Not too vampire-y
"And she'll fall into a deep sleep under a little wooden sign that says like...I don't know. Live, Laugh, Police."
Money, sugar, and vampires.
Things I gone done and read
Come and Get It (2024)
Kiley Reid
Sometimes you just need a low-stakes, chill hang of a book.
Come and Get It takes place at some college in Arkansas. Millie, a resident advisor in her dorm, wants to graduate and buy a house. She gets involved (in many ways) with Agatha, a professor writing about money.
And that’s the crux of the story: it is a lot about money. Not in a Succession (or Trust, as I’ve previously written about) way but still in a who has it, who needs it, and why kind of way. Money in amounts a normal person can fathom.
It’s not a plotty book but it moves. Kiley Reid’s skill seems to lie in the moments between the characters. I don’t really understand when people call something a “character study”, I think they usually mean that the plot doesn’t move them or engage them so it must be about characters right? But it’s not like these characters are so bombastic you need to understand them. This isn’t American Psycho.
What’s so striking is the realism between them, their interactions, the moments, the way Reid describes those subtle gestures or behaviours people do when they’re annoyed, disappointed, attracted, drunk, angry, etc. There’s a point where Reid so freakishly depicts the start and dissolution of a relationship that’s both so specific in its movements it seems torn from life and so universal it must strike a chord with every reader.
Overall, the story is comforting in that low-stakes, college way (because it’s not about Bennington College I guess). It’s funny, but the humour is between the characters. It just feels so real and that’s a strength.
“Not Too Sweet” or Too Sweet to Fail?
Mahira Rivers. Taste.
Interesting read about the development of sugar in Asian cuisine. I worked for a time in a pastry shop and when someone asked for something “not too sweet” it baffled me a little. We were a pastry and cake emporium after all. But considering our North American palette is so supercharged with sugars of some kind in contrast to Asia, it makes sense.
Things I gone done and saw
Sinners (2025)
Written and directed by Ryan Coogler
Best movie of the year so far? Definitely yes. Will it hold up over the rest of the year? Maybe. 2025 is shaping up to be a strong year despite the slow start.
I don’t particularly want to get too much into the film for fear of spoiling it. But I will note that after I left this movie, I was a little baffled at how its been marketed. The trailer (linked above) promises that the film is largely about one thing but that thing is actually a smaller part of the overall story but it makes sense that it might be the easiest way to entice people to the cinema.
But honestly, the rest of the movie is actually so much better than that promise. So much deeper and more interesting and more fun.
It’s good to know very little about the movie and just go and enjoy.
This week on The Low Ceiling, we’re back hitting the road (house)…