The Weekly Spill #34

new year, new beans

Happy New Year! Let me start by apologizing for my absence… I got stuck holding space for the lyrics Defying Gravity and watching Jimmy Carter’s funeral, but I am back now to spill the beans. It’s hard work, but someone has to do it.

• The Golden Globes: First, let me wish all who celebrate a very happy awards season. After the certainty of last year’s Oppenheimer win, it feels strange to have no clue what will happen in March. The only things worth betting on at this point are Kieran Culkin winning best supporting actor for A Real Pain, and Zendaya topping every best dressed list. The Globes ceremony was largely forgettable, but here the things I am still thinking about a week later:

  • Zendaya’s Louis Vuitton gown and matching shoes. Stunning. Perfect. What more is there to say?

    

  • Trend alert: gold, bronze, brown and shiny! They heard Golden Globes and said yes, exactly.

    

    it’s kind of giving ferrero rocher fashion

  • Demi Moore giving the best speech of the night, and most likely cementing her Oscar nomination.

  • Ayo Edebiri referencing one of the best Globe red carpet looks of all time. Obsessed with this Loewe look and generally with everything she does.

    

  • This picture of Ariana Grande and Tilda Swinton:

    

    idk what this vibe is but obsessed

  • Final thought: I need to move Emilia Perez & The Brutalist to the top of my watchlist.

• Cher: The Memoir, Part 1: I know I’m a biased reviewer (was ready to give this book 5 stars before I opened it), but this really is a fantastic memoir. Cher has lived an insane life, and she’s so open about all of it in this book. There were moments when my jaw was on the floor, and I went in already pretty knowledgeable about her life. I highly recommend, and I can’t wait to read part 2.

  

  Note to Cher: release the diva sauce recipe!

• Traitors Season 3: We are so back! Alan Cumming is exactly who we need on television in these hellish times. I feel myself healing a little each time I see him (and his outfit) on screen.

  

  save us Alan!

  So far, I’m enjoying this cast—with one notable exception. I need to speak to the Vanderpump fans for a moment and it’s serious so listen up. How do you watch that show? Tom Sandoval’s vibes are so rancid that it makes me both uncomfortable and irrationally angry. When he speaks, I feel the need to cover my drink because his energy is so offensive that I worry like might be able to roofie me via the screen. How did y’all let this man become famous?

  

  like even this picture is making me uncomfy

  Anyway, here is a short list of people I would rather see in the Traitors mansion: Countess Luann, Bowen Yang, Snooki, Eric Adams, Martha Stewart, Cole Escola, Jason Kelce, Tiffany Pollard, Patti LuPone, Nancy Pelosi. Feel free to leave your picks in the comments.

• Big Fan: I bought this book on a whim while killing time at McNally Jackson (their recommended tables get me every single time), and it ended up being exactly what I needed to get me out of a reading slump. I could not put this down once I started reading, and I ended up finishing it in a single sitting.

  

  “A political strategist, tainted by a scandalous ex, finds an unexpected career detour when her teenage boy band crush offers a second chance at the spotlight…and maybe something more.”

  Romance books are very hit-or-miss for me, and lately they have tended to lean miss more often than not. You could say that I’m picky, but I don’t think I am asking for the moon. I just want a well-written book where the characters behave and speak like normal humans. Is that really too much to ask? It appears BookTok is essentially controlling the romance market at this point, and that’s frustrating because I find most of the popular #booktok books to be bad *not my taste*. Why is every book about hockey? someone explain pls—i am from the south where we do not do hockey.

  Big Fan is the debut book from a new romance-focused company called 831 Stories, and (after reading exactly one book) I am kind of obsessed with them. All of the books they publish will feature adult women who’s lives do not depend on the relationship. A revolutionary concept! Also, look at the cover designs… very chic.

  

  Each story they publish will have its own universe with extra content, merch, and events. For example: after reading Big Fan, you can go listen to the character’s fictional lead single, buy one of the band’s t-shirts, and read a special holiday story about the characters. They also have very cute merch celebrating the romance genre as a whole, like hats emblazoned with favorite romantic tropes and this very clever baby onesie.

  

  don’t worry, they have one for you hockey freaks (love you but seriously…plz explain)

• Christian Grey’s age: I was recently reminded that Christian Grey is canonically 27 years old, and that doesn’t sit right with me. I can’t stop thinking about it. He should be older.

• Didion & Babitz: This was my most anticipated book of 2024, so this is me closing the loop and circling back to share my thoughts.

  

  Before you ask, I’ve recently come to terms with the fact that I’m a Joan who desperately wants to be an Eve. Hopefully, I’ll learn to balance it all out and emerge as a Nora. (Or perhaps…myself?) Note: I would never actually compare myself (especially my writing lol) to Joan Didion in any serious way. Those who do with a straight face are neither a Joan nor an Eve—they are merely obnoxious.

  Prior to it’s release, I had heard criticism that book leaned in Eves’s direction, but that didn’t surprise me or make me any less excited to read it. I am an Eve Babitz stan, and I was desperate to know what Anolik found in that box in the back of Eve’s closet. Frankly, I still want to know what all she found in that box. I remember how thrilling it was to read that unsent letter Eve had written to Joan for the first time in Vanity Fair. Sadly, I don’t think this book is able to live up to that letter.

  Culturally, we have an obsession with famous frenemies and feuds, so it feels like an obvious win to use that as the framing device for a book. I don’t know if I buy it with these two though. Sure, they obviously rubbed each other the wrong way, but they are more foils of each other than foes. This isn’t a Bette Davis/Joan Crawford or Capote/Swans situation—I wouldn’t hold your breath for a Ryan Murphy announcement.

  At times, I could feel the book being awkwardly shaped by this framing device, and I found myself wishing we could ease up on it a little. I still enjoyed reading Didion & Babitz because I find both of these women endlessly fascinating, but I think they work best as interesting characters in each other’s stories rather than the relationship between them being the story.

• This rehearsal video of the touring cast of Parade: I’ve watched this too many times, and I woke up with “This Is Not Over Yet” stuck in my head.

  I am adding Max Chernin to my list of actors who would’ve been a better casting choice for the upcoming revival of The Last Five Years than Nick Jonas. Because yes, I’m still mad about it.

• My Ins/Outs list for 2025: okay, it’s kind of late, but so what?

  

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  That’s all for now! One of my New Year’s resolutions is to be more consistent with the weekly spills. I am sharing that will you all to keep myself accountable. Let’s hope it works. If you needed something to keep you going this week, just remember that Oscar nominations come out Friday. TTYL divas!