So I’m currently reading Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch, and the reviews on the cover refer to it as “Dickensian.” Naturally, I think of Charles Dickens, as I’m meant to, but frankly, I have very little experience with his work. I’ve read A Christmas Carol and I know the Oliver Twist story and I think some shorter works in an undergrad English class, but I still don’t know exactly what it means. So I googled it and found exactly what I needed; a Paris Review article all about the term and how it overshadows this particular book I’m reading now.

So now I know, “Dickensian” means (in the popular sense): “shivering orphans, cloying sentimentality, fortuitous coincidence, and virtue rewarded.” Though perhaps, the article suggests it’s a disservice to Donna Tartt to think of The Goldfinch in such a way.

Reading

The Goldfinch. And I need to skim through Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin for a book club I’m attending this weekend. I read it in 2022 and adored it, but it’s a big book so I want to remember some details.

Eating

Pita pockets stuffed with spinach salad ><

Playing

Candy Crush. Also, to twist the sense of the word, I’ve also just been going on lots of Bumble BFF dates in order to make some local friends. And I’ve been pretty lucky, people have been nice and fun to talk to!

Obsessing

“Avatar: The Last Airbender” has been weighing heavily on my mind lately. It’s a combination of the marketing I’ve been seeing for the new Netflix adaptation that’s just come out, rewatching the original to prepare, and just overall reminiscing about how me and my family would gather around the TV on Friday nights to watch new episodes of the original—it’s just so good.

Recommending

I’m twisting this a little too, but instead of something I’m recommending, here’s something that’s been recommended to me lately: “One Day,” a Netflix show based on the 2009 David Nicholls novel with the same name. I really enjoyed the book, so I’ll have to watch the adaptation since a couple of people have talked to me about it. I think there’s also a movie adaptation of this book with Anne Hathaway? Did I dream that?

Treating

Gonna get a little Handlebar Coffee Roasters cappuccino today, it’s my favorite ☕️