The tomatoes are coming in. The garden is welcoming pollinator pals. The books are scorching. Before we get to the June goods, I want to celebrate six months of Kitsch Ocean. Two years ago, I launched a Tumblr called Late to the Party. This was a photo-a-day log, which I still maintain if you want a visual stream of books, movies, plants, etc, minus the yapping. Kitsch Ocean is an extension of Late to the Party, a space to share art I enjoy, plus glimpses of how I write. Thank you for reading these dispatches. Wherever you are in your practice, process, or draft, I hope something here inspires you to keep writing, pick up an unexpected read, or take a breath from the work. Contain cunty multitudes. Listen to those 1970s field recordings of heartbeats, fields at night, or thunderstorms. Plant something that feeds someone else. Watch the clouds.
✨Here are some things I enjoyed during June✨
🏔️Two Sherpas by Sebastián Martínez Daniell
Earlier this month, I raved about this book, which I love so much I’m sending you back to that post if you missed it. A book that both follows its terms and transcends them as two Sherpas look over a Nepalese ridge, upon an Englishman who has fallen during an ascent. The question of what they will do stretches across the novel as the story explores each man’s history and the historical context. The poetic backdrop of the mountain and the high stakes of the fall bring beauty and urgency to this one.
🪅Fake Piñata by Ashleah Gonzales
The first poetry collection from Rose Books is a gem. These are poems about connection, longing, place, and finding the self within the landscape of a life. There’s movement here—travel, emotional, temporal—which the line-level precision keeps focused. I especially love the moments when the language bends toward sophisticated playfulness.
❤️🔥The Nenoquich by Henry Bean
A novel in diary entries that follows a writer’s obsession and eventual affair with a married woman. A quiet read filled with eavesdropping, sex daydreaming, and wrestling with emotional intimacy. There’s an undercurrent of still, subtle suspense that landed with me here. Very much would recommend this for a rainy afternoon.
🌿Plat by Lindsey Webb
In Plat grief is the overgrown garden, the home, and the doorway to a room you did not know existed. It’s a book that orbits the death of the author’s childhood friend by suicide, reckoning with this loss alongside religion and faith. The prose poem here is an engine for expansion and possibility, pushing ever-outward to reorient the lens. Read Plat in the garden when the sun makes everything gold and your heart tender.
👯Worry by Alexandra Tanner
A woman welcomes her sister into her Brooklyn apartment and the visit eventually becomes a roommate situation. Deadpan humor, a grotesque rescue dog, plentiful nods to the brain rot experienced by the perennially online who know it’s bad for us but just can’t stay away. I felt the pangs and joys of sisterhood and daughterhood while reading. I also couldn’t stop laughing.
🔮Cats Rule the Earth Tarot by Catherine Davidson
Illustrated by Thiago Corrêa
When this cat-inspired deck and guidebook showed up at the bookstore, I knew eventually I’d buy it and this month I finally did. The art is based off the Rider-Waite deck…but with mystical felines. I don’t know much about tarot, but I know these cats will teach me.
🌸Garden Highlight — Pink Jewel Salvia
I picked up a new plant friend at Ithaca’s annual garden sale. These look like little shrimps. Every time I’m walking Frankie or a neighbor compliments the garden, I can’t help but point out, “Don’t they look like little shrimps?”
🎬Stopmotion
A stop-motion animator fresh out of ideas finds inspiration for a new project when she meets a neighbor girl who starts feeding her a dark tale. Yet as the animator goes deeper into the work, the creations—and the story she is spinning—come to life, and things get creepy. This film does a lot of lifting! Creepy little kid: check. Artist at odds with her work, stuck between her talent and inability to dream up something new: check. Art taking on a life of its own: check. I especially love how this one takes the theme of artists surrendering to their art and the work becoming all-consuming to gross, horrifying new levels.
🍃Florist Farms Wedding Cake Prerolls
Florist Farms is a woman-owned cannabis company in Central NY. This is my favorite flower they grow. Perfect for cueing up a bilateral stimulation video after a long day. Relaxing, sleepy vibes, without the dreaded couch lock. Reliably mellow and delightful.
🌶️Accessorizing Ice Cream
I am a big fan of gussying up simple vanilla or coconut ice cream (or not-ice cream). This month I tried coconut gelato with spicy chili crisp. A little drizzle is just right for a savory kick and a bit of crunch.
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A reminder that paid subscribers have access to Swan Float. Personalized book recs, unique suggestions for tackling creative woes, writing AMAs. If that sounds fun, write me. Swan Float is a perk, but the mostly-weekly posts will stay the same.
However you are spending your summer, I hope it is filled with good books, time to write, and a dog who loves to watch butterflies.
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Gina, I love your recs! I bought Two Sherpas after you wrote about it and can't wait to read. And I finally upgraded so now I can hop on the Swan Float 🦢😌
Fake Piñata is chef's kiss!