarter to check in!

Lots of love + happy reading <3