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September Pop Culture Round Up

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Well, September certainly didn’t disappoint this year! It started off with a visit from my nephews who were here to attend their very first concert – Earth, Wind, & Fire (yes IN September!) We had a blast. There was also a lot of playing with Cliff, eating ice cream, and going to the final Hops game of the season where everyone got to run the bases! I then took a quick girls weekend to Sedona (I now get the hype – it’s gorgeous!) and wrapped up the month with a visit from my dad and we were able to go see Chicago play the first show at the Hops stadium – a new perfect venue! Here’s a few other pop culture moments I was able to sneak in…

Reading

With family visiting and some travel this month, I read two great books by authors I really like. I really loved The Parisian Heist. I read Everyone is Lying to You last year by the author and still think about it. Her latest book is so fun and a story I didn’t know anything about – Vincent Van Gogh’s sister in law took over his art collection when he died and then Theo (his brother) died. The book is about what it took to make Vincent the famous artist he is today. It was a VERY fun book if you like Paris and/or art history (and a fun heist!)

One of my favorite authors, Emily St. John Mandel’s latest book Exit Party came out the week I headed to the desert, and it was the perfect book to pick up for my trip. I love that all of her stories are tangentially linked (similar to Taylor Jenkins Reid books). Her latest is from the not too distant future in a post-war divided United States. It made me sad for what’s going on in our country and how close we are to what she envisions, but hopeful for good people doing the work.

Listening

Besides a lot of Earth, Wind & Fire and Chicago it’s been a mixed bag of podcasts this month. I really enjoyed the Seth Meyers hiatus podcast episodes for news and pop culture. I also am really enjoying the NYT Book Review podcast and have gotten a ton of great recommendations from it. I didn’t love the De Niro episode of Good Hang but I did love the Sandra Bullock and Ashley Padilla eps!

Watching

I mentioned Colin From Accounts last month and the final season premiered at the beginning of September and it wrapped up the series perfectly. This was a lovely Aussie series I think you’d enjoy if you like my other recs. Of course we are loving this season of Ted Lasso and I am going to be sad when it’s gone…

We know I love a few of the Real Housewives and September has been a plethora of Housewives drama for me. Ultimate Girls Trip is over the top ridiculous and I’m here for it. I’m also thrilled to have both New York and Salt Lake City (my favorite!) back on my TV to make me feel better about oh so many life choices…Not as good as I feel after watching the horror show that is The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, Taylor didn’t need to be the Bachelorette, she needs therapy.

What else have you been enjoying? What are you looking forward to in October? I can’t wait for the new season of The Diplomat, and I can’t wait to read Peck & Peck from Bonnie Garmus who wrote one of my all time favorite books – Lessons in Chemistry!

August Pop Culture Round Up

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Good fences make good neighbors and when that fence is getting replaced, you head to the coast with your dog so you can STAY good neighbors. Welcome to August folks, it’s filled with wildfire smoke, baseball, and warm afternoons to sit outside with a good book. Here’s what’s gotten me through the month!

Reading

I finally got off the holds list for Kin the new book by Tayari Jones and it is as amazing as everyone is telling you it is. I love stories that change the narrator throughout so this was right up my alley, and it was an incredible story of friendship and love.

My audiobook was finally returned so I could finish Advice No One Asked For by Jenny Hagel, who I adore from Late Night with Seth Meyers. It was such a fun book to listen to – and would be a great road trip book since it’s essays that are easy to listen to and will make you laugh along the way.

I also really enjoyed Dolly All the Time but as I said in my Instagram story after I finished it – trigger warning for eldest daughters on this one. It was a great summer rom com which I always enjoy. I was able to breeze through The Shampoo Effect between the coast getaway and a nice weekend. It was a great end of summertime read about a group of friends in Massachusetts navigating life in their mid 30s.

Listening

I really want to like Pop Culture Happy Hour, but I can’t get into it. I tried listening to it the other day when I needed something easy and it continues to not be the right fit for me. I think it’s because they take the criticism part of critic a little too seriously. It’s Ted Lasso – it’s fun, we’re going to love it, stop trying to say it’s anything other than what we need right now!

I did enjoy discovering The Book Review podcast from the NYT and have listened to their 50 best thrillers of the 21st century conversation, along with some best book lists, and of course I listened to their conversation about Kin after I finished reading it! I also listened to The Track Star Podcast episode with Questlove which talks about his documentary on Earth, Wind & Fire who I am going to see next month. Leave it to my brother to send me that one!

Seth Meyers is on an extended hiatus (get it together NBC) and so his podcast has some best of interviews including Tina Fey and John Mulaney that are great. I’m also loving his plans to do A Closer Look Out of Office throughout the hiatus to keep us going. Amy Poehler had a GREAT month of podcasts from Rosie to Keke to her live show with D’Arcy Carden who I adore!

On my road trip I was able to catch up on some podcasts, and was able to listen to the final episode of Adults in the Room which was disturbing but a great final episode. I also listened to the most recent Runaway Country episode about Data Centers which are a hot topic in my life these days.

Watching

Colin From Accounts is exactly the sweet anti-rom com Australian show I needed this summer. It’s 2 seasons so far with a third and final season coming out in September – which I didn’t know when I started and am thrilled about! I promise you, it’ll make you laugh, you’ll enjoy the accents, and as a dog parent you will feel for them regularly.

Ted Lasso is back and I am so happy to be back in Richmond with a new team to coach! We just finished a rewatch that led right up to the season premier and it was well worth the rewatch. We’re at that end of summer pre-Emmy slump where new shows are coming in a few weeks but what will get us through these last few weeks of summer? I’m enjoying Ride or Die, not quite as much as others are but it’s still fun and at some point I guess I should finish Elle.

What about you? What pop culture are you enjoying this summer?

July Pop Culture Round Up

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Well July flew right by! I started and ended the month on the Oregon Coast which is always where I like to be this time of year. We took Cliff to the coast for our anniversary at the end of June and enjoyed a few days of running around on the beach, watching the World Cup, and reading a ton. Then back home for baseball and softball games (Go Cascade!) and then back to the coast (without Cliff this time) for my birthday weekend! Books were consumed, podcasts made the drives go quickly, and the warm summer nights mean my TV watching has been low. ‘Tis the season…

Reading

I read four books this month, it would have been five but I changed my library card and lost my audiobook hold which was a bummer. So I wait and try to find my next audiobook. BUT, the book I keep thinking about the most from this month was The Fountain about a woman who is over 200 years old because she and her brother and their mother all “drank from the fountain of youth” and now can’t die. I know the premise sounds weird, but I keep thinking about it – this book was really great.

Sex on Murder Island was as ridiculous as I had hoped it would be. Jo Firestone is hilarious and I really enjoyed Murder on Sex Island and this sequel didn’t disappoint. The characters are so quirky and off the rails. If you enjoy a good murder mystery AND enjoy a good laugh, these books might be right up your alley.

Listening

Apple Music came out with celebrity summer playlists and Dave Grohl’s Summer Cookout Jams is on heavy rotation around the house. You’re welcome.

The Last 12 Weeks was a really interesting new season of the Serial podcast. It was all about a man on death row with 12 weeks until his execution and the Marshall Project team trying to argue his innocence and stop the execution. It’s only five episodes and was really fascinating!

This season of Good Hang has had more people with something to promote than last season, but the Mindy Kaling episode was great, and I really enjoyed the Matt Damon episode even though they talked a lot about The Odyssey (which I still need to go see!) I also discovered The Book Review podcast from The New York Times and needed to hear their take on Yesteryear (speaking of books I can’t stop thinking about…)

Watching

We are very excited for the new season of Ted Lasso coming out next week, so decided a rewatch was in order this month. That’s most of what we’ve been up to, that or the World Cup kept us busy in July.

Thanks to the fireworks on the 4th of July we stayed up late with Cliff and I did a late night rewatch of The House which is a very funny movie that not enough people watched. I keep trying to watch The Hawk and it’s not happening for me…

What pop culture is keeping you going this summer?