By Golly, Ollie!

I love the brevity of a month-in-review kind of post– the ones where bloggers share the podcasts/albums/books/events/video games they consumed recently but without an accompanying thousand-word analysis of the experience. I used to compose posts like this (read: Five March Favorites), but I am so, so terrible at sticking to structured content calendars. So, here is my latest attempt at a (probably, almost definitely, unregular) feature. Here are the books, tea, and geekery I have enjoyed lately:

Books

Can’t Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation by Anne Helen Petersen

Can’t Even critiques the the systems many Millennials were born into like the college-at-all-costs pipeline, social media-driven lifestyle curation, and the burden of invisible labor nearly all mothers carry even in (especially in?) the year of our Lord, 2024. Petersen’s strongest chapters discussed the “enshittification” of the workplace by examining labor theory and history since the 1970s.

I would be enraged after reading this book, but I’ve read it all before. If you’re a Millennial, who exists at all online, you’ve probably read the arguments before, too. Nevertheless, Can’t Even is relatable, and the book satisfies the craving for confirmation bias.

My biggest critique of this book is the author’s declaration that Millenials are the “burnout generation”. She then dispels that notion in the first chapter by arguing burnout is a state of existence we inherited from our Boomer parents. Which I agree with, by the way! I don’t think Millenials have a monopoly on burnout, and I think trying to imply that only invites the generational infighting I’m so tired of reading about.

The Best American Essays 2023 edited by Vivian Gornick

I love essays. I think I secretly want to be an essayist. It’s probably why I’ve always been drawn to blogs and blogging, which seem like informal essays [this post is not an essay]. Essays take my favorite approach to storytelling (nonfiction) and turn it bite-sized, conveying complex ideas concisely. (How appropriate that The Best American Essays 2023 includes a meditation on concision by George Estreich).

I’m only halfway through, but I’ve already read a few memorable essays. Any Kind of Leaving by Jillian Barnet shatters the usual savior-like portrayal of adoption, and this essay almost made me cry. We Were Hungry by Chris Dennis is a brutal, sort-of-love-letter to McDonald’s from an ex-addict. Ms. Daylily by Xujun Eberlein is an achingly intimate story about a daughter trying to piece together her mother’s relationship with another woman during Mao’s reign and the Cultural Revolution in China.

This anthology also feels like it will be a time capsule for future generations with essays about gender identity, the prison system, and the immigrant experience in the United States. It makes me curious to read earlier books from this series (started in 1986) to see if earlier editors managed to curate a collection of work that embodies the year it was published, too.

New Kid by Jerry Craft

Some of the best graphic novels I’ve read in recent years have come from the Middle-Grade section of the local library, and New Kid by Jerry Craft now gets added to this growing list. New Kid follows Jordan, a Black middle schooler who wants to attend art school but is enrolled in a rigorously academic private school instead. At his new school, Jordan confronts bullying, classism, code-switching, and microaggressions as he struggles to find his place among peers who do not look like him.

The characters and the friendships that develop between them are delightful. The book was laugh-out-loud funny. And, I loved the playfulness of the chapter title illustrations, which were inspired by popular films like the Lord of the Rings, Rocky Horror Picture Show, and Star Wars.

Tea

A few Sunday’s ago, a surprise from the good folks at Plum Deluxe arrived on my doorstep– this World of Tea care package inspired by France, which includes five curated blends from their shop and five blends exclusive to this sampler. I’m looking forward to sipping through this collection, but I think I need to acquire some croissants first. Especially for the Cafe Breakfast Blend, which is infused with coffee beans.

The tea featured in my favorite Pragon teacup above is the Huckleberry Happiness blend, a random sample included with the care package. It’s a fruity black tea blend that pairs well with sunny mornings filled with birdsong.

Geekery

Citizen Sleeper

Citizen Sleeper is the cozy, slice-of-life cyberpunk video game I didn’t know I needed in my life. I am obsessed with the artwork, the soundtrack, the story, the wholesome characters like Lem & Mina, the gameplay– everything!

This game follows a “sleeper”, a digitized human mind encapsulated in an artificial body, who escaped their old life of indentured servitude to Essen-Arp Corp. As the story opens, the sleeper has sought refuge on a lawless space station called the Eye. There, the sleeper meets a colorful cast of characters, builds friendships, navigates factions, and ultimately tries to survive and rebuild their life among a hyper-capitalist, interstellar society.

Citizen Sleeper is a text-based game that functions like a Tabletop RPG, where payers “spend” dice to drive the story forward, complete actions, and determine outcomes of choices. It’s sort of like a virtual choose-your-own-adventure story with several different endings, so I’m already looking forward to replaying this game.

Open Roads

In Open Roads, gamers play the role of sixteen-year-old Tess, who has just discovered a secret stash of love letters tucked away in the attic of her grandmother’s house after her grandmother passed away. Tess convinces her mother to go on a road trip to discover how deep these family secrets are buried.

Wikipedia tells me this is a “walking simulator”. Players can navigate a scene and interact with the environment to reveal more of the story. It’s a low-stakes (no-stakes?) video game that had me hooked because 1. it’s set in the early 2000s, so it’s satisfying the craving for nostalgia, and 2. it takes place in Michigan, my home state!

It’s a very short video game; players can probably complete it in an evening. But, after solving the mystery surrounding the grandmother’s secret love letters, I kept hoping Tess would try to discover the secret stash of bootleggers gold, which was a topic that surfaced throughout the story. Open Roads left me wanting more, but in a good way, I think. The story was compelling enough, the characters were charming, and the gameplay was calming, so I just wanted to keep playing.

Skyrim

I am a creature of habit, so I’m usually just replaying a handful of games (Dragon Age, Mass Effect, Fallout, Elder Scrolls, Stardew Valley), and lately, I’ve been devoting my time to Skyrim. In this open world, action roleplaying game, players explore Skyrim, the northernmost region of the continent of Tamriel, by navigating the politics of a region divided by civil war, joining factions, slaying dragons and draugr, and delving into dungeons to discover valuable loot. (It seems strange to summarize this game since it’s so iconic).

I’ve had this game since it was released in 2011, and I’ve never completed the main storyline(s). I’ll sink 40 hours into a character then take a break for a few months. When I return, I forget what I’m doing and just start a new character with a new play style. Lately, I’ve been playing as a mage. I recently finished the College of Winterhold questline, and I’m now working on the Dawnguard questline, but I don’t love this playstyle, and I already want to start a new character. I started a new sneak thief character. Why am I the way that I am?

Have you enjoyed some books, tea, or geekery recently, too? Let me know in the comments!