#55// time travel and summery things

lemons, devil and coffee

Dear Reader,

One of those days where I think how a teaspoon of Nescafe and Coffeemate can lift a dull day and why do fussy coffee folks think they are better than everyone else? I wonder what category you fall into, dear reader—the instant coffee person, anti-instant coffee brigade, moka pot person, French press only type, South-Indian-filter-coffee-is-the-only-coffee believer, decaff sipper, machine coffee army, Starbucks lover etc etc etc. I hope your poison makes you carpe diem and all that.

Read

Don’t you just long for light hearted cozy reads this time of the year? I’ve got two today. The first is for the romantics among you who fancy a time travel. (Side note : What is with time travel being trendy?—hint: Korean dramas). In Seven Year Slip by Ashely Poston, an over-worked book publicist tries to process her grief of losing her favorite aunt in the apartment she inherited, and falls in love with a man who lives seven years in the past.

Anything more about the book would be a spoiler. But you can look forward to chats in the kitchen, flirting with a handsome stranger making you (well not you, the heroine) a meal, living vicariously that romanticized publishing career life (which is much grander as fiction always is), keep thinking about lemons. A Slip in Time is not as light hearted as it appears to be—there’s a woman trying to live with her grief, there are professional decisions that come along the way, and there’s love. I don’t know if there was a deep enough connection between the couple in the past (technically the man in the past and the woman in the present) to keep the ‘dream’ alive in the present. But I’d rather not over think this—there’s enough burden in life anyway.

I also enjoyed A Witch’s Guide to Fake Dating a Demon by Sarah Hawley about a witch who is more of a plant person than a sorceress. She isn’t the most powerful witch on the land, much to her mother’s disappointment. One day she accidentally summons a powerful demon, Ozoroth. Now, this was completely accidental and Muriel doesn’t want to strike a deal with the devil but rules say that the demon can’t leave until a deal is made. So, the witch and the demon are forced to be roommates, until her super citical mom makes a (surprise) visit and they are forced to announce that they are a couple. Enemies to lovers, forced proximity, fake dating, grumpy sunshine—Those who love familiar romance tropes will devour this book.

Btw this book is steamy with long love scenes! It has all the other stuff thrown in too—daughter falling short of her mother’s expectation, lack of self-confidence, a lover utterly bewitched by the girl (but cannot fall for her because they are on opposite sides of the game), and gardening sessions. It is funny, especially when Muriel and Ozroth are fake-dating and have to meet her side of the family—this part was great on audio. I think this long-titled book could’ve been shorter in size, but I didn’t mind it as I was reading. I’ve been thinking of how-to genre-ify this book to tell you—maybe cozy rom-com with a whiff of supernatural is what I am looking for.

You need this in life

I always get DMs when I show this book light on Instagram, so I thought I would share it here too. One bookish purchase that I absolutely love and use a lot is this clip-on book light that is so handy to read at night when you need the big lights switched off. It makes me think about sneaking in books after lights are out, but this one’s even better. You can change the intensity and color of light as well. You can find it here (Amazon US). A similar one here (Amazon In).

Watch

Rejoice, here are my best K-dramas of 2023. Time travel seems to be a popular trope last year. (PS: Recommendations of new Korean dramas to put on my watchlist are welcome)

Amazing links

I don’t know how I feel about this booming business where you can chat with your dead mom

60 screen free summer activities

Your Internet is drinking up your water (literally)

If you are feeling particularly bitter or simply indifferent to what’s happening around us, here are some underrated reasons to feel thankful

Your boyfriend is not your camera man. (Move over Instagram husbands)

This video of picking up my first physical book of 2024 turned not-so-cozy after spotting a … (Yikes!)

Alright friends. See you soon in another edition of Satchel Notes,

Resh x