2024 did me dirty too. Illness, death, general misery. I'm so happy to get to the other side of New Year. I've also realised that I'm going to be saying NO to any NYE parties next year because IDGAF about NYE parties, but I DO about having a slow start to the new year at home. Here's to 2025 and Brooklyn 99!
ARGH, I'm sorry 2024 was such a dick punch of a year for you, too. 2025 can only be better, right? (God I hope so.) As to parties, if you need any help saying no to them, I've got you covered... https://sarahknightauthor.substack.com/p/how-to-say-no-to-a-party
UGH WHY DID 2024 DO US LIKE THAT?!? I’m sorry, and I hope that you have nowhere to go but up in 2025 🙌 And I’m jealous that you get to watch BS S2 for the first time…just you wait for those final twists…
Great recs! Black Doves and Bad Sisters season 2 are at the top of my list, as soon as I finish this *Very Important Rewatch* of The Good Place. (Wow, does that show ever hold up upon rewatching.) I'm sorry to hear that last year was so challenging for you. If it helps to have solidarity (and it probably doesn't), 2024 was the worst year of my life. Maybe someday I'll write about it. But for now I carry on, and I appreciate the healthy and living people even more.
Ugh, I’m sorry ‘24 was terrible for you too 😔 I’m finding it hard to bounce back from the individual bad things that happened, but also to release the resentment and anger I’m carrying about the fact of all those things happening *at once*, if that makes sense. Trying to make an active, daily effort to move forward into this year without hauling all that baggage with me. Best of luck to you in similar pursuits!
Thank you! I realized that I'd deleted a contextual sentence from my original comment because it felt TMI at the time: "So many people got sick and died." It probably is still TMI, but I wanted to explain why I then said that I'm appreciating and treasuring the still-healthy and still-living people in my life even more. Can I blame all of this on Grief Brain?!? I also wish you the very, very best of luck as you move forward. I hope 2025 treats you well. Also: Thank you for your fantastic newsletter and books! I really love your writing.
We-ell it is supernatural-ish. It has that undertone. But ultimately brilliant mysteries. And so well written. I felt like the Hayder had that slightly spooky element too but it’s a long time since I read them.
Yes! The rage has abated miraculously, as has the frequent, sudden urge to cry, and most of the brain fog. Of all the sh*t that has gone wrong this year, the HRT is a rare and shining success story ✨
Also I am boring EVERYONE witless with my favourite line from Black Doves
"OH MY GOD, SHUT UP! We are literally a car full of assassins trying to find the moral high ground!" (delivered in a sharp Welsh accent, obviously) 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Thanks 🙏 Funnily, on the Hayder series, I mentioned to some friends from Bristol that I was reading a book set there and one of them was like “Oh god is it one of those horribly disturbing ones with the Detective whose brother was kidnapped by a paedo?” She them told me she read them all because she was desperate for Jack Caffrey to get closure—and this is NOT a person I would have pegged to be able to stomach seven such novels 😂
Birdman scarred me for life. In all the best ways, of course. They speak to the darkest part of people’s souls I think. What a loss to the writing world. And even the lightest of persons have to indulge that darkness somewhere ;)
I hope you have plenty to distract you from the surgery aftermath. Have you seen the Netflix Martha Stewart documentary? I only got to read part of Ina Garten’s memoir before I had to return it but I saw similarities between the two of them. And I’m now curious what your favorite Brooklyn restaurant is. Hope 2025 is much better than 2024 for you (and everyone else)!
I’ve seen some of Martha’s press around the documentary but not the film itself. I respect her hustle (and talent!), but for some reason she has always struck me as a bit of a “mean girl,” so I’m less enamored of her than I am of Ina. Although I do LOVE her friendship with Snoop Dogg 😂
With the caveat that there are so many incredible restaurants in Brooklyn that we love, our “favorite” is Roman’s in Clinton Hill—for food, vibe, and nostalgia reasons. We were living in that neighborhood when they opened and went there a LOT, so now that we live abroad we cherish every chance to get back when we’re in the city. Happy to report, we had yet another perfect experience last night!
She definitely is snippy with her staff in the documentary and I think would be very hard to work for but I still found it and her fascinating. I think because she embraces that side of herself and isn’t trying to be warm and cuddly even though her brand was built around domesticity that makes her unique. I would rather someone be open about being exacting/demanding than trying to pretend they aren’t. Her and Ina’s rises to fame (I have no idea the proper grammar for that!) are super interesting to me. I would love to sit in on a conversation between them!
2024 did me dirty too. Illness, death, general misery. I'm so happy to get to the other side of New Year. I've also realised that I'm going to be saying NO to any NYE parties next year because IDGAF about NYE parties, but I DO about having a slow start to the new year at home. Here's to 2025 and Brooklyn 99!
ARGH, I'm sorry 2024 was such a dick punch of a year for you, too. 2025 can only be better, right? (God I hope so.) As to parties, if you need any help saying no to them, I've got you covered... https://sarahknightauthor.substack.com/p/how-to-say-no-to-a-party
Good luck out there!
You've always got my back! 👍
That bastard of a year 2024 sucked hard for me too. I'm so sorry your surgery didn't go well. I hope there's a brighter future in that department.
I have a few eps left of Bad Sisters S2. I was racing through it but I've slowed down because I don't want it to end. Fucking Angelica, man.
UGH WHY DID 2024 DO US LIKE THAT?!? I’m sorry, and I hope that you have nowhere to go but up in 2025 🙌 And I’m jealous that you get to watch BS S2 for the first time…just you wait for those final twists…
Great recs! Black Doves and Bad Sisters season 2 are at the top of my list, as soon as I finish this *Very Important Rewatch* of The Good Place. (Wow, does that show ever hold up upon rewatching.) I'm sorry to hear that last year was so challenging for you. If it helps to have solidarity (and it probably doesn't), 2024 was the worst year of my life. Maybe someday I'll write about it. But for now I carry on, and I appreciate the healthy and living people even more.
Ugh, I’m sorry ‘24 was terrible for you too 😔 I’m finding it hard to bounce back from the individual bad things that happened, but also to release the resentment and anger I’m carrying about the fact of all those things happening *at once*, if that makes sense. Trying to make an active, daily effort to move forward into this year without hauling all that baggage with me. Best of luck to you in similar pursuits!
Thank you! I realized that I'd deleted a contextual sentence from my original comment because it felt TMI at the time: "So many people got sick and died." It probably is still TMI, but I wanted to explain why I then said that I'm appreciating and treasuring the still-healthy and still-living people in my life even more. Can I blame all of this on Grief Brain?!? I also wish you the very, very best of luck as you move forward. I hope 2025 treats you well. Also: Thank you for your fantastic newsletter and books! I really love your writing.
I think you can blame quite a lot on Grief Brain 😢 It was an unusually death-filled year on my end too, so I get it. Onward, to better days!
Also! If you love the mo Hayder books, Have you demolished the John Connolly Charlie Parkers?
Huh, no, for some reason I had it in my head that Connolly wrote supernatural or horror-type stuff…? I shall investigate!
We-ell it is supernatural-ish. It has that undertone. But ultimately brilliant mysteries. And so well written. I felt like the Hayder had that slightly spooky element too but it’s a long time since I read them.
So glad your HRT is working! Does the rage abate? (Interestingly predictive text just changed the rage to Hecate. Hmmm)
Yes! The rage has abated miraculously, as has the frequent, sudden urge to cry, and most of the brain fog. Of all the sh*t that has gone wrong this year, the HRT is a rare and shining success story ✨
God bless HRT 🤌
Happy new year and here's to a really f'ing great 2025! 🎉
Backatchya!
Brooklyn 99 is THE BEST for comfort watch!
Also I am boring EVERYONE witless with my favourite line from Black Doves
"OH MY GOD, SHUT UP! We are literally a car full of assassins trying to find the moral high ground!" (delivered in a sharp Welsh accent, obviously) 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Here's to a better year for us all.
Brooklyn 99 really has been a balm for the soul these last two weeks!
We've watched all of it at least 5 times... 😁 So many great lines...
Bad Sisters!!!!!! That theme song gets stuck in my head for daaaaaays.
My husband always wants to skip over it!
It’s eerie, arresting, and the accompanying images are disturbing!! But I still like it. 😂
I love it! And I like being able to find new “clues” in the opening sequence every time I watch it 🐢
Happy New Year! I'm so sorry things didn't go well. Fingrs crossed healing happens fast.
I love Mo Hayder. So deliciously dark.
Thanks 🙏 Funnily, on the Hayder series, I mentioned to some friends from Bristol that I was reading a book set there and one of them was like “Oh god is it one of those horribly disturbing ones with the Detective whose brother was kidnapped by a paedo?” She them told me she read them all because she was desperate for Jack Caffrey to get closure—and this is NOT a person I would have pegged to be able to stomach seven such novels 😂
Birdman scarred me for life. In all the best ways, of course. They speak to the darkest part of people’s souls I think. What a loss to the writing world. And even the lightest of persons have to indulge that darkness somewhere ;)
Wonder Woman Underoos were the BEST! Although I also felt pretty daring in the batgirl ones, because - hello, bra top at 7 years old.
My poor parents…I flatly refused to wear anything more appropriate on picture day (but at least they got me to agree to actual shorts on the bottom) 😅
Hilarious! We all saw our future in Wonder Woman 💪
I hope you have plenty to distract you from the surgery aftermath. Have you seen the Netflix Martha Stewart documentary? I only got to read part of Ina Garten’s memoir before I had to return it but I saw similarities between the two of them. And I’m now curious what your favorite Brooklyn restaurant is. Hope 2025 is much better than 2024 for you (and everyone else)!
I’ve seen some of Martha’s press around the documentary but not the film itself. I respect her hustle (and talent!), but for some reason she has always struck me as a bit of a “mean girl,” so I’m less enamored of her than I am of Ina. Although I do LOVE her friendship with Snoop Dogg 😂
With the caveat that there are so many incredible restaurants in Brooklyn that we love, our “favorite” is Roman’s in Clinton Hill—for food, vibe, and nostalgia reasons. We were living in that neighborhood when they opened and went there a LOT, so now that we live abroad we cherish every chance to get back when we’re in the city. Happy to report, we had yet another perfect experience last night!
She definitely is snippy with her staff in the documentary and I think would be very hard to work for but I still found it and her fascinating. I think because she embraces that side of herself and isn’t trying to be warm and cuddly even though her brand was built around domesticity that makes her unique. I would rather someone be open about being exacting/demanding than trying to pretend they aren’t. Her and Ina’s rises to fame (I have no idea the proper grammar for that!) are super interesting to me. I would love to sit in on a conversation between them!
I’m glad your dinner was as perfect as ever.