Coffee Letter #021: Marching into March (How Original)
With hope and grief and everything life has to offer.
We are officially in the last weeks of winter. And I plan to embrace all the Spring clichés out there because March has that new beginning energy about it, that sense of renewal and starting over and freshening things up.
I like transitions. The days are longer and warmer, the sun makes its presence known, the birds are chirping early in the morning, the cats are basking in the sunlight. Reminders nature is coming back to life. Maybe reminders we should embrace life and connect with the changes around us. Maybe reminders of hope?
Spring. The season of blooms — the daffodils (my favourite), the hyacinths, and in a month or so, the tulips, and the season of fresh salad veggies popping up at the farmers market — the radishes, the lettuce, the delicious spring onions, and my personal favourite, the wild garlic! It’s exciting! Aren’t you excited? Because I am. And it’s not the New Year kind of excitement, even though March feels more appropriate for resolutions, don’t you think?
March comes in with promises of hope and energy, but for me it’s also a reminder to appreciate the darkness too. We wouldn’t be so excited for Spring were it not for the darkness of winter, right? Or maybe this is personal because March comes in with a dose of grief. I lost my favourite human on this planet in March many many years ago — my grandfather. The person who taught me how to swim and how to ride a bike and how to play backgammon, who taught me about politics and how the good of the many outweighs the good of the few. So March is complicated.
On top of that, my headaches are back with a vengeance. So I am trying to sleep (and failing) and I’m trying to have a nice breakfast each morning as per the neurologist’s instructions. I’m trying to balance my stress levels and my hormones (and failing miserably), I’m trying.
Over the years I learnt that it’s these moments of darkness that make me me. It’s because of the grief, the migraines and the depression that I can find joy in all the brightness that spring has to offer. So today after work I’ll go buy myself some daffodils, then order some mango sticky rice and watch the newest episodes from The White Lotus with my friend Ana. Because happiness is something you create by living in the moment. And sometimes it helps to romanticise life.
~ read
Starting with the kids picture books I read this week:
Is This a Tiger? (Alex's Field Guides #2) by Elina Ellis. A hilarious picture book about Alex and her friend Atticus looking for a tiger in the wild. It’s my second book from Elina Ellis and I loved it just as much as I loved Have You Seen an Elephant?, the first book in Alex’s Field Guides. The story is not only hilarious (mostly because of the illustrations and the tiger hiding), but it’s a great book to teach the little ones about the animal in question, but also about endangered species. I received a digital copy for review.
The next two books I bought recently for my nibling (Doris, if you are reading this, she’s getting them on Easter):
One World by Michael Foreman. This is an old picture book but it stands the test of time — it teaches the little ones about the beautiful world we live in, ecosystems and how fragile the world actually is.
The Stone Bird by Jenny McCartney. A quite little book about imagination. The illustrations are gorgeous and they help build up the story. I like how this book tells so many stories through its art, how you see the seasons passing and the changes around.
I talked about the next three books last week too, when I was in the middle of reading them. This week I finished them (and gave them 5 stars):
The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell. Officially one of my favourite reads of the year. I wasn’t very excited when I started it because I’ve just read too much historical fiction lately, but The Marriage Portrait is MY kind of historical fiction. The kind that makes me want to go into research mode and non-fiction reading straight after finishing the book.
Italy, Renaissance, pages full of anxiety and suspense, art and darkness, and such beautiful prose... plus the foreshadowing. You know the ending yet it still keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole time. I don't know how she does it. Brilliant, just brilliant! I’m not good at writing about the books I love so… just read it!
Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson. It took me a while to get into this book and at times I feel like the pacing can be improved, buuuut... BUT IT WAS SO MUCH FUN once the story picks up.
It’s a whimsical book, about a normal girl going on a scary adventure to save the boy she loves and I'm a sucker for reverse fairy tale tropes, naturally. Plus the narration was really really funny. My friend Indra told me to read this book and I'm so glad I did! I guess this makes me a Brandon Sanderson fan now because I’m hungry for more.
Fourth Wing (The Empyrean #1) by Rebecca Yarros. Initially I rated this book 4 stars because I had a huge list of complaints (which is still valid and you can read it in my GR review), but if I’m willing to reread an entire series (I’m not a series reader) then it definitely deserves the extra star.
In spite of all my complaints, this book is a lot of fun and the world building and dragon lore are done really really well. Plus you fall for all of the characters and the banter is just how I like it in my books — and I don’t only mean the banter between the enemies-to-lovers, but the DRAGONS! In my opinion Tairn should narrate the entire book.
Currently I’m rereading the next book in the series, duh.
~ watch
The House of the Spirits (1993), d. Bille August. Let me just say that this is not a bad film if we don’t think of it as an adaptation of Isabel Allende’s book — otherwise of course the whitewashing of the cast and the lack of magical realism would affect my enjoyment of it. That being said, the cast is the strongest point of this film, which is why I did not stop watching when I realised Barrabás wasn’t going to make an appearance. But as I said, watch it independent from the book or better yet just read the book.
Currently rewatching Twin Peaks and I just started a new Korean Drama that’s airing on Netflix - The Potato Lab, only one episode is out (and I wasn’t aware of that).
And naturally, just like everyone and their mother, I’m watching the two shows that restored our faith in humanity or at least in the fact that tv show creators still trust their viewers and don’t need to give them anything on a platter: Severance and The White Lotus.
~ and other things I did last week
I did not do much this week because I was too obsessed with the books I was reading — but I do have some articles although not as many as I usual do.
Other things consumed last week:
Venice in Winter, With a Poet as Our Guide (The New York Times). Guess who wants to visit Venice in the winter now?
What an Insomniac Knows (The New Yorker). Maybe I should write about sleep next.
‘Lucian Freud was thrilled when Leigh Bowery stripped naked’: how a wild club kid became the great painter’s muse (The Guardian).
The 2025 Letterboxd FYCs: a hyper-specific celebration of the most spectacularly niche moments in this season’s cinema (Letterboxd). A lot more fun than the Oscars.
The 2024 Naughty List: Kate Hagen highlights the best of the year’s cinematic sex stories (Letterboxd). Bonus article, because the Oscars were too prude for these films (at least Anora won everything).
Can you tell I am still mad about the Challengers sound snub? Usually on the Monday after the Oscars I’d be excited to watch the ceremony, but I no longer care — although I care about the fantasy Oscars game from the film club.
My calendar is already full for the entire month and I’m really hoping I did not bite more than I can chew. Two ballet nights, an entire weekend for the Japanese Animation Film Festival and a conference in the capital. Plus all the book clubs.
Wish me luck and thank you for reading!