Convos Behind the Counter: Vol 4
What We’re Talking About
In Defense of Oatmeal, and a Plea
If you ever come to the store relatively soon after opening on a weekday (or around lunchtime) you have a pretty good chance of seeing Bookseller Jess eating Oats Overnight (the brand, not just the general genre of overnight oats). And though she eats them for at least 60% of her meals at work, she doesn’t actually like them very much. Every time she brings out her shaker bottle, I know she is going to complain about how gross oatmeal is. And I take that personally, because, dear readers, I am an oatmeal stan for life. I love delicious overnight oats (these bananas foster inspired overnight oats are some of my absolute favorites) and warm and toasty baked oatmeal (I love this banana bread baked oatmeal), as well as a good ol’ steaming bowl of warm oatmeal, studded with golden raisins and toasted almonds, topped with a swirl of maple syrup and a splash of cream.
Jess said of this specific flavor “yeah, it’s good…y’know…in comparison…”
Our oatmeal conversation continued the other day when I was running late and didn’t have time to make breakfast. In lieu of gas-station breakfast pizza, I stopped at Starbucks to get some of their oatmeal. When I arrived at the store, I got talking to Ellyn and Jess about my love of oatmeal and lamented the fact that I have to go out of my way to Starbucks to get quick on-the-go oats (on the “goats” if you will, or “goatmeal”). There are three different Casey’s, a Kum-and-Go, and a QuikStar on my route to work, and why in the world are there not Cup-o-Noodles-style cups of oatmeal at any of these establishments? Gas stations already have hot water spouts—it would be so easy. And even though I love Casey’s, I lament how uncool American convenience stores are and how small their selection is compared to those in Japan and Korea where you can get all sorts of on-the-go food that’s more balanced (here are some TikToks showing how iced coffee works in Korean 7-11s and an example of the sort of food they carry. I miss them so much).
This is my plea to gas stations everywhere—please, I want on-the-goatmeal. I want iced coffee you can customize like in Korean 7-11s and relatively well-rounded meals I can pick up on my way to work. A better world is out there, and maybe gas station oatmeal can be our first step to getting there.
What We’re Reading
The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka
This is an amazing blend of historical fiction, love story, ghost story, and murder mystery. The prose is hilarious, sharp, and rich. Set during the Sri Lankan civil war, “non-political” and deeply closeted war photographer Maali Almeida wakes up dead in the afterlife waiting room with no memory of his death–but a long list of suspects. He has seven moons to figure out who killed him and communicate that to his dear friend Jaki and lover DD. Maali follows his body (parts) and the whispers of his name on the wind to gambling haunts, shady employers, corrupt police stations, and even more corrupt fish packing businesses as he unravels the threads of his life. Winner of the Booker Prize in 2022, Bailey would be over the moon (all seven of them) if you picked up this book.
Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett
Emily Wilde has traveled to the distant north to research a specific type of faerie–the Hidden Ones–about which no other scholar has written. Before too long, her erstwhile academic rival and only friend Wendell Bambleby (yes, Wendell Bambleby. How could you not read a book where the male love interest’s name is Wendell Bambleby) joins her, and through their greater proximity, Em grows even more certain he is not who (or what) he appears. When the two make some inroads on their research into the Hidden Ones, Emily makes a questionable decision whose ramifications will upend the whole community surrounding them. Balancing a dark, honestly frightening story of morally gray faeries with an adorably bumbling romance, this book has me blushing and grinning like an absolute fool while also keeping me on the edge of my seat.
I listened to the audiobook of this and found such joy in it. The physical book is also deeply charming, with an un-dust-jacketed hardcover with winsome illustrations. If you want something light and fun while still being a decidedly adult fairytale, then Heather Fawcett has written the book for you.
What We’re Watching
The Last of Us, courtesy of Event Coordinator Emily
Every weekend, a group of friends and I cram into my tiny living room to watch the next episode of a little daddy-daughter zombie road trip called The Last of Us. Most times, my friends bring their large and spunky dogs, who shamelessly kick one or more of us off the couch so that they can recline in royal fashion. And I soothe that wound with a baked good every single time. (Last week was vanilla cake with strawberries and cream cheese whipped cream frosting ✌️). From Joel giggling at Ellie’s puns to my friends riveted on the edge of their seats, watching this show has become one of the things I look forward to most each week. Bookseller friends Mariah, Bailey, and Amy stretch those good times into the workday with me and also sometimes eat my leftover cake.
Our discussions frequently turn to adaptation – its struggles and joys – and we have a great group to discuss it with because about half of my friends haven’t played the game. Meanwhile, my partner and I beat the DLC and the second game in preparation for the show. Our consensus? This is a great adaptation, maybe a better adaptation that it is a show even.
I love that the actors’ takes on their characters give me something just new enough to ponder. Pedro Pascal’s Joel is more vulnerable. Bella Ramsey’s Ellie originally seemed so harsh to me, but after seeing her joke book and friendship with Sam, I’m sold on that tough outer shell. Changes in the writing better prepare readers for what will happen in the second season than perhaps the first game prepared players for the events of the second. Bill and Frank. BILL AND FRANK. Seeing so many classic game moments, monsters, and sets so well-designed brings us such delight.
That said, the infected work differently in the show than in the games, and I wish that came through more. There’s so much room to play with the hive mind it introduced, but the zombies are much less present in the show overall. The showrunners have significantly limited the violence that was so prevalent in the game, and while I enjoy not having to watch super graphic body horror content, the lack of random zombie encounters also results in a reduced sense of danger.
Considering it apart from its source material, the show struggles sometimes with moments of flatness. It introduces and throws away characters so quickly that they can barely breathe on screen. That pace can seem a little forced to people seeing the story for the first time. Mostly, my friends and I want more time in each place with the various characters, and my biggest concern is how they can possibly fit the rest of the story into four episodes and make it satisfying. WHY DIDN’T THEY GIVE US A LONGER SEASON?
These are small complaints in the scheme of things. This show is serving me much more than Rings of Power did, and I find myself wishing for next Sunday once each episode ends. If you’re watching this show, I hope you share at least one viewing with friends and a nice plate of cake. You can bet I’ll be nurturing a post on sequels and the weight of expectations once Season 2 rolls around.
Strong Woman Do Bong Soon
I have already written in this column about my torrid love affair with K-Dramas as a whole (Crash Landing on You fundamentally changed me as a human person, and nothing I’ve watched has quite matched the way it made me feel), but one of my recent favorites that Emily has also seen is Strong Woman Do Bong Soon (also translated as Strong Girl Do Bong Soon). In this charming little show, our main character Bong Soon has inherited super-strength from her mother, whose matrilineal line has each first daughter inheriting the power. If you use the power for good, you get to keep it, but if you use it for ill, you lose the power and become cursed. Bong Soon ends up becoming the bodyguard for a video-game startup’s president and also becomes ensnared in a serial-kidnapping case taking over her neighborhood. But the couple in this is so tooth-achingly sweet that I always forget about the gruesome crimes going on in the background. If you want to see a man so overwhelmingly smitten (twitterpated even) with a woman he would get blown up for her, watch this show.
Emily’s sidenote: I wish the extremely cute and effective couple stuff was a larger part of the show instead of squished in at the end, but Holy Hecks give it up for Park Bo-Young who can spirit-harrowingly sob her brains out in terror so effectively you pretty much need therapy after. I will be under my blanket hugging a pikachu plushie.
