Well my birthday month FLEW by didn’t it?

I hope you had a great July. Late summer nights are perfect for baseball games and reading outside (not usually together, but I did see someone reading at the Hops game a couple weeks ago…). And the HEAT means staying inside for some AC and catching up on TV. Here’s what’s kept me going in July…

Reading

I finally caught up on some comics this month. I finished Sex Criminals as it wrapped up the series earlier this year. It was a fun (and incredibly raunchy) series. Half way through the series the writers took a break from writing for a few months, so it feels like I’ve been reading this series for EVER, and I have, with a few gaps in there.

I listened to Elizabeth Warren’s Persist on audio and really appreciated how incredibly thoughtful she is about what it means to be a woman and a parent in our country. I am now blazing my way through Obama’s A Promised Land on audio and as always, really enjoying it.

I have enjoyed Geraldine DeRuiter’s Twitter feed for YEARS. I have been meaning to read her book and FINALLY snagged it from the library and it did not disappoint! All Over the Place is a wonderful and hilarious collection of stories from her life and travels. It’s fun that she lives in Seattle and travels to places I’ve been before. In one chapter she talks about going to Greenwich and I had to look at my photos during the chapter to see what she was talking about which was fun! If you like travel stories and poop jokes, this is for you!

I read The Other Black Girl over my birthday weekend at the coast. It is definitely The Devil Wears Prada meets Get Out, and I need to talk to someone about that ending.

As always, keep an eye on my Goodreads for more inspiration.

Listening

The Turning wrapped up this week and it was a crazy story about Mother Theresa and the Sisters of Charity. If you like cults and religious podcasts this one is for you.

I am sad that Akilah Hughes is leaving What a Day but I am proud that she is taking care of her mental health and stepping back from the grind of reporting the news every day. SELF CARE IS IMPORTANT.

This months Late Night Lit on Late Night with Seth Meyers the Podcast was great. I am curious to hear more about The Council of Animals…

My friends over at Dodge Movie Podcast did a fabulous deep dive on one of my favorite movies – Pitch Perfect this month! If you need a fun movie deep dive podcast – this is for you!

Watching

There is some GREAT television to watch right now, and then you throw the Olympics in – when are we supposed to sleep? I am really enjoying this season of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Erika Jayne’s divorce storyline is more insane than I expected. On the other hand this season of RHONY is super boring, I’m disappointed.

The final season of Atypical is on Netflix and I am attempting to savor it. I also haven’t started the new season of Never Have I Ever, one thing at a time.

With my new snazzy iMac I got 3 months of Apple+ – just in time for Schmigadoon and Ted Lasso! Schmiagdoon is perfectly goofy and a great weekend watch. My husband didn’t watch Ted Lasso last year so we just finished a rewatch and will start Season 2 this weekend.

We’re also catching up on the final two seasons of Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations which is still fantastic and makes me miss him a lot. CNN’s The History of the Sitcom will remind you that there is SO MUCH great television out there, and so much that I’ve missed over the years, mostly just because of my age.

What pop culture is getting you through the summer? Any great new beach read or bingeable series to recommend?

While Oregon has been in the midst of an insane heat wave this past week, it’s been a good time to enjoy a cold beverage, a LOT of water, stay inside and enjoy some pop culture. Here’s a few things that kept me cool and relaxed over the past month…

Reading

I finished Project Hail Mary at the very end of May – and it was a very fun read. If you liked The Martian you’ll also enjoy this science fiction.

I picked up The Vanishing Half from the library after all the rave reviews and I have to say – it did not disappoint! I’ve heard that Brit Bennett’s first book The Mothers is even better, so I may have to add that to my never ending list.

I decided that I really wanted to LISTEN to Obama’s memoir A Promised Land instead of read it, which was an excellent choice. AND I got it on audio from the library which was great, but came with a 3 week time limit on a 30 hour book. SO I am now half way through (up to part 4!) and waiting for it on hold again (just 5 weeks to go!)

I am now listening to Persist by Elizabeth Warren. She spend the first 20% of the book talking about childcare in America. While I knew a lot about the issues of childcare, she really really really gets into the details of why it’s such a crisis in this country. It’ll make you angry and maybe have some hope…

I picked up The Final Revival of Opal & Nev after some fantastic reviews and I really enjoyed it! It’s a work of fiction told in a journalist/interview style which I enjoyed. I had a hard time getting through the “editors notes” at the beginning, but once you get into the story, it’s GREAT. It’s a fictional “Behind the Music” kind of story about a 70’s duo and the journalists life is a bit more intertwined than is probably ethical.

Listening

In an effort to get through Obama’s book I haven’t listened to as many podcasts lately, but I have been keeping up on What a Day and I’m looking forward to getting back into The Turning: The Sisters Who Left, about a nun who left the Missionaries of Charity – Mother Theresa’s order. It’s WILD. I also ALWAYS love Late Night Lit from Seth Meyers podcast!

Watching

My list of shows never ends, but this month I finished two shows that couldn’t be more different. The season finale (and this season) of The Handmaids Tale wasn’t quite what I expected. I am curious what they will do with The Testaments spinoff since the series handled some plot points different. To say that I “enjoyed” the season is not the right word, but it moved in a direction that I am curious to continue watching, even though I think it could have easily wrapped up with this season.

I also finished the finale season of Younger which is a fun series that I enjoyed binging this winter and am glad to see wrap up. The final season was not nearly as great as the rest of the series, but it was still nice to wrap it up and make sure that Liza ended up where she belongs.

I continue to LOVE this season of Top Chef in Portland. The Tillamook creamery episode was super fun since we just visited the creamery this spring! My two favorites didn’t make it (Sara & Jamie) but I am excited to see how it ends. And I am LOVING the Oregon love!

My husband and I are huge Anthony Bourdain fans and would record Parts Unknown and binge on occasion. When he passed away 3 years ago we had most of Season 11 on our DVR and couldn’t bring ourselves to watch it, and then there was a 12th season that’s been sitting at the end of our DVR list for longer than anything else. The heat dome was the perfect time to remind us of this mans genius.

How did you survive the Heat Dome? What pop culture has kept you sane on road trips and family vacations so far this summer?

Baseball season has arrived in Hillsboro, and my nights are now a mix of up late nights after a game letting the dogs run around before bed, or a chill night at home catching up on the TV I’ve missed from the last week (or more). I love this time of year when the days get longer and we can comfortably visit outside with friends (and without masks for those of us who are vaccinated!) When I’m not cheering for the Hops or the Vancouver Canadians this month, here’s what’s been keeping me busy.

Reading

I am making my way through Project Hail Mary the latest book from Andy Weir who wrote The Martian. I am really enjoying the book and hopefully can push through this weekend with the warm weather to finish!

Between baseball and local elections this month I didn’t get as much reading in as usual, hopefully June will make up for it!

Listening

Besides the usual podcasts I discovered The Turning which is about Mother Theresa’s convent – Missionaries of Charity (MC). It’s pretty dark and crazy what was, and still is, going on for nuns in this organization. If you like a good cult story (as we all know I do) this will maybe fit that niche…

Most weekends we watch the latest episode of SNL with our friends in our quarantine pod. For the first time ever, the 13 year old DEMANDED we skip the musical guest two weeks ago when Olivia Rodrigo was on. He rarely asks to skip anything so we did it, sounds like we didn’t miss anything. And luckily we did catch Lil Nas X in the finale.

Watching

I am caught up on The Handmaids Tale and I really need to talk about it. WOAH. What a season. I am curious – if you read The Testaments are you enjoying this season more or less than previous seasons?

I also finally am catching up on the final season of Younger which I really enjoyed binging this winter.

Tis the season for Real Housewives! We just wrapped up Jersey (loved it, and Joe Gorga needs to CHILL), started New York – which is my favorite (really loving Eboni!) and finally the return of Beverly Hills – I can’t WAIT for all the Erika Jayne drama to unfold…

If you haven’t discovered Hacks on HBOMax you need to stop what you’re doing and jump on it. Jean Smart is a national treasure and she is as funny as ever in this smart series! On the other end of the funny ladies scale, I devoured Girls5Eva on Peacock earlier this month. It’s a sweet and funny series from Tina Fey. If you liked Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, this is for you.

My husband and I are really enjoying The Story of Late Night on CNN. I knew a lot of the stories since my dad is an uber Letterman fan, but I still didn’t know a lot of it. It’s GREAT. We’re also enjoying this season of Top Chef which had it’s best Restaurant Wars to date!

What pop culture got you through this prequel to summer? What pop culture are you excited for this summer?