It’s October! This month and next are my favorites of the year. But even if you don’t glory in everything autumnal, I’ve got a handful of things that will turn your day around.
1) Everyone in the family loved Enola Holmes. With a stellar cast (Helena Bonham-Carter, Henry Cavill and Sam Claflin, and featuring Millie Bobby Brown as the fourth-wall-breaking Enola), clever writing and direction, and winning production values, it’s got everything I want in a movie. Yes, you can solve the mystery a mile away, but everything unfolds so delightfully that you won’t mind. The game is afoot!
2) Naomi Novik has got it going on. Her novels Uprooted and Spinning Silver are two of the best fairy tale retellings I’ve ever read. But this week, I got my hands on her newest book, the first of a trilogy, called A Deadly Education. I ripped through it in one glorious binge and fell hard for this dark world and its characters. Now I want to go over it more slowly, dissecting Novik’s artistry and learning from it. You think you’ve read the best magical boarding school series? Think again. It’s definitely not for middle schoolers—but what a great way to kick off Spooky Season for the rest of us.
3) No matter that we’ve passed the autumnal equinox; where I live, the sun still reigns supreme. That means sunscreen vigilance must continue. A couple of years ago, Rio Viera-Newton turned me on to the best facial sunscreen ever: Purito Centella Green Level Safe Sun. It’s SPF 50, which tells you it protects well against UVB rays (which cause sunburn). But more than that, it’s PA++++, which means it also gives maximum protection against browning, aging UVA rays. The centella calms redness miraculously. The sunscreen absorbs like a dream and has a pleasant, herbal smell (but you can also get it unscented). Best of all, it’s inexpensive.
4) I’m happily approaching the age at which I’ll be allowed to have crystal candy dishes scattered around the house. When I do, I can guarantee you they’ll be filled with all natural Napoleon bonbons. (For now, I keep the candy in my closet.) These little balls of sour bliss come from Belgium. The mixed fruit bag (which is what you want, not the horrid salty liquorice kind) has orange, apple, cherry, lemon, and pineapple flavors, and they’re all deliciously tart without scorching your tongue. If you can’t get to Benelux (or France) this week, buy them at Candy Nation.
5) My third-semester grad school advisor and personal Obi-Wan, Alan Cumyn, once used Emmylou Harris’s song “Boulder to Birmingham” in a lecture on how to express emotion (in this case, grief), without naming it. Harris wrote her masterpiece in memory of her mentor, Gram Parsons, who tragically died at age 26. As much as I love the original, my beloved Wailin’ Jennys covered it brilliantly on their most recent album, and I can barely get through it without choking up. It’s the perfect Octoberish track—full of yearning, regret, and otherworldliness.