February and a book club announcement.
A monthly digest of things I did, read and thought about.
Most of February felt like something out of a Charlotte Brontë novel. Not the romantic parts, and not in a windswept castle on the moors kind of way, but in the sense of illness and fever and being confined indoors with your own dramatic thoughts. As we move into March, I am hoping my slowly recovering taste buds can sense that spring is approaching and that my energy will return with it.
In the middle of all this, something happened that genuinely made me gasp. The post “Your 12 Months of Classic Literature Syllabus” on Substack absolutely exploded. A stream of new readers joined The Classics List, and to be completely honest, I have never experienced that kind of attention before.
I tried Bookstagram between 2019 and 2021 and reached around 500 followers. I truly never thought I would surpass that number. So when my Substack subscriber count kept climbing, I more or less froze. All my carefully stored ideas for future posts disappeared. My brain went completely blank. I think I gave myself writer’s block.
It took some time to calm down and get used to it. I am still getting used to it, if I am honest. The idea that more than 2,000 people are reading my words feels mind boggling. I remember when an essay I wrote in school was published in the school newsletter and I panicked at the thought of 300 people reading it. Now there are eight times that many reading my posts. It is wild, in the very best way.
February also marked the opening of our community chatroom, which has been so much fun. I love reading your thoughts about books. And now, I am officially launching our book club, The Classics Society. It is a follow up to the syllabus post, and discussion posts are already up for January and February’s reads, White Nights and Agnes Grey. At the end of each month, I will publish a new discussion thread in the community chat for that month’s book.
If you want to join The Classics Society Book Club, make sure you are subscribed to The Classics List to gain access to the chatroom.
Monthly Report
Watching
The Winter Olympics
I never thought I would be this invested in the Olympics discourse, but here we are. Winter sports have never really been my thing, which is strange considering I am Swedish and winter is basically our longest season. Yet this year I have been glued to the television, streaming skiing and sprint races in an almost obsessive way. And curling. Who knew watching curling could be this intense? Also, can’t get SNLs Winter Olympics sketch out of my mind.
Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model
Like so many millennials who grew up in the early 2000s, America’s Next Top Model was essential pop culture. It felt mandatory as a tween/teen. I cannot even count how many classmates of mine dreamed of becoming models and practiced smizing every time a digital camera, or those questionable VGA phone cameras, appeared.
So when Netflix released Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model, I was ready. It was a whirlwind. I felt genuinely disgusted by what went on behind the scenes of ANTM. The gaslighting and lack of accountability from those involved is still hard to process.
New Girl
I also started rewatching New Girl, and I love it just as much as I did the first time. Maybe not season five quite as much, when Zooey Deschanel was briefly replaced by Megan Fox due to maternity leave. But overall, the comedic timing, the dialogue, the facial expressions, all of it is perfect.
It also brings back memories from university, when I would watch it and admire Deschanel’s wardrobe. The early 2010s feel strangely quiet in hindsight. Pre pandemic. Social media not yet all consuming. The world not constantly on fire. If you need something lighthearted, watch New Girl.
Doing
Baking
On the days between illnesses, I baked. Mostly Swedish sponge cake and Swedish cinnamon buns. I have noticed that many Americans online say they are making Swedish cinnamon buns, only to cover them in icing. Just to clarify, there is no icing on authentic Swedish cinnamon buns. You brush them with egg and decorate with pearl sugar or chopped almonds before they go into the oven. That is all.
Puzzles
I love doing puzzles. They allow me to gather my thoughts and focus on just one thing, much like knitting and reading. I have always envied people who can sit and think of nothing. My mind runs through a hundred thoughts in a few minutes. Puzzles are the closest I get to having just one thought at a time.
Animal Crossing
During the pandemic, I played Animal Crossing: New Horizons constantly. It was the most wholesome form of escape. Recently, after a new update, I started playing again. On days when there has not been much to do besides lying on the couch, it has been comforting to return to my little island.
Reading
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
I am continuing my slow read, one chapter a day for the entire year. Two months in, there have been highs and lows. I do not love the war sections, but the character driven parts are wonderful. My favorite character right now is Pierre. I am deeply invested in his wellbeing and slightly afraid of being disappointed.
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
I finished it this month and have so many thoughts that it deserves its own post, which will come in March.
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
This book has been on my shelf for decades. I decided this is the year I finally read it. A few chapters in, I am thoroughly enjoying it. Wilde truly loves his adjectives and adverbs, and I am curious to see where the story takes me.
Substack Loves
This month I have especially enjoyed:
Birding University
Since becoming interested in birdwatching last summer, I have been trying to expand my knowledge of different species. This Substack is a great start of doing just that.
Hot Tip
Alex writes about world politics and pop culture with sharp humor and clarity, without losing the point.
The Classics List
If you have missed it, here is what was published this month on The Classics List:
In Other News
Sean Bean is hosting the award winning podcast Get Birding, a podcast dedicated to birdwatching.
Spotify is teaming up with Bookshop.org to sell physical books through its app for US and UK audiences, clearly positioning itself as a competitor to Amazon.
Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl Halftime Show performance seemed to have split America in half. As a non American, I did not quite understand the outrage. To be clear, he does not make the type of music I usually listen to, but when I watched the performance on YouTube a few days later, I honestly liked it. It felt like a celebration of the working class, the Latin community, dreaming big, and the American continent. Maybe we could all try a little harder to accept the different cultures that exist alongside one another.
I should stop here before this turns into a novel of its own.
If you are not yet subscribed to The Classics List, I would love for you to join. The community chat is open, with discussion threads every Monday and Friday, as well as our monthly The Classics Society book club conversations. I hope to see you there.
I look forward to reading your post on Anna Karenina. I listened to the audiobook last year and I really enjoyed the story. There was so much there! I took my husband’s ear captive a few times to spill my thoughts on the book. I’m slow reading War and Peace right now as well. I agree the war portions are a little dull for me as well. I’m trusting the process and hoping I become as invested as I was with Anna Karenina. I think Maria is my favorite character so far. My favorite books often include a character I can relate to or aspire to and there are so very many flawed characters in this book.
Anna Karenina is perfection! Which translation did you read? I’m a Constance Garnett fan myself. I want to start War and Peace, but I think I need to finish my current reading before I completely obsess over Tolstoy again.