Over the River and Through the Woods… that’s right, I’m heading off to see the in-laws for Thanksgiving and incase you too need some pop culture inspiration to break up the football, chasing dogs around the farm, and seeing your 98 year old grandpa for the first time in 3 years (thanks vaccines & boosters!), I am HERE for you!

Reading

As you well know, I read in the summer when I can be outside, and when I travel. Thanks to my first flight since January of 2020 I picked up White Ivy at the library. I’d heard about the book since it came out and had been meaning to grab it. It was the perfect kind of travel book for me. Good juicy fiction with the right amount of chaos thrown in. I don’t want to spoil anything, just read it and we can discuss when you’re done.

I am currently listening to Cultish on audiobook. It’s really interesting if you’ve watched any of the recent cult documentaries, or are concerned that my workout routine is cult-ish. Hopefully I’ll have a full review next month. I picked up a few audiobooks for our road trip so hopefully next month I have some additional memoir recommendations and a book or two. You can always keep track on Goodreads.

Watching

Daylight saving time puts me into a funk and what can fix that funk? ALL the Real Housewives. This season of Salt Lake is finally getting bonkers with Jen Shah running from the law (OMG the van ride where they’re still figuring all the news out was so crazy!) and to top it off? Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip. I started this over the weekend for something to have on in the background while on my iPad and it is too good to not watch the hot drama unfold. Excited to re-binge it with my MIL this week.

With the Diana docuseries on CNN wrapping up (loved it) and the end of Impeachment: American Crime Story it was time for a new drama and we have finally started the second season of The Morning Show. It’s off to a good start and I am curious how it will continue to unfold. I’m not totally thrilled with a Covid storyline, but we will see…Hopefully we can catch up in the next week or two and wrap it up!

I am happy to return to the world of Dexter Morgan on Dexter: New Blood – the show needed a better ending and I am hopeful we’re going to get it this time around. It’s off to a great start, although I am worried that I have become more squeamish and softer with age and not sure I’m going to be able to handle the missing girl plot line…

Listening

I’m appreciating Offline with Jon Favreau from Pod Save America where he interviews people about social media and how to live/behave/survive “offline.” The Monica Lewinsky interview was fantastic after finishing American Crime Story.

I’m still enjoying Parks and Recollection and the penultimate The Rise & Fall of Mars Hill really helped to explain why it all went down. The Daily had a 2 part series last week (November 16 & 17) on what’s really going on with school boards across the country. If you’re curious about how hyper local politics are affecting your community, this is a great starting point to better understand it all.

What pop culture is going to help you survive the holidays or are you looking forward to as a reward on the trek there and home? I can’t wait to hear…

Oh October… the weather changes dramatically and all I want to do is hangout inside and watch TV. How about you? Are you a curl up and read a good book with a cup of tea person? Or is it too dark and cold and wet out to get inspired? Either way – here’s what’s kept me going…

Reading

If you follow me on Goodreads you may have noticed the past couple of weeks I’ve been quieter. I haven’t been able to get into a good fall reading habit yet. Hopefully some upcoming travel will get me back into the routine.

I finished Apples Never Fall at the beginning of the month and really enjoyed it. It had all the right twists and turns that Liane Moriarity’s books have, AND it has that extra 50 pages that always feels unnecessary to me. A friend also read the book and suggested that the authors core demo (our moms) would probably like that nice wrap up.

I then seem to have stopped reading physical books but I listened to The Loneliest Polar Bear about Nora the Oregon Zoo polar bear. I love seeing Nora at the zoo and was curious about her story. The book was written by an Oregonian reporter and they did a great job of including environmental history and climate change issues along with her story. I learned a lot about Nora’s life and about the environmental impacts on polar bears and our planet. It was a good audiobook for dog walking and errand running.

I have loved Casey Wilson since she was on Happy Endings a few years ago. So when I saw she had a book of essays, I knew I needed her to read it to me. And it did NOT disappoint! The Wreckage of My Presence was both hilarious, sad and more emotional than I expected. If you like a comedian memoir (and we know I do!) add this to your list.

Listening

There is now a Parks & Recreation podcast called Parks & Recollection with Rob Lowe and Alan Yang and it is AWESOME. I wasn’t sure at first, but each episode they go through the behind the scenes of an episode and talk with creators/producers/actors and I find it fascinating. If you want to know what an alternative Parks cast would have looked like, I highly recommend the 4th episode with the casting directors. The alternative Donna choice will blow your mind…

I continue to be obsessed with The Rise & Fall of Mars Hill if you are into that kind of thing – which as you’ll see from my TV viewing, I am…

Watching

The Way Down HBOMax documentary about Gwen Shamblin, a woman who had a diet church in Tennessee. Yes, a diet church. A church based on how dieting will bring you closer to God. And if that didn’t suck you in, I’m not sure what else will, but Chrissy Tiegen is an EP…

I loved everything about Only Murders in the Building and am thrilled at how they set up a second season. Ted Lasso had another perfect season and I may need to do a rewatch to truly see that final scene come together. The Other Two on HBOMax was very funny and a great light hearted comedy that I needed. Plus Molly Shannon is perfect and deserves all the awards!

My husband and I love to watch food TV series – not cooking (except Top Chef), but food and travel. So when David Chang had a new Hulu show The Next Food You Eat we devoured it in 3 days. It’s so fascinating to think about the science behind our food and the technology involved in restaurants and food delivery systems. It made us both finally be interested in trying an Impossible burger… Up next? Padma Lakshmi’s Taste the Nation is doing a 4 episode holiday season that I can’t wait for in November!

What pop culture got you through October? What pop culture is coming up that you are excited for as we wrap up 2021?

The rain has arrived and the Emmy’s have announced Ted Lasso the perfect show, Fall is here…

The September weather transition is always interesting, shorter but still warm (hot!) days and a few rainy forced indoor days to keep us on our toes. Here’s what got me through…

Reading

Huzzah – I finally hit my Goodreads goal for the year! I’m ahead of schedule and super excited that I finally hit this arbitrary milestone!

After reading and then stopping reading, I finally listened to Michelle Obama’s Becoming. It was interesting, but slow to start and she’s a calm steady reader of her book, which can be too soothing to really pay attention sometimes. I liked it, didn’t love it…

I had read good things about Intimacies by Katie Kitamura, it’s about a woman who is an interpreter at The Hague. It was an interesting way to learn about a world I know nothing about. It’s a short book but I kept getting distracted by pups – I think I might have liked it better if I was on vacation. I also read The Singers Gun by Emily St. John Mandel. I LOVED Station Eleven and so thought I’d try one of her older books. Again, this book takes you to a different world (a tiny island off Italy) and I really enjoyed the mystery. A quick weekend read.

I am now making my way through Liane Moriarty’s latest – Apples Never Fall and so far it’s as good as most of her other books (I hated Truly, Madly Guilty, thus the caveat). I’ll let you know next month what I thought, but I can already picture the limited series adaptation, not sure where Nicole Kidman will insert herself yet though…

Listening

Earlier this month I went on my first girls trip in almost two years and it was AWESOME. We went to Bend and saw John Legend and he did NOT disappoint! If you get a chance to see him in concert, do it! And if you get a chance to see any show at the Les Schwab Amphitheater in Bend, also GO.

I finally discovered In God We Lust about the Jerry Fallwell Jr. sex scandal and it was FASCINATING. That lead me to The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill which I am still making my way through (the main subject’s voice is a LOT). Mars Hill is interesting since I was in Seattle at the height of this church and remember a coworker who fits perfectly into that category of young 20 something guy without direction that Driscoll LOVED to “take under his wing.” What’s also interesting (to me) about this podcast is that Christianity Today (a Christian magazine) is producing the podcast.

The Leslie Knope sized hole in my heart has been filled by the arrival of Parks and Recollection a rewatch/recap podcast of the show. I’ve only listened to the first episode so far but I LOVE IT and it will help me through LITERALLY any need for inspiration from Ron Swanson or Leslie.

Watching

I finished a lot of shows in September…

• Parts Unknown – I know this show came out YEARS ago but my husband and I wanted to savor them and then sort of forgot about them, and finally finished watching the series this summer and it was great. The closest we’ll get at this point is Stanley Tucci’s series, but man Bourdain’s voice was so important…
• Brooklyn 99 – Speaking of shows that stuck the landing, that was a nearly perfect finale. If you’ve loved the series (or forgot to watch it and need a fall binge) this was a great final season!
• Reservation Dogs – I loved this series! It was so hilarious and sweet and I liked how the final few episodes were focused on each kid individually. Plus it gave us the greatest rap song we didn’t know we needed.
• Nine Perfect Strangers – I remember enjoying the book but couldn’t quite remember how it ended. It was fine, a fun summer series of pretty people micro-dosing…
• LulaRich – If two podcasts about religion gone bad wasn’t enough – I needed a short docu-series to bring it home. Holy MLM meets mormons meets bad products and leadership. If you know anyone who’s ever sold direct sales or ever wonder why all your mom’s church friends sell stuff that no one really needs, this is the series that answers all of that for you…

I’m really enjoying Only Murders in the Building right now, and The Wonder Years is off to a strong start too. I need to finish The Other Two which has a GREAT religion episode I couldn’t stop laughing at. Ted Lasso continues to be perfect, even with that weird/fantastic Coach Beard episode. My husband and I are also really enjoying (that may not be the right word…) Impeachment: American Crime Story, I was in college during the Clinton sex scandal and really only caught some occasional headlines, so it’s interesting to watch.

What pop culture is getting you through the end of summer and transition to fall?