Our impeccable guide to what to read, watch and listen to now READ: Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan
A novel broken into 3 sections (I: Julian, II: Edith, and III: Julian and Edith), Exciting Times is about Ava, an Irish woman living in Hong Kong, who’s mundane life becomes ever so complicated when she finds herself involved with two different love interests. Ava’s unfiltered thoughts and feelings on life, her decisions, and the conversations with those around her make Exciting Times the novel it is.
From the Publisher:
An intimate, bracingly intelligent debut novel about a millennial Irish expat who becomes entangled in a love triangle with a male banker and a female lawyer. Ava, newly arrived in Hong Kong from Dublin, spends her days teaching English to rich children. Julian is a banker. A banker who likes to spend money on Ava, to have sex and discuss fluctuating currencies with her. But when she asks whether he loves her, he cannot say more than “I like you a great deal.”
Enter Edith. A Hong Kong–born lawyer, striking and ambitious, Edith takes Ava to the theater and leaves her tulips in the hallway. Ava wants to be her—and wants her. And then Julian writes to tell Ava he is coming back to Hong Kong… Should Ava return to the easy compatibility of her life with Julian or take a leap into the unknown with Edith?
Politically alert, heartbreakingly raw, and dryly funny, Exciting Times is thrillingly attuned to the great freedoms and greater uncertainties of modern love. In stylish, uncluttered prose, Naoise Dolan dissects the personal and financial transactions that make up a life—and announces herself as a singular new voice.
Get it here or at your local library!
WATCH: Just Eat It: A Food Waste Story
Billions of dollars of perfectly good food is wasted each year in North America. Yes, you read that right–Billions. Knowing this, filmmakers and food lovers Grant Baldwin and Jenny Rustemeyer decide to take on a challenge: surviving 6 months on food waste. Their rules are simple–eat only discarded food with the exception of eating what family and friends serve. The documentary follows the couple’s experience of finding discarded food, as well as overall looking at the systematic rules of expiration dates, portions, and perfection that creates devastating consequences.
Watch on Hulu, Amazon Prime, Tubi or Youtube!
LISTEN: Remember Sports
Remember Sports formed as a group of Kenyon College students in 2012, who called themselves ‘Sports’ and self-categorized as a “basement rock band”. They have gone through some changes in the last decade, but the band still holds the same excellence in the indie rock scene. They’ve toured alongside contemporary punk heroes like Jeff Rosenstock and Joyce Manor, then settled down to write their newest release ‘Like a Stone’. This album has proven the group’s ability to refine their style without losing what fans love–grungy alt rock.
Listen on Spotify, Apple Music, or Bandcamp
–Leah Flannery
