Anu Recommends #1
A jauntily macabre TV show, five top 2022 reads, and newsletters: yay or nay?
Hi and welcome back to The Storyteller in its all-new avatar (on a different platform, no less)! What started out as a short break turned into a much longer hiatus for multiple, overlapping reasons. Thank you for sticking around and expressing gratifying amounts of excitement when I floated this return.
A bit of admin before we get to the good stuff. Everyone who had subscribed to the original newsletter on Mailchimp has been exported here. I hope you still want to stick around for this new adventure, but no hard feelings if you don’t. All you have to do is tap on the unsubscribe link at the very end. The Storyteller and I thank you for the support!
The rest of you lovely folk can look forward to seeing me in your inboxes every Sunday (well, there’s one more issue next Sunday before a mini break; then back bright and fresh on the first-ever Sunday of 2023 which just happens to be the first day of the new year).
Now, what can you expect?
– reviews
– recommendations
– chats with authors and fellow creative professionals
– micro and mini essays about books, writing, stories, and more
– new fiction/creative non-fiction/poetry
– writing life updates and tips on process
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But first…
Newsletters: yes or no?
It might seem like everybody and their ancestors are creating one at the moment. To me, it’s a fairly reasonable reaction to the chaos over on Twitter and, equallybutinadifferentway, on Instagram. I started The Storyteller back in the tumultuous space that was March 2020 because it was an idea I’d been toying with for a while—and why not when the world was in unprecedented, drastically uncertain times? The present shift is something I’ve been planning for at least a year; wanting a place on the internet that was not as susceptible to the whims of unhinged billionaires and, gods forbid, reels; a place that would allow me flexibility and creativity within a basic structure without demanding too much in return so I could focus on what I enjoy most - writing and stories (and sharing them with all of you).
So, here I am.
What’s smart, sarcastic, and a little bit dead inside?
It has been a while since I binge-watched a TV show and wow did Wednesday deliver. Don’t you love when you go into something with no expectations and no preceding anticipation only for it to smack you in your “this is why I love stories” feelings?
It’s Wednesday Addams’ time to shine in this new adaptation of the Addams Family which puts in a starring role the “I prefer spooky to kooky” whip-smart, prickly daughter with a, let’s go with fascination, with the morbid and the creepy.
Relegated to her parents’ gothic mansion alma mater in small-town New England after one infraction too many at “normie” school, Wednesday faces a new social structure of sirens, werewolves, gorgons, vampires, and all manner of supernatural beings in her fellow classmates—not to mention a murder mystery involving a possible monster and multiple victims, a town full of normies suspicious of the Nevermore Academy students, secret societies, and her parents’ dark, unfinished past. There is a medium amount of gore, so be warned.
The plot is a bit unwieldy at times and the mystery increasingly easy to solve, but the beauty and narrative fulcrum of Wednesday is Jenna Ortega, who kills it (pun intended?) with her droll wit, a deadpan delivery, all while managing to convey the right amount of emotion to keep the teenager relatable and a anti-heroine worth rooting for. She has a more than capable sparring partner in Gwendoline Christie (in the sumptuous, almost pin-up, alter ego of Principal Weems), and it’s great to see the inclusion of Christina Ricci (who immortalised the pre-adolescent and early adolescent Wednesday in the 90s) as the only normie teacher at the school.
And I’d be remiss not to mention Thing, the beloved autonomous disembodied hand numbering among the Addams Family dearest. Thing, initially sent by Wednesday’s parents (Luis Guzmán as Gomez and a magnificent Catherine Zeta-Jones as the willowy Morticia) to spy on her, turns ally under duress of losing digits by a Wednesday whose heightened olfactory senses can pick up on his favourite moisturiser. “Played” by Romanian magician Victor Dorobantu, I was fascinated to learn the behind-the-scenes of the shooting process which involved VFX and a bluescreen ninja suit. If interested, you can check it out here and here. I’ll always be in awe of just how much emotion and personality he was able to convey with a hand.
The Tim Burton aesthetic is instantly recognisable while simultaneously feeling updated. A genius soundtrack rounds off the vibe, adding nuance, rising to all occasions. Wednesday marks Burton’s small-screen debut. The executive producer of this dramedy-horror Netflix original (he also directed four out of the eight episodes) had been in talks to do an Addams Family story decades ago which never materialised, and this current opportunity was too good to pass up. “You know, Wednesday and I have the same worldview,” he shared in a recent Collider interview.
With a cliffhanger ending and plenty of open threads, I’m not the only one hoping Netflix will greenlight another season. Until then I can watch this weirdly mesmerising homage that Ortega herself choregraphed for the school’s dark prom (yep, you read that right).
What kind of storytelling “hits all the right spots” for you?
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What a mood reader’s top 5 books in a year can look like.
If you ask me my answer to the above storytelling question, I’d be scrambling to compose a response that isn’t an essay. Because I enjoy good storytelling, period. Which can look very different between genres, or even within categories and styles.
If you do discover any semblance of consistency in the five books/series I most enjoyed over the past year, let me know!
(I’ve more extensively reviewed some of these over on my Instagram, so check them out if you’re so inclined.)
Still Life by Sarah Winman
This at times fable-like love letter to post-WWII Florence, to art, and to humanity is a slow, character-centric narrative burn of the best kind. Found family, love, and beauty in all forms; all triggered into motion because of a chance encounter in 1944 Tuscany between Ulysses Temper, a young English soldier, and Evelyn Skinner, a middle-aged art historian.
Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree
A cozy slice-of-life found family fantasy that was originally self-published by the audiobook narrator and game developer, but recently reissued by Tor. Viv, a burnt-out orc mercenary, is retiring to open up the city of Thune’s first coffee shop. Will she succeed in her dream? It was my first "high fantasy with low stakes" (the author’s words) and I want more.
Lore Olympus by Rachel Smythe
As I covalesced post dengue fever a few months ago, this modern retelling of the Taking of Persephone which started as (and is an ongoing) Webtoon webcomic came to my rescue. Stylish, sparkling, witty, and sensitive, with a gorgeous art style to boot, this is Greek mythology for the 21st century. If you prefer to read in print, it is being released in graphic novel volumes by Del Rey Books (volume 4 out in 2023).
Babel by R.F. Kuang
The international-award-winning author of the Poppy War trilogy returns with a dark academia speculative fiction set largely in a magical 1800s Oxford against the backdrop of the Empire and its relentless colonial ambitions. Themes include belonging, identity, survival, duty, love, sacrifice, morality, ethics, and, of course, the central conceit of translation, language and its power, its uses, its manipulations.
The Dangerous Damsels series by India Holton
Witches, pirates, magic, flying houses, charming rogues, strong-willed powerful women, and more collide in this witty, utterly rompy version of Victorian London. Jane Austen meets Peaky Blinders is one of the series’ marketing hooks and, for my part, it more than delivers. Book 3 (out May 2023 and titled The Secret Service of Tea and Treason) is one of my most anticipated reads for the new year!
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This week’s Wednesday-inspired illustration is brought to you by the very talented Shivani Khot. You’ll be seeing a lot more of her and her work on The Storyteller, so make sure to give her a follow on Instagram!
I’ll see you back here next Sunday with some holiday reads, a writing year in review, and more. Thank you for your company at the restart of this journey. In the meantime, over to you!
Please feel free send in recommendations. Books, movie, TV shows, authors to interview, ideas of what you’d like me to write on, rants/ramblings/excited monologues, GIFs and memes (especially them) and more—just drop me a line and turn this into a conversation, even if just to say hi :) Or share this with someone you think might enjoy it.
Anu
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You can find me on Twitter at @AnuNande (follow for all the football chatter) and on Instagram at @booksinboston.