Once a month, I share the best of what I’ve been reading, watching, and exploring. Enjoy!
Books
Ensorcelled by Eliot Peper. A 90-page novel that reads like a campfire fable for the digital age. It follows a teenager obsessed with a soon-to-be-released fantasy video game. But instead of spending the weekend plugged in, he’s dragged on a camping trip where he stumbles into a very different kind of magic. It even made me want to go camping—which is a sentence I’ve never written before.
Films
One Battle After Another (2025). I saw this in 70mm in a theater packed with people who all forgot to breathe at the same time. From the opening scene, this movie dares you to keep up and doesn’t care if you fall behind. There’s violence, chaos, inherited pain . . . and somehow, laughter that slices through it all. It’s a film that reminds you: Darkness is real, but so is the light we carry through it.
Apollo 13 (1995). [Netflix | Amazon Prime] I saw this in IMAX for its 30th anniversary, and it’s still one of my all-time favorites (top 10 for sure). Of course, I love the space stuff. But what I love most is this: It’s the rare film that celebrates a group of people who didn’t get their dream. It captures that rare kind of brilliance born from failure: Engineers sketching lifelines with duct tape, astronauts holding their breath while the world holds it with them. It’s as thrilling now as it was in 1995.
Music
Creatures in Heaven by Glass Animals. I caught this band live this summer, and I was blown away. Lead singer Dave Bayley moves like a kid who just found out recess is permanent—he completely lit up on stage, like he can’t believe this is his job. This song in particular has been playing on repeat all summer for me. It’s beautiful, heartbreaking, and filled with lyrics that catch in your throat (Scared of the crack where the light comes through . . .).
Best recent purchase
TravelPack Vacuum Kit. As someone who refuses to check a bag, this is a small miracle. It’s a vacuum seal bag and a tiny rechargeable pump that sucks every molecule of air out of your clothes in seconds. No sitting on your suitcase. No wrestling or rolling. Just press a button and watch a week’s worth of clothes fit into half the space. I’ll never pack without it again.
Related
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