writer tembe denton hurst on a lesbian strip club documentary and our recs for an elevated picnic
monthly recs #52
Each month, we ask a writer to share what’s on their minds and in their open tabs for our monthly recommendations. This July’s guest curator is . Tembe is a writer that loves to read. She’s a beauty and culture writer at New York Magazine’s The Strategist and the author of the novel Homebodies. Her newsletter
is where she talks about the books she’s reading and the things she’s noticing.I haven’t been a good reader lately. I’m blaming it on writing my next novel but really nothing has been holding my attention. I’ve picked up and put down an astonishing number of books and can’t seem to check out my ever-growing Bookshop cart. It’s unlike me, to be so off books, because books have always been a portal to consciousnesses outside my own. A way to connect and see and feel. But recently I’ve been so internal, obsessed with plot structure and themes and character motivations. Instead I’ve been watching movies. My most recent watch was Really Love, a spiritual remake of Love Jones that takes place in DC (my sort-of hometown, though that’s a longer story) and follows an artist and painter who suddenly fall in love. It’s both a portrait of a couple who have more chemistry than communication skills and a love letter to a city that raised me. I’m seeking that feeling in books, a portrait that feels rooted and real. I’m writing that book, or trying to.
The timing is funny. If you haven’t noticed, we’re in the midst of a romcom renaissance. Everyone wants to talk about love. Even my wife, a non-reader, has started listening to romance novels on audio. There was something Celine Song said recently, about how falling in love is a relatable thing to most people, the biggest thing, that reminded me of the power of human connection. There’s nothing bigger than sitting across from the person you love or grieving a person, dead or alive, you wish you could share the humdrum of life with. Because that’s what makes it all worth it ultimately. The witnesses. The shared knowing. The collective. That overused word, community. There’s a reason truisms feel true.
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1. Part of the reason I’ve been unable to read anything for a sustained period is because I read Sula, which is not only a perfect novel but a book about everything. I keep saying that everything is Sula and Sula is everything. I think what I find really striking about the novel is that it so deftly unwinds a theory I’ve been spouting inelegantly for years — that society’s rules don’t necessarily govern interpersonal relationships. A small reminder that despite everything, we’re free.
2. But I do want to read. During a recent book date to Greenlight, I bought hardcovers of Little Bosses Everywhere by Bridget Read, The Slip by Lucas Schaefer, and Endling by Maria Reva, which I’m excited to get to.
3. On another recent book date I was recommended this essay, In Defense of Despair by Hanif Abdurraqib. He’s one of my favorite writers. I often say that if he was a lesbian I would stop writing, and this essay is one that I know will stick with me for a long time. There’s something about the way he delivers information, paired with his reverence for every topic he writes about that really works for me. I’ll read anything he writes.
4. I’ve been sending this documentary, The Shakedown, to all the lesbians in my life. It’s about a lesbian strip club in the early 2000s in LA and is this deeply human portrait of a group of people who become family by proximity and have cultivated safety in a society that views them as spectacle. I’ve only recently seen it, but it’s quickly become deeply important to me. Everyone should see it.
5. Good Weather Skin, a new brand hawking no-cast mineral sunscreen (I’ve tried it, it’s decent to good), had a backyard hang at Sauced, a wine bar in Williamsburg. There was a manger filled with Rainier cherries, mini-totes that could be embroidered with whatever you wanted and grilled cheese. This grilled cheese has ruined me, made me over. I have not stopped thinking about it since I ate it a few days ago and fear that I won’t stop until I eat it again. Truly excellent!
paid subscribers can scroll down for more recs from Tembe, including the TikTok account she has an “unhealthy obsession” with and the pants that broke her style slump
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6. We just discovered Tanchen Studio, a brand with everything you need for an elevated picnic — from net bags for wine to pop-up persimmon stools to ribbon-handled totes that offer a refined take on the classic L.L. Bean boat-and-tote.
7. And if you’re picnic-ing in New York, @got2gonyc’s NYC bathroom map will come in handy.
8. It’s the time of year when it seems like everyone’s jetting off on a major vacation — but if that’s not in the cards for you, and you’re in NYC, Philadelphia is a quick weekend getaway. We like Hotel Yowie, which also has a lovely shop with a great curation of objects. As for what to do, @charliefoutig had some great recs in our Discord: “Brickbat is a standout bookstore! Maybe my favorite bookstore ever (I’m going later today lol), for parks, I think Washington square park is the best but if you’re on the west side of city center, the schuylkill river park is fun and I love walking up the river to the art museum (pay what you want on Fridays). For other art stuff, the Barnes foundation is insane, and I personally love the Duchamp gallery in the Philadelphia museum of art. The Crane Arts building is also v cool for smaller local/up and coming art. Grace and Proper, Solar Myth, my Loup, kalaya, the INTL, chicha San Chen, Le Caveau for coffee, snacks, meals, and drinks"
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9. For anyone in Paris this summer, this immersive workshop on an early photographic technology, the camera obscura, would be great to do with kids. To make a photography-focused day trip out of it, you could also hit Le BAL’s We Others exhibit, pairing the work of photographers Donna Gottschalk and Carla Williams with writing by Hélène Giannecchini.
10. If the upcoming Tour de France has you inspired to hop on a bike (or you just want to look like you did), Jelenew — a new cycling apparel brand — offers fashionable pieces in fresh colorways you don’t often see in sportswear, and that work just as well off the bike.
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1. I’ve been considering a cork wall in my office so I can get things out of my brain and into a physical medium. It led me down a rabbit hole to:
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