Raindrops on roses

A few of my favorite things, winter/spring 2024 edition

Gentle reader,

Below, you’ll find recommendations for a few favorite things I’ve been reading, wearing, watching, listening, and doing. I’d love, in turn, to hear about your recommendations. What are you reading, watching, doing, and loving right now?

Reading: books

First, a fun, pleasure read: I enjoyed The Crossing Places, by Elly Griffiths, the first of the Ruth Galloway mysteries. The protagonist is a middle aged professor who likes cats, so I suppose you can see why am charmed. All the elements of a nice mystery are here, along with some surprises.

“The past is dead. She, as an archaeologist, knows that better than most. But she knows too that it can be seductive.”

— Elly Griffiths

I’m still sorting through my feelings about and assessment of Abigail Favale’s The Genesis of Gender: A Christian Theory, but it’s well worth the read. The account, in total, is ultimately too Catholic for me, but there are many pieces along the way that I feel deeply, like this stunner:

“I turned to feminism to discover the significance of my womanness, and I was initiated into an ideology where womanness itself is ultimately renounced.”

—Abigail Favale

If you’re digging into the topic of gender and theology, don’t miss Fellipe do Vale’s Gender as Love: A Theological Account of Human Identity, Embodied Desire, and Our Social Worlds.

“Because gender is a matter of Christian discipleship, it must be seen within the divine economy… Our gendered loves are always indexed to this narrative.”

— Fellipe do Vale

A.S. Byatt’s Possession is one of my all time favorite novels.

To channel Stefon from SNL: this book has EVERYTHING: academic politics, Victorian poets, international intrigue, mermaidish serpents, romance, hair shaming, rare documents, patriarchy, greed, love…

“Literary critics make natural detectives.”

A.S. Byatt

Wearing

My daughter works in a dermatologist’s office, and she’s been reiterating the need for daily sunscreen. I’m a huge fan of Supergoop unseen sunscreen. It goes on quick and clear. It’s also available with a sunny tint, as Supergoop glowscreen, which goes on equally easily. To finish out my obsession with easy-on face products, I love my Il Makiage power camo redness defense, which has the texture of angel kitten butterfly wing kisses; there’s no other metaphor for it. Plus, friends, the bottle is pretty, and Il Makiage sends free gifts with your orders.

I’m now living in my Hoka Bondi sneakers, per my podiatrist’s order to stop going around the house barefoot. They’re pricey but light and super supportive, and my teen daughter envies them, which is an unlikely but delightful combination.

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