Reading

August was a good book month for me! I didn’t read as much as a I expected, but I read good stuff! Daisy Jones and the Six was just as fun and fantastic as everyone said it would be. I do NOT recommend watching the show adaptation immediately after, I did and ended up super angry at how many (dumb, weird, unnecessary) changes they made. I bet in six months I would have forgotten a few more things and liked it.

A friend of mine texted and asked if I’d ever read The Giver, yes the book you may have read in elementary school about children being told what they do with their lives (super Hunger Games vibes). Anyway, I hadn’t and so picked it up at the library for a quick read. It was GREAT, and the reason I read it was because of this article interviewing the “highest grossing female director”, Greta Gerwig about her inspiration for Weird Barbie. If you’ve seen Barbie, check out this article and maybe give The Giver a read, I thought it was great.

I Have Some Questions for You has been on my to be read list for a while, and I was so happy when it showed up just in time for a trip to the coast where I could get in some good reading time. It was GREAT. An excellent mystery and great twists along the way. I highly recommend it if you are a true crime podcast junkie.

Listening

Someone (and I can’t remember who – if it’s you please respond in the comments to get proper credit!) suggested Think Twice the new Michael Jackson podcast to me, and it is a slower burn than I expected but still excellent. It starts as the child sex abuse charges are unfolding and then goes back to his childhood and through his whole career. It’s a fascinating reminder of ALL that Michael Jackson accomplished in his life, and all the flags and warnings that were ignored. Side note: if you haven’t watched the Brooke Shields documentary on Hulu, it’s great and she talks about her relationship with Michael.

I have had a big ole crush on Timothy Olyphant since Justified was first on, so when I saw he was a guest on Family Trips with the Meyers Brothers I was super excited. He was so funny and the conversation between the three was very entertaining and made for a quick trip home from the coast.

Watching

I need you all to stop what you’re doing to watch the two seasons of Somebody, Somewhere on Max. There’s only seven episodes a season, this is an easy weekend binge of this sweet, funny, raunchy and wonderful show about a woman in Kansas dealing with her aging parents, the death of her sister and the quirky characters in Manhattan, KS. I loved it and should not have watched it on a train, people were concerned with my laughing.

We FINALLY watched Season 2 of The Bear and loved it/maddened by that finale. Each episode is really intense and really fantastic and if you’ve ever enjoyed a dining experience you need to watch this series, it’s so great.

I’m finishing up a few other shows that I’ll hopefully remember to talk about next month. What pop culture have you been consuming this summer? Anything I missed?

Reading

I finished The Daydreams while on vacation at the end of last month and really enjoyed it. It reminded me of the time on Saved By the Bell where they started a band (yes, deep cut for you kids of the early 90’s). So, take that piece of information with you if you decide to read it. It was a fun and easy vacation read.

Flux was probably a book better to read on vacation – it’s a dense (but not long) science fiction book that I think would be better if I could have binged it in a couple of days. I think I liked it, I really need someone else to read it so I can discuss. Please hurry up.

After Flux I knew I needed something lighter and The Club was it! I really enjoyed this book, it’s one of those stories with narrative told through multiple characters, so after a couple chapters I had everyone figured out and then it got juicy. If you like rich people and celebrities behaving ridiculously, this is a good one with a nice murder mystery thrown in! A perfect vacation or weekend read.

Listening

For my birthday my dad and I went to see Lyle Lovett and His Large Band out at the Grand Lodge and it was an AWESOME concert. Dad’s seen Lyle four times now and this was my first. I won’t miss him again, it’s such a fun show and the large band are all incredibly talented. A great summer evening concert. My husband and I saw the Indigo Girls on our anniversary trip and they were also a very fun concert!

We listened to the first three episodes of Family Trips with the Meyers Brothers on our anniversary trip last month and it was SO FUN. It was nice to listen to something light hearted, I’m excited to listen to a couple more on our trip to the coast this weekend. I’m a big Seth Meyers fan and my dad tipped me off to Neal Brennan’s interview with Seth on The Blocks Podcast. If you’re an SNL/Seth Meyers fan this was a good listen!

Into It, Vibe Check and Deja News have been keeping me going this month, but we need to talk about SCAMANDA…

My dad mentioned this great new podcast he was listening to and I should check out. I was listening to an audiobook so put it on my list and mentioned it to a friend who loves true crime. Then this past week I needed something to listen to and promptly devoured all 8 episodes (and the 4 bonus eps) This story is WILD. A mom with cancer starts a blog talking about all her treatment and what’s going on, becomes a poster child of faith at church, speaks regularly and the church fundraises for her and her family… but…maybe she doesn’t have cancer? The story is BONKERS and very sadly true. If you liked Inventing Anna and need a crazy twisty true crime pod (without the murder) this is for you.

Watching

I don’t go to the movie theater very often, so getting there three times this month was a feat! The month started with Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. It was super fun, and while over the top, I did love the addition of Phoebe Waller-Bridge who I love. The acknowledgment that Indy has aged was also pretty funny and well handled I thought. The Barbie Movie is everything I could have wanted and more. It was the most fun I’ve had at a movie in a very long time, and wow is it PINK. Love Barbie or hate her, this is a fun time at the theater with a great message for men and women of all ages.

Primo is the family show you didn’t know you need to watch. A sweet story about a teenager in Texas growing up with his overbearing latino uncles and single mom. It is so funny and smart. It was created by Shea Serrano and produced by Mike Shur (Parks & Rec, Brooklyn 99, The Good Place, all the shows you know and love) so you know it’ll be GREAT.

I am sad that The Other Two is over but those three seasons were quite a wild ride! We have finally binged the first full season on The Bear and will be watching the second season soon, I promise!

Oh and we had a live theatre experience too this month! My friend and I saw the musical Six this week and it was a BLAST! I had no idea what I was in for – a musical about the six wives of Henry XIII. Sure, that sounds fun, it looks sparkly and like a good night out. What I wasn’t expecting was a 90 minute girl group concert that was such a fun evening at the theater! If it comes to your town, go. It’ll fill that Barbie/Taylor Swift hole in your entertainment heart.

Reading

I am ahead of schedule on my reading challenge this year which is making me very happy. I’ve only hit it twice in the 9 years I’ve been tracking with a Goodreads goal…

I listened to two great audiobooks this month which helped. Chasten Buttigieg’s memoir I Have Something to Tell You was wonderful. I was hoping he’d be a good storyteller and he is! His stories about growing up in the midwest and his relationship with Mayor Pete are really great and make me like Chasten even more (even if he pronounces GIF wrong…) I had seen a bunch of comedians I like promote Jena Friedman’s Not Funny and oh my gosh it was SO funny! On multiple dog walks I found myself laughing louder than I should have. Friedman is a comedian and has written on a few late night shows over the years. If you’re a comedy fan, and like some behind the scenes insight, this was great.

I finally got Romantic Comedy from the library which I had on my list for a while and heard great things about. It was very fun. It takes place behind the scenes of an SNL type late night show, and they do more details than I needed as someone who watched all of 30 Rock but that’s my only complaint. I was surprised the book takes place during the pandemic but it works well in the story as a plot device.

We’re heading out of town for our 20th anniversary and I have a few books packed to take with, we’ll see what I get through between vacation and the 4th of July holiday…

Listening

There’s a new Foo Fighters album that is really wonderful, and a new Jonas Brothers album (The Album) that is a BOP at 32 minutes. While I write this today I am listening to Odelay, my favorite Beck album that holds up years later.

I really appreciated Offline‘s Social Media Challenge over the past month. Jon Favreau and Max Fisher did different challenges to reduce their social media intake each week and it helped remind me of how many times in a day I pick up my phone instead of interacting, or finishing a chapter of a book….

Rachel Maddow has a new podcast Deja News and it is really good if you like her storytelling style (which, no big surprise – I do!) There’s also a new season of Slow Burn about Clarence Thomas and it turns out he’s been a bad dude for a very long time. There’s only four episodes and they’re all out. If you are my age-ish and lived through the hearings but don’t really remember it, this was helpful to learn just how long we’ve known he’s a bad dude (and reminder that women who come forward are usually harassed for it.) We’re still in a writers strike, but the Late Night with Seth Meyers Podcast has had some great episodes lately trying to fill that gap.

Watching

I talked about the Succession finale in last months round up but that Ted Lasso finale will stick with me for a while. It wasn’t a great final season, but I think they did a great job of wrapping up the story lines and giving many of our characters a happy ending, or at least the ending they deserve (Willis…)

The latest season of Top Chef wrapped up this month and I am so sad that Padma is leaving the show. I didn’t want the winner to win, but wasn’t surprised. I really didn’t like the flash forward storytelling device in the final season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, was it just me? I am so sad that Never Have I Ever ended, but that final season was so sweet and funny and wonderful. I think this will be on my regular rewatch rotation.

The Shiny Happy People documentary was upsetting and not surprising and exactly what’d I’d expect people (men) in fundamentalist cults to do. If you watched 19 Kids and Counting you need to watch this. And if you didn’t, you may also need to watch this…

I am loving this season of The Other Two and the new season of The Righteous Gemstones arrived just in time for the summer comedy I needed. My “to watch” list is long – White House Plumbers, The Mandalorian, the new season of Perry Mason, what shows are on your “crap I still need to watch that” list?

The summer is young and the book stack is TALL. I’m excited for a few road trips and warm afternoons to sit outside and read or walk a dog with a podcast or audiobook in my ears. I’m also ridiculously excited for the Barbie movie to come out! What pop culture are you enjoying this summer? What are you excited for to still come out this summer?