It’s amazing what two trips and a week’s vacation can do for my pop culture consumption! I hope your April has been great – spring is arriving and the tulips have bloomed!
Reading
As promised, I finally got some reading done while on vacation. Hooray! I’m way behind on my comics, so a heads up for what’s in store for May…
Who Thought This Was a Good Idea? – As a fellow Friend of the Pod I was excited to check out this book by former White House Deputy Chief of Staff, Alyssa Mastromonaco. This book was WAY funnier than expected and incredibly thoughtful. It’s a book I wish had been around when I graduated from college. I strongly encourage it if you’re interested in politics, behind the scenes of the White House, or being a woman in an incredibly male dominated industry. I can’t wait to read more from the author! (PS: It would be a great graduation gift…) AND – just saw this exciting news about the book!
The Underground Railroad – This book had been on my list for a while, and it just happened to win the Pulitzer Prize the day before I started reading it. Clearly I have excellent taste. I’m not sure “enjoyed” is the right way to review a book about the underground railroad. However, it was captivating and well written and interesting and thanks to vacation, I read it in just 3 days, which may have helped. There’s a lot of characters and a fantastic story about one young woman’s escape from slavery. You need to read this book before the TV show.
Truly Madly Guilty – I loved Big Little Lies as a book (and TV show), and The Husband’s Secret from Liane Moriarty. So I was pumped for her newest book to come out. And it’s super boring and goes no where and has lame characters I couldn’t give a crap about. Previous books by the author have had a good twist in them that have made me audibly gasp. But this book not only had no twist, it had a super boring story about lame people with mundane issues. Skip this and re-read Big Little Lies instead.
What’s next? Comics. The second trade paper of Mockingbird came out while I was gone last week, so I picked that up at my comic book store this week. What a fantastic series…
Listening
I started and finished S-Town this month. It was such a great story. The twists and turns of Woodstock (AKA Shit-town), Alabama and it’s residents was a lovely and fascinating story about small town America and one man with many demons. It’s nothing like the first season of Serial, but if you like Serial, you need to try this…
Besides my usual line up of Pod Save America and The Watch (catch the Damon Lindelof episode about The Leftovers), I didn’t listen to much else this month for podcasts. What podcasts are you enjoying lately?
Watching
Big Little Lies – I read the book a few years ago, so while I knew who died and one other mystery, I forgot the other two main mysteries of the show. Even if I’d remembered them all, this show was so well done and so gorgeous that I didn’t mind knowing what happened. I’ve never been a huge Nicole Kidman fan, she’s fine but I don’t seek her out. Holy crap, was she incredible and will win all the awards…
Homeland – my husband and I got way behind on this season, so vacation seemed like a good time to binge and catch up. I think Homeland is a series better binged. So much happens in each season and so many story lines that having a couple days to binge makes it easier to catch everything.
The Leftovers – This series amazing. You need to be watching it. The first season is so dark, but this season is awesome and I’m excited for what Australia has in store. Plus, Wu Tang Trampoline is the best scene of television in 2017.
I’m really enjoying this season of The Americans and although it seems like it’s trying to slow burn to the series finale next year, the stresses on Paige this season have been interesting to watch. I also watch Billions, and Pastor Tim is a hedge fund guy on Billions which is super weird to watch at the same time.
I’m so glad that iZombie is back! We also caught the Netflix Abstract series episode about Tinker Hatfield, the Nike shoe designer/genius. If you like Nike, Oregon or shoes, you need to watch this episode at least!
Fargo is on the DVR to get caught up with – I’m hearing great things and can’t wait to catch up this weekend. And, I am super excited for The Handmaids Tale – I loved the book and am a bit terrified that the show may be too close to real life, but Elizabeth Moss is awesome, it’ll be great!
What pop culture have you consumed this month? What’s on your short list?
I spoke earlier this week to a group of new business owners. It’s always fun to talk to people when they’re just getting started! The variety of questions and overwhelm is understandable. One thing I talked about was having a website. It doesn’t need to be a big crazy site, but it does need to have some basic information. There’s a lot of things to consider when you start your business, but having a basic online presence is part of this.
I’m going to Maui next week and I can’t WAIT! But being away from my business means a lot of planning so I can read, relax and drink mai tai’s!