Itâs been a good week for earworms (and future earworms). âGoldenâ, the catchy track from fictional K-pop girl band Huntr/X, has gone to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Performed by singer-songwriters Ejae, and Rei Ami and Audrey Nuna, âGoldenâ is the only number one hit by a female K-pop group in Billboard Hot 100âs 60-year track record. If you havenât watched KPop Demon Hunters on Netflix yetâHuntr/X being the demon-hunting K-pop band in the filmâmaybe this is your cue. Also, Swifties (not me) are going wild over Taylor Swift announcing her new album, The Life of a Showgirl, and the meme factory is on all-hands-on-deck mode.
Offline, Iâm enjoying Susan Choiâs Booker Prize-longlisted novel Flashlight, an intergenerational tale about isolation and pain. (âEnjoyingâ is correct; reading it isnât as dismal an experience as the themes of the book suggest.) Next on the TBR: Endling by Maria Reva, about three women and an endangered snail making a journey across Ukraine in 2022, right before Putinâs invasion (remember thereâs a war going on there?). As we roll into the long weekend, there is much to keep you busy.
As a millennial, if youâve struggled with the quagmire that is Gen Z speak, there is Adam âEtymology Nerdâ Aleksicâs interview with The Nod, where he, mercifully, declares ârizzâ dead.
For bibliophiles determined to get better at keeping track of their reading habits, may we suggest you read this. If youâre looking for pursuits with more tangible pursuits, knit yourself a plushie.
