Weekly Catch-Up, 18th-25th Jan
AI, hopeful reading, and returning to prose.
Videos
i’m pretty sure this book is ai slop
A really, really great video. This creator talks so eloquently about a self-published-turned-trad-published book, Shy Girl, which had a great concept but not so great execution. Don’t go into this video feeling that the author is being accused of anything — the creator expresses time and time again that they wouldn’t make this allegation without solid evidence — but it’s very, very likely. And if not, it’s still worth exploring how a book that has the word ‘sharp’ used as an adjective over 200 times managed to get a traditional book deal. I really appreciated how they discussed this book and enjoyed the thorough breakdown.a crazy week in the life of a FANTASY AUTHOR 👩🏽💻🍪🇬🇧 on deadline!!
Just great fun! This author is really honest about the process of completing line edits, to the point where they have to get an extension on the deadline. It was nice to see that even successful people sometimes need a little extra time.Is Dan more famous than Phil?
Yeah, I’ve been watching the Hard Launch podcast. I always forget about it to be honest, but since they came out as being in a relationship, I adore the commentary they make on the gay scene. It’s nice to see these creators I loved watching when I was younger thriving in love.I’m Reading Differently in 2026: New Goals, Challenges, & Intentions 📚
This creator’s 2026 intentions for reading are… absolutely unhinged, and I respect it. They have so many rules they’re putting in place to ensure they complete goals like reading x number of French books, y number of books in translation in general, z number of books by people of colour, and I got overwhelmed watching, but that’s the beauty of someone else’s reading schedule. It’s not mine. But I still appreciate their goals and how they’re setting themself up to achieve them.AI influencers are somehow even worse now
Nothing we didn’t already know, but I love this creator. They always break everything down and deliver it with full confidence and nuance, which helps clarify these concepts in my head.AI writing is "bad"... so now what?
An excellent video. The creator doesn’t fuss with the ethics of using AI in art, because it’s a conversation that’s being done to death, and instead asks: what do we do with this? This video gave me a little more sympathy and understanding of why someone, particularly students and office workers, might use AI when they’re exhausted, when they feel let down by the system, etc. and encourages us to avoid shaming people who do use it. I don’t agree wholly, I don’t think there is an excuse, and didn’t care for the commentary on ‘elitism’, but I understand why they said it and where they’re coming from. People on the defensive aren’t going to change, and how we approach people doing things we deem shameful does need adjustment. But, at the same time, we’re tired, too.Detroit: Become Human - It's Bad
Entertaining video on the video game on a purely functional level. I have a lot of philosophical criticisms of this game, but that isn’t what this video is about, which is fun. I don’t see many videos talking about the actual functionality, flow, and style of the gameplay.2025 was a dumpster fire, so I made it into a model.
I love watching miniature craft videos when I can’t sleep. If I’m not watching speedruns or deep sea documentaries, I’m watching people create tiny things.Final Fantasy XV Retrospective - A Royal Effort
One of my favourite games of all time, which I have very, very fond memories of. A nice, long video on that trials and tribulations of the game, but a critique that clearly comes from a place of love.
Essays and articles
I only read one Substack article this week. Yikes!
The reason your dialogue sounds fake
Academics
Again, a disappointing week in this regard. After submitting my last assignment for January, I have only read one academic text:
Books
Since my last check-in, I finished the Penelopiad! I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would, but I did find myself constantly wishing it wasn’t so obtuse with its metaphors. Yes, I am in fact smart enough to figure out that the twelve white geese were representative of the twelve innocent maidens — it did not need to be explained within the next few lines. However, there is a part of me that feels this is probably less about a lack of subtlety and trust, and more a stylistic choice derived from The Odyssey’s heavy-handed style. Still, I can’t be sure, nor did I come away feeling that the feminist perspective was wholly original; while I applaud her for saying what needed to be said, I wish there had been more to it. I’d have loved to come away feeling like I’d been shown a different perspective than just the collective ‘woman’, maybe some more nuance. There were times when it was kinda giving Penelope isn’t like Other Girls, and overall, it just didn’t present me with anything particularly new or deep. I can’t say this book made me want to pick up another Atwood work. I did really enjoy the bite she gave Penelope, though, and I appreciated that she used the word ‘bitch’ once or twice, no doubt calling out the male translators who slipped it into The Odyssey needlessly in their versions of the epic.
Having finished Isaac and Orange by Curtis Garner, the joint review for those can be found here!
I also started Will there ever be another you by Patricia Lockwood, a novel I went cautiously into after seeing people in the book club complain about how confusing and poetic it is. Not because those aspects intimate me, but because I felt guilty for suggesting that book as January’s book club pick in the first place. But I was pleasantly surprised by the surreal and poetic style of the prose, which is unlike your typical contemporary novel, but for good reason — the narrator is suffering from an unnamed illness and has completely lost touch with reality, to the point that they suggest they’ve been spirited away, replaced with another version of themself. Beautiful, and very clever, you just have to detach from the ‘plot’ and lean into the absurd.
Finally, I realised I haven’t read much lately that was organically plucked from my disgustingly extensive physical TBR (also known as a ‘bookshelf’ to people who aren’t chronically online); the last few reads have been proof copies, or essential reads for uni, or a book club pick. So I decided to pick up one among the 48(ish) books on my shelves I decided I’d like to read this year: The Two Roberts by Damian Barr. It’s stunning. Heartfelt, wholesome, romantic — I’m about five chapters in and I love it. I have high hopes and high expectations for the rest.
Writing
As mentioned in my last check-up, my goal this week was to finish getting those dreaded post-its from my Corkboard of Chaos incorporated into my latest draft, ready for my next rewrite, which I’m happy to say, I’ve done! Or — most of them, at least. Some of them are a bit too expansive to slip into my printed manuscript (comb through for emotional telegraphing, for example, isn’t a five-minute job), so those ones will remain on the board for me to have while I do the rewrite.
I started that rewrite yesterday and quickly found, to my devastation, that I’ve been in editing and academic mode for so long that I’m completely rusty. I should have kept up with writing by consistently writing short pieces or journaling in my own time, but I didn’t, and now I’m completely out of touch. Since I finished my goal for this week early, I’m going to dedicate a few days to getting back into the swing of writing so I can fill in all those blanks, overhaul those awkward chapters, and finish what I hope will be the ultimate version while I make some choices about beta readers and querying.
I go back to uni on Tuesday, which either means I’ll be reading way more, or way less — we’ll see. Here’s to another great week!