February Listopia 2026

What I read, watched, listened to + a late Valentine song for 4U

I have no introduction to February’s Listopia other than to say I finished writing it tonight, I’m done, so I’m sending it out early. Dig in!

Books

The Lying Life of Adults by Elena Ferrante - This is the sixth book I’ve read by Italian author Elena Ferrante. I guess you could say I like her writing! She’s best known for her four book series, The Neopolitan Novels, all of which I devoured as they were published in 2011 - 2015. If you’re unfamiliar with the books, here is an interesting write-up in Ploughshares. Since then, I read The Days of Abandonment, The Lost Daughter, and now this one, all written prior to The Neopolitan Novels. Out of all six books, My Brilliant Friend is still my favorite. (Not so much the HBO series adaptation, though.) I did enjoy Lying although it dragged a bit for me about 3/4 through. I like reading interiority but it can be strung out a little too long sometimes, as I think happens here. Instead of writing more details about the book myself, I recommend you read this review here on Substack by Books on Gif. Her take is almost exactly my take. Plus, this is a really good book Substack. If you like Ferrante, you’ll like this book

While googling for reviews of this book I discovered it’s also a series on Netflix, an Italian production, which I have started watching. It’s interesting to see how the story and characters stay true or veer from the book. So far, I’m enjoying it - maybe even more so than the book, which is unusual for me.

Interviews

Emma Phuong Tu, founder of Gulf Coast Vietnamese Narratives and recent recipient of the 2026 Reflecting Mississippi Award from the Mississippi Humanities Council in Rooted Magazine. - The gulf coast of Mississippi and New Orleans both have large Vietnamese communities that really are basically ignored by Hollywood and the literary world. I was excited to read about Emma and her determination to change the narrative on our regions.

Beth Ann Fennelly talks about her new book, The Irish Goodbye, in Salvation South Magazine. I received a copy literally yesterday and am currently reading it. I’ve been enjoying Beth Ann’s book tour via online interviews in which she is her very delightful self.

Litmags & Substacks

Inheritance by DeMarcus Burke in Rattle - I’m starting with this poem which I believe is the most powerful and heartbreakingly honest I have ever read. Do read the poet’s statement at the end.

These women—

backbones bent like coat hangers,

wallets like open wounds—

love hard.

They love past logic, past insult,

past the point of breaking.

They call it family.

They call it God’s test.

They call it nothing at all

and bear it like skin.

On (Not) Reading Toni Morrison by Tommy Swerdlow (essay) in his Substack, Feel the Rhythm - Loved this read about the writer’s interaction with Toni Morrison’s son back in the day!

Ford was a private kid, but not shy. More just doing his own thing and not going out of his way to mix in with all these liberal Jewish hippy types. He was medium height but lean, tea and milk colored with a sculpted afro and that moustache scruff that you can only have at seventeen. There was something coiled and tightly wound about him and he wore double knit pants, something no white boy with sense would even try to pull off.

Big Sis by Michael A. Gonzales in Oldster Magazine - This essay is a brilliant unicorn on the subject of women friends written by a man. Yes, friends not lovers or mothers. I enjoyed the hell out of reading this essay. (I found the above Substack, Feel the Rhythm, through a Note by Michael.)

Having never been “a boy’s boy” who liked being out in the streets playing stickball or skelley, or throwing soda bottles at water rats on Riverside Drive like my brother, I always preferred the company of girls (and later women). They never teased me for being chubby, would rather talk than fight, and weren’t trying to watch baseball, Westerns, or war movies on television. Being around girls was comforting, but of course hanging with them led to more than a few people believed that something was “wrong” with me, or that I was a “sissy.”

Contemporary History by Emma Bolden (poetry) in Up the Staircase, accompanied by artwork by Josephine Florens - this poem made me think, Whoa! - like lightning!

My Sicilian grandfather offered to send him
a black handprint and I’d be a liar if I said I didn’t
consider it. I’d be a liar if I said I didn’t sometimes think

revenge is a synonym for relief.

things we miss by Paul Booth (memoir) in Sneaker Wave Magazine - The sad and sweet story of a married couple whose marriage is falling apart. A trip to Japan reminds him of what he loves about her and yet clarifies for them both that this is the end. Really enjoyed the introspection along with wonderful descriptions of Japanese culture and landscapes.

With the familiar schedules of life stripped away—up at six am, dog walks twice a day—we could fall back on being strangers in a strange land, forgetting—or ignoring—all that awaited us at home. Japan presented pretense: every experience heightened.

The Deli Boys by Sabrina Hicks (microfiction) in BULL - I’ve enjoyed Sabrina’s writing for quite a few years and this micro is lushly filled with imagery and intention. Well done!

…spoke of a town that never existed, seeded in the deli where they could gather over the meat slicer, feel the heft and weight of a shoulder of beef, run it through the slicer for a thinness, a starvation…

It occurred to me while putting together this list-share to shout-out the brilliant stories we’ve published in Reckon Review in February. I’m honored to be a staff member at Reckon along with these wonderful readers and writers.

Reckon Review in February:

BOLINAS | Fiction by Wilson Koewing - Wilson is one of my favorite writers because his work centers on the everyday lives of everyday people who are often caught in challenging circumstances. He has a way of deep diving into the emotional landscape and doesn’t shy away from words or phrasing that can be uncomfortable. Reading should challenge us, right? This story is a good example.

Price’s daughter wanted to stay, but his beers were gone, and her shoulders and cheeks showed signs of pinking. He packed up their things and chased her toward the beach access. Weighed down, he labored to keep up.

As their distance widened, the sound of her giggles trailed off until they were no longer discernible against the ocean breeze.

SEASONS | Nonfiction by Laurel Hightower - An open and vulnerable Craft essay about this author’s writing practice during lockdown, illness, mothering, and the breakdown of her marriage.

When lockdown hit and the daycares closed in March of that year, I managed to sprain my ankle horrifically. It swelled to the size of a cantaloupe, and I couldn’t put weight on it for weeks. I was supposed to care for a two-year-old and work a full-time paralegal job from home, all while unable to walk. Those days are hazy, a fog of frantic working and caring for my son in the midst of a global pandemic, while being the only one in my household who ventured into public places like grocery stores.

PITCH CHRONICLES | Fiction by David Agyei-Yeboah - This short flash is culturally interesting inside its every day setting with an unexpected gut-punch you won’t see coming. Really good work, here.

She prided herself on being a fierce feminist that would train her daughter to surpass her. Once she had a daughter. She had been dating this bigshot from Tema Oil Refinery and said although they’d decided on family planning when they got married so they could enjoy, without interruption, sweet, sticky sex; their daughter would be the icing on the cake, the crème of the crop. She’d be twice the woman Afi aspired to be.

MOTHERING, 21ST CENTURY EDITION | Creative Nonfiction by Alina Zollfrank - Alina’s lyric essay about mothering and special needs touched me deeply.

Because lullabies I dug out from under long-ago memories in my mother tongue; Because movement, melodies, blood merged; Because rushing, rushing, rushing as my shaking hands held a baby who couldn’t comprehend why we couldn’t comprehend what she needed.

TV

A Most Wanted Man (2014) on Kanopy (also an available on other streaming services.) Starring Phillip Seymour Hoffmann in his last performance before his death, this film is based on a novel by John le Carré. IMO, Hoffmann was one of the most versatile actors ever, completely inhabiting the characters he portrayed, and is brilliant here as a German intelligence agent spying on the Muslim community. I’ll not give up the plot but I think fans of espionage films and le Carré readers will be into this one big time. I thoroughly enjoyed it and was completely blindsided by the ending, the mark of a well-written story.

Doctor Zhivago (1965) on Turner Classics - Although I’d seen parts of this film many times, I’d never watched it end to end until now. What an epic! Why don’t they make films like this anymore? The storyline is engrossing, the acting is magnificent, and the cinematography is stunning. Watching Omar Sharif again made me remember the adolescent crush I had on him. It’s a great love story but also a story of the rise of the Soviet Union and the intense suffering it brought on the unsuspecting Russian people. It’s a stark reminder of the flaws of blind political idealism. I think it’s a film everyone should watch - but settle in because it’s a very long movie

The White Lotus, season 3 (2025) on HBO Max -Many fans of this series will have already watched it last year but I don’t often watch a series when it first comes out. The White Lotus franchise is a snarky/fun dive into rich elites vacationing in The White Lotus resorts chain and their dysfunctional, dark secrets and behaviors. Every season has been delicious and builds somewhat on characters from the previous season. It feels really close to the bone in its depiction of rich, entitled people although I don’t run in those circles so what do I know? I do know this: it’s dark and funny and suspenseful and I get a big kick out of watching it.

Music & Podcasts

Writing Closer to the Bone with Bee Wilson on Let’s Talk Memoir Podcast - I really enjoyed this interview with Bee about cooking as salve and the emotional life of kitchen objects, among other convo threads including growing comfortable with the idea of writing about ourselves. I was inspired to add her book, The Heart-Shaped Tin, to my TBR. It’s a really interesting interview.

Wuthering Heights by Charlie xtx (soundtrack) - I’ve read a few reviews of the new film iteration of Wuthering Heights - so many differing opinions! One mentioned the soundtrack which made me curious, so I listened on Spotify. The songs are dark and moody which I suppose pair well with the film. I like dark and moody music but it has its place and sometimes, for me, that place can turn into a pit. I think the album is fine but it’s not one I’ll listen to often, if ever again. I am curious about the film but I’ll wait until it comes to streaming to watch it.

Finally, a little late Valentine’s gift/song for you. I love, love, love this song, the words, the melody, the vibe, all in Tracy’s incredibly beautiful voice. Enjoy. 💛

I hope you enjoy reading/watching/listening to these shares as much as I did. Here’s looking forward to an equally interesting March! 💛