Even better? When we find a movie based on a book we like. So here are some literary adaptations Lit Club highly recommends…

1. Fight Club: Even the author says the movie is better than the book.

2. Little Women: Saoirse’s take on Jo March is exquisite.

3. If Beale Street Could Talk: A James Baldwin masterpiece on screen? Yes, please.

4. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest: Jack Nicholson brings it to the next level.

5. Broke Back Mountain: The yearning here is unmatched.

6. Holes: You’re tired of this grandpa? That’s too damn bad!

7. The Talented Mr. Ripley: Matt Damon crushes it as the nefarious Tom Ripley.

8. The Shawshank Redemption: Movie so good, we forgot it was based on a short story by Stephen King.

9. The Devil Wears Prada: We have a pulse. We adore this movie.

10. Room: I think we forget about Brie Larson, and we should feel bad about that.

11. Arrival: Watch it then read the 1998 novella, “Story of Your Life,” from which it’s based.

12. Atonement: Be warned, little Saoirse will make you feel rage you didn’t know poss.

13. The Perks of Being a Wallflower: A heartwarming story made better by the Tumblr aesthetic.

14. Crazy Rich Asians: John M. Chu understood the assignment in every single way. Pure delight.

15. Life of Pi: Gorgeous visuals make this beautiful story of faith sing.

16. Real Women Have Curves: Hilarious and powerful. America Ferrera radiates.

17. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe: We don’t recommend betraying your whole family for Turkish Delight, but this is transporting and magical.

18. Carol: Intimacy scenes only rivaled by Shane and Ilya.

19. Gone Girl: Is Ben Affleck just playing himself? Maybe. And we think that makes the movie even better.

20. Pride & Prejudice: Greatest love story ever told? Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi have some big shoes to fill.

Happy snow day everyone!

Xo,

Kellz

So now that it’s here I say we romanticize it as much as possible– snuggle up next to our little apartment Christmas trees, pop on the YouTube yule long, sip peppermint tea and lose ourselves in some cozy, easy reads.

So I made us a list of books that, when reading them, evoke a cozy mood.

What exactly characterizes a cozy read? It’s certainly not a science (lol), but when I pulled these texts they all had something in common: warm description, lots of food imagery, family dynamics and messages of hope without being saccharine. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

Cozy Memoirs

Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl — Follow NYT food critic Ruth Reichl as she dresses up in silly and charming disguises to review iconic New York city restaurants from the early 2000s. Her introspective reflections, sumptuous description of meals and biting wit are all delicious.

From Scratch by Tembi Locke — Nothing says cozy like eating pasta and falling in love in Italy and in Tembi Locke’s memoir, we get plenty of both. This story is sad (she loses her husband) but it’s also one that reminds us traveling, family and a good meal can heal.

Coming to My Senses by Alice Water — Set in 1960s Berkley, chef Alice Waters takes us on the journey of opening her stunning restaurant Chez Pannise. Waters’ delight jumps off the page and inspires readers to find the confidence to pursue their dreams and eat lots of bread.

Cozy Fantasy

Before the Coffee Gets Cold by by Toshikazu Kawaguchi — Ever dreamt of traveling back in time while sipping your morning coffee? Same. And this magical set of short stories imagines a tiny Tokyo cafe where following a set of whimsical rules can let you do just that, just make sure you’re back before it cools – inventive, gentle, surprising.

The Lion the Witch and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis — Kind little woodland creatures, turkish delight, a protective lion and charming sibling dynamics galore – revisiting C.S. Lewis never disappoints. Step through the wardrobe into the magical land of Narnia and reignite your childlike wonder. I love this for us.

House on the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune — You’ve never known love until you’ve met orphan green blob Chauncy. Caseworker Linus Baker meets him and other magical children when he is assigned to evaluate their charming orphanage on the sea. The children are hilarious and sweet and the love story here is transcendent.

Cozy Classics

Maus by Art Speiglman — What makes this graphic novel cozy is the family dynamics between father and son. As father Vladek shares his holocaust survival story with his son, Art, we see a relationship begin to heal through story telling. The illustrations are also a marvel.

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott — All women want is a Little Women Christmas aesthetic and the love and tenderness we feel from those tiktoks all began here– with the masterful characterizations of the March sisters who grow up, fall in love, break hearts and discover who they really are in this sentimental yet emotionally intelligent story. Resonant.

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan — Nothing says cozy like a bustling kitchen and fussing from an overbearing loving mom. This intimate novel follows four Chinese immigrant mothers and their American-born daughters as they trace the threads and knots of identity, family history, and generational misunderstanding. The descriptions will feel like home.

Cozy Fiction

The Nest by Cynthia D’Aprix — For lovers of Succession, this book is the closest I have seen that comes close to the same mood. Following a set of rich siblings as they duel over their shared trust, we watch these brothers and sisters break down and build each other back up again. Kendall, we miss you.

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett — Home is where the heart is and this novel follows two siblings as they reflect on the loss of their childhood home and the memories it holds. A novel where the house is character in and of itself, expect reflection and seasonal imagery. Yum.

Writers and Lovers by Lily King — A young writer struggles to finish her novel while waitressing at a fancy restaurant in Cambridge. We follow her as she totes around sacks full of overdue libraries books, resists charming men and ultimately comes to find a life of artistic passion and creative hope.

Stay cozy!

Catch you in my Super Puff,

Kellz

• “Women ruined the workplace”

• Having a Boyfriend is Embarrassing”

• “Your AI Lover Will Change You”

• “What did Men Do to Deserve This?”

Y’all, your book club leader needs to confess. When I see these headlines, the first thing I do isn’t to actually go read the article… instead I do what I think probably a lot of us do…
a) have a visceral reaction and b) dive straight into the comments.

And then .5 seconds into the scroll, I’m uncontrollably swept away — triggered, judgmental, taking sides and forming opinions. I’m not reading critically, not checking my biases and I’m def not examining the deeper cultural forces at play. I’m just… reacting.

And with 1 in 5 Americans now getting their news from TikTok, this feels less like less of a me problem and more like a cultural condition. When we consume in snippets, form beliefs about the world and complex topics in seconds, and let rage baitey algorithms shape our emotional lives…what’s the cost? Sociological health? Agency? Independent thought? Tbh, probably all of the above.

Which is why this month, I wanted to slow down, remove myself from the feed and rethink my relationships to it all—to romance, to work and rest, to grief, to politics, to culture—independent of an algorithm. So rather than be tugged around by headlines and hot takes, this month Lit Club spent November going deeper, engaging with long form media that helped us rethink our relationships from the inside out.

So here’s a syllabus to rethink your relationships — a set of books, films, and guiding questions. Join us…

To rethink your relationship to Romance

Who do you actually want to have sex with? How should you love?

BoySlut by Zachary Zane

“Once we acknowledge how common kinks are, whether or not someone shares your exact kink, we begin the self-acceptance process. This allows us to start talking openly about our desires with our partners, which leads to happier, healthier, and more satisfying relationships.”

With candor and humor, sex writer Zachary Zane’s memoir documents his journey from sexual shame and confusion to sexual security and pride. We read this for our author talk, and it pushed us to excavate sexual shame and boldly ask ourselves what type of intimacy makes us really feel connected.

Questions to Ask:

1. How did Zach find sexual pride and security?

2. What does sexual security mean to you? When do you feel sexually secure? What does that look like—in your body, your relationships, or your beliefs?

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A24 Eternity

“Love is not just what happens between two people — it’s everything they’re willing to let die, and everything they’re brave enough to let live.”

A24’s new film Eternity follows couple Joan and Larry after they die and arrive in a heaven-like “eternity,” where they get to choose which world they want to live in forever. A24 invited us to a release of this movie, and it prompted us to consider what the commitment of lifelong intimacy really means.

Questions to Ask:

• What does the film suggest about the difference between loving someone and choosing someone?

• Do you think Elizabeth’s Olsen’s character made the right choice? How would your choice compare?

• Romance and commitment? How do they compare and contrast?

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To rethink your relationship to Rest

What does it actually mean to rest?

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

“What would life be like, he wondered, if they were given time to think and reflect over things? Might their lives be different or much the same?”

Small Things Like These follows Bill Furlong, a coal merchant and father living in 1980s Ireland, who—amidst the rush of his ordinary routines—stumbles into a moral crisis that forces him to examine his life in a new way. Perhaps not so obviously a connection to rest, Keegan’s story reminded us on our reading retreat of the value of noticing and being truly present.

Questions to Ask:

• How does Bill change? Why?

• What stops you from being truly present? What are the consequences?

Netflix Frankenstein

“I had desired it with an ardour that far exceeded moderation; but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished.”

In Mary Shelley’s story, Victor Frankenstein pushes past every human limit in the name of creation and what unravels is the horrible manifestation of the costs of blind ambition. Frankenstein invited us to reconsider where our own refusal to rest leads us: What becomes distorted when we won’t stop? Who do we become when we refuse our limits?

Questions to Ask:

• Where do you see yourself in Victor’s refusal to stop, slow down, or reflect?

• How does the creature’s longing for companionship and safety speak to your own need for rest and connection?

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To rethink your relationship to Grief

How does sadness shape our reality?

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

“Most of us live less theatrically, but remain the survivors of a peculiar and inward time.”

The Correspondent follows its protagonist, 73-year-old Sybil Van Antwerp, as she exchanges letters with her loved one, reflecting on key moments from her life. Digging into this one on an October retreat upstate, Evans showed us how loss becomes an ongoing dialogue with memory, asking how we live with the people we can no longer reach and the versions of ourselves shaped by them.

Questions to Ask:

• What does the narrator gain (or lose) by revisiting the past in written form?

• How has grief in your own life continued to “correspond” with you over time?

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Focus Features Hamnet

“Every life has its kernel, its hub, its epicentre, from which everything flows out, to which everything returns”

Hamnet brings Maggie O’Farrell’s novel to the screen, imagining the devastating loss that shaped Hamlet. As the family mourns their son, the film shows how grief reshapes everything. Watching this together reminded us how grief can fracture, clarify, and transform the bonds between us.

Questions to Ask:

• How do Agnes and Shakespeare change? What moments in the film best convey that?

• What does the film suggest about how we can move through grief?

To rethink your relationship to Culture

What do cultural obsessions reveal about our own fears and desires?

The legacy of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

“Are people born wicked? Or do they have wickedness thrust upon them?”

Rather than recommend reading Wicked (which, let’s be honest, we simply cannot), I’d encourage you to explore the cultural evolution of The Wizard of Oz from Baum’s 1900 novel to the iconic 1939 film, to Maguire’s 1995 reimagining to the 2003 Broadway musical and the 2024/2025 film adaptations. Analyzing this lineage together at book club and our film screening, revealed how a single story can be reshaped by each generation’s fears, politics, desires, and moral imagination.

Questions to Ask:

• Why was The Wizard of Oz created in the first place, and how does Wicked function as a critique of that world?

• Why has Wicked captivated the zeitgeist from the early 2000s to today? What does this reveal about the cultural anxieties and longings of our time?

So in conclusion, let’s think for ourselves

If the internet/culture is determined to keep us in a constant state of reactionary chaos, this month reminded me that we don’t have to play along. We can opt out and sit with harder questions. We can engage with long form media that invites us to step back, reflect and rethink how we show up and how we actually feel.

These texts pulled me out of the algorithm and back into my humanity—and I hope they do the same for you. My hope is that this syllabus gives you space to slow down, notice what’s rising in you, and rethink the patterns and narratives shaping your life.

Here’s to more depth, less rage-bait and rethinking our relationships from the inside out!

Sincerely, your lover girl in chief

Kellz