Reading

I have loved Rob Delaney since Catastrophe, and I had heard great things about A Heart That Works, the devastating story of his son dying of cancer at two years old. I didn’t realize you could laugh so hard (the pronunciation of giraffe being racist had me laughing loudly on a dog walk) through the grief. If this book is on your to read list, I highly recommend you let Delaney read it to you.

As an unashamed Real Housewives fan, I usually skip the memoirs, but Heather Gay’s new memoir Bad Mormon obviously screamed “Elizabeth needs this ASAP.” I LOVED it. The stories Gay tells about the church and her mission and her marriage were so fascinating to me, especially with her lens of no longer being in the church. I recommended it to my dad and told him to just skip the part about the housewives at the end, which if you aren’t a housewives fan, I’d suggest the same for you. She was sweet and funny through the whole book and then felt like it was a fan service to trash talk RHOSLC cast mates. I get it and still loved the book.

Like most of the world, I read Spare this month and, like everyone else it seems, LOVED IT. I got the book before the audiobook was ready and I preferred to read it since the chapters are such short stories, it was very easy to pick up and put down. I didn’t realize how intertwined “the Firm” is with the media in the UK, it’s crazy and disgusting. I felt sympathy for Camilla after the latest season of The Crown and after reading what Prince Harry had to say, I no longer feel sympathy for her. At all. Or his brother for that matter. What a messed up family.

Watching

Shrinking on AppleTV is the best show I didn’t know I was going to need this winter. It is so clever and funny. If you only watched the pilot please keep going. I promise you won’t be disappointed. There is a scene in episode four that I can’t stop laughing when I think about. You’re welcome.

I finished another lovely season of All Creatures Great and Small, which continues to be such a nice and kind show.

When recovering from a medical procedure, a good rom-com is always the answer, and Your Place or Mine was the answer this month. It was exactly the amount of cute and funny I needed. Plus it was written by the co-creator of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend AND has Tig Notaro in it! What’s not to love?

Speaking of movies, I finally watched The Menu and if you have traveled for fine dining experiences like I have, well, you should watch this. And then eat an Olive Garden amount of breadsticks to make up for that bread course. Thanks to a snow storm and visit from my dad, we watched Wakanda Forever finally and it was a great next step in the Wakanda universe after the loss of Chadwick Boseman.

Listening

I haven’t listened to a lot of new podcasts lately so decided this part may come and go. Besides In To It, I am also enjoying Vibe Check lately – it’s a great mix of news and pop culture.

When I saw The Boss was coming to Portland on his latest tour I knew we had to get this bucket list item concert checked off. My dad flew up to join us and we had a GREAT time! If you are around my age and have parents who live in the Portland area, I can almost guarantee where they were that night. Springsteen went all in for almost 3 hours, it was AWESOME!

Reading

I had my mind set on reading two books in Hawaii and neither of them were available at the library or Powells, so I went with a few paperbacks that had been on my list. Hopefully I will get off the wait list for Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow and Lessons in Chemistry soon, but it wasn’t this month!

I love Emily St. John Mandel and have been making my way through her books. Last Night in Montreal is a great story of a girl taken from her home by her father and is on the run for her whole life. Unlike other St. John Mandel books that have multiple characters and stories that jump all over, this was more linear storytelling, and just as compelling.

After reading The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo I knew I wanted to read more from the author. I picked up Malibu Rising and didn’t realize that the authors books all take place in the same universe. I can’t wait to read Carrie Soto is Back after her appearance in Malibu Rising. I really enjoyed the story of these four siblings and the 80’s setting was great.

I have had Mexican Gothic on my shelf for a while now and thought this might be the perfect trip to read it. I really liked the story but it definitely is a book better read in fall (it’s kind of creepy – but not in a jump/keep you up at night way), to get in the holiday/spooky season mood.

I really liked All Her Little Secrets last year so picked up the authors new book Any Where You Run which was a great story of two sisters in the south in the early 60’s. Again, not really a beach read, but a good story with characters you can invest in.

My friend joined us for the last couple of days on the trip and handed me The Authenticity Project when she finished it. We had to come home (boo!) so it’s been stuck on my end table and hopefully I can finish it up soon. Although Spare became available at the library and that’s jumped the line right now!

Watching

I was prepared to binge a few shows while we were in Hawaii but with all the family and activities not as much evening tv happened. I finally downloaded and started to watch Paper Girls on the flight over. It’s great so far, I need to make sure I go back and finish it (side note, why is Prime SO HARD to navigate?)

My friend has been suggesting Acapulco on Apple+ for a while now, two seasons of this comedy and it’s GREAT! It was a fun vacation show to watch as it takes place at a resort in the 80’s in (duh) Acapulco. It reminds me of Jane the Virgin with it’s story telling style. It is very sweet and funny.

We were flying the night Aubrey Plaza hosted SNL, so I had heard about the Parks & Rec cameo and was so excited to watch it on Sunday! This is probably my favorite episode of the season so far. She was a GREAT host and those George Santos jokes were perfection.

I am sad that Yellowstone is on a break till this summer, but happy that All Creatures Great and Small has returned. I watched Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris on the flight home and it is delightful – if you like All Creatures make sure to catch Mrs Harris.

The season finale of the Real Housewives of Salt Lake was everything I hoped for as far as fast forwarding to Jen Shah’s trial and sentencing. Also, HOW did Heather get that black eye? Real fans want to know…

I’m not listening to much new in the podcast arena lately but when I do I promise to update you. What pop culture has kept you going into the new year?