Spilled Milk is my monthly wrap up where I talk about some of my favourite things from the last month. Things I’m reading, enjoying, looking forward to—sort of anything floating my boat.
July was dreamy! I wrote a ton, starting submitting pieces to literary journals, and continued my baking kick.
There’s something sticky and sweet about July; you just gobble it up so quick and only realize it’s over when you’re licking your fingers clean of popsicle.
Here is an overview of how my month went:
I had a piece published in the literary magazine In Parentheses for their Summer issue!!!!!!!!
Just seeing my name in the print mockup really gagged me
Went to the movies three weeks in a row (cheapy tuesdays obv)… Idk y’all, going to the theatre just hits different
Soaked up the sun!
I’m almost done with a writing workshop co-facilitated by Eliot Duncan, whose book Ponyboy is one of my faves from this year. I’m leaving it with renewed energy and motivation to work on my second book!
I’ve been taking all my bags out instead of hyper fixating on one for months like I always do
Absolutely tuned IN to the Olympics. It’s like, sport is really cool… who knew?
The following is a list of some more things I couldn’t get enough of.
What I Read
My three picks this month examine grief, and are all weird in their execution of the novel. From frenetic narration, to jumbled construction, to an absolute fever dream.
These were my standouts:
Intermezzo by Sally Rooney
The book of the fall, the most popular girl in school, the one everyone will be talking about for the next little while: Rooney like never before.
It’s the story of two brothers in the months following their father’s funeral. We get to examine their relationship to each other and the relationships they have with the women in their lives. It’s about grief, family, love, but to me, the exploration of age was the defining takeaway.
The brothers have a 10 year age gap, which affects the way they see each other. They are both in relationships where age is a factor. It’s also asking what does it mean to age while grieving, how does your mortality come into play there?
Sally Rooney is pushing herself in this book. One of the POVs she has is a whiplash-inducing, frenetic, prose poetry POV. It’s jarring, hard to get into, such an interesting choice for a writer with her level of success. She’s challenging what we think of as a Sally Rooney novel, and I love that.
Brat by Gabriel Smith
Brat summer is in full swing, and this gothic literary horror was a fabulous fit for it.
This is a story of grief about a young writer who returns to his parents’ empty home and finds it changed—or maybe the same, we’re never really sure. This quasi-haunted house story has unreliable narration, dreamlike sequences, and sheets of skin peeling off. I loved the eeriness and the confusion, it made me feel like I was in a damp basement in the best way.
This is somewhat autofiction and it begs the question: what is real, what is imagined, and does the difference matter?
Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar
People in my comments on TikTok have been hounding me to read this book, and I’m so glad they did.
The book is a meta exploration of martyrdom through the main character of Cyrus, a young Iranian-American man who wants to write about martyrdom—some instances feel like the author speaking directly to the reader in a way I really enjoyed.
Cyrus is newly sober, has nebulous ties to the people in his life, and wants to understand the tragedies of his past (his mother was killed when her plane was shot down and his father died an anonymous factory worker in the Midwest). We follow Cyrus, his parents, his roommate/friend/with benefits, a performance artist, his uncle, and more narrators in this Fibonacci-sequence-like structure that zooms out further and further to paint the full picture.
The writing is exquisite, which is to be expected from an acclaimed poet, and the impact of the ideas the novel explores was undeniable. I loved this.
What I Watched
As I mentioned, I’ve started going to the movies again! It’s been really fun. The communal viewing experience feels special again somehow?
Despite this and my Olympic binge, my highlight is a TV show I devoured (pun very intended).
Interview with the Vampire
Gagged. Gagged!
I’ve seen and heard and read
I was so so wrong. The AMC show doesn’t have the camp sensibility of the film, it has emotional stakes, depth, and better costumes/sets/wigs. The performances from Jacob Anderson, Sam Reid, Eric Bogosian, Assad Zaman, both Bailey Bass and Delainey Hayles… basically the entire cast is leaving no crumbs. The central relationships are so gripping, and the modern twist to Anne Rice’s canon feel like the right choices are being made.
Yes, this is a show about vampires. But it’s also a show about a bunch of F-slurs reckoning with morality, love, identity, power, race, class.
Do I, a francophone, have issues with the French being spoken on the show? WHO CARES. It’s one of the only times I truly could care less because I’m sucked in by everything else.
Go off Lestat, give me your 45 day Duolingo streak!
The teaser for the next season just dropped, and it made me run to my library to put a hold on The Vampire Lestat.
What I Listened to
No standout thoughts here for the month, just an absolutely gorge playlist!
I am nothing if not an indie pop girlie fiend, so I have been very fed recently: Katie Gavin from MUNA releasing a solo album, discovering the icon Griff (whose album has been my most played thing this month), and new music from Clairo and Remi Wolf!!!
There’s something about emotionally resonant lyrics and an entrancing beat, what can I say?
Reading Goals Update
I didn’t read any non-fiction this month, which is disappointing. I kind of just forgot I was meant to.
I also didn’t read any poetry collections this month, but I have a good reason for this! I am a reader for the CBC Poetry Prize and my reading period was in full swing this month. That means I read a ton of poetry, just not published (yet) work.
I am knee-deep in Another Country, and loving it. Not sure why the synopsis was so off-putting to me, but it has really exceeded all my expectations.
On My Bedside Table
A dispatch from my bedside table and the books that litter it, hoping to be read soon.
Disembark by Jen Currin
Boulder by Eva Baltasar (translated by Julia Sanches)
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
Blessings by Chukwuebuka Ibeh
How to Write an Autobiographical Novel by Alexander Chee
Have you read any of these? Are any of these non-negotiables? Are any of them skippable?
Tell me what you think in the comments!
Also, let me know if there are any literary magazines you love and think I should keep an eye on! 🩷
That’s been my month!
Until next time 🤠
brb licking my fingers clean of july's spilled milk!!!! THIS is so brat
I wish I had more people to talk to about Interview with the Vampire! More Importantly about Lestat in season 2! Excellent show. Excellent Milking It.