We’ve made it to 2021, congratulations! I have loved using Goodreads for the past few years to track the books I’ve read, want to read and rate them for future reference. I also love seeing what my friends are reading – I often find we have similar taste and may find a new author or new book by an author I’ve loved. For YEARS I have been looking for the same thing for TV shows, since we all know I watch a LOT. I’ve gotten many recommendations but nothing is the right fit for my specific needs. I know, so picky. For 2021 my goal is to track my TV and movie consumption in a spreadsheet and hope that either the right app arrives this year or maybe just venture out and get it built myself next year. It makes ZERO sense why IMDB hasn’t done this… If you’re listening, I will GLADLY beta test this folks… Okay, with that out of the way, here’s the pop culture that has kept me sane while we waited for 46 to be sworn in.

Reading

You can always keep tabs on my reading via Goodreads (are we friends? we should be!)  I started off the year by reading Ready Player Two, an excellent start. Ready Player One is one of my top 5 favorite books (fun fact!) and RP2 did NOT disappoint. If you liked the first book and/or the movie, make sure to pick up this geek-tastic adventure!

I really want to read MORE this year, but I have a hard time finding the time. So, I’m trying more audio books out thanks to the Libby app from my library. I listened to Rachel Dratch’s book Girl Walks Into a Bar about her time after SNL figuring out life and ending up pregnant at 43. Listening to her read it, along with the SNL recordings that pop in was SUPER fun and obviously how she intended for us to read it. I’m so glad I never finished it when I picked it up a few years back so that I could listen to it. I think moving forward I’ll do more audio memoirs. I”m currently waiting for Amber Ruffin’s new book which I expect to be EPIC as an audio book!

I am currently reading The Three-Body Problem which I heard about on a podcast a few months back and finally started to read on our trip to the coast earlier this month. It’s great and there’s a lot of science that is nerdy but not necessary to really understand the story. I let myself get too bogged down at the beginning with the science so it’s taking me a bit longer than I’d like.

Listening

I was pretty burned out on political podcasts as we wrapped up the previous administration this year. I did appreciate keeping up on the news with What a Day, OPB Politics Now and Think Out Loud. Think Out Loud just had a great episode about school librarians and how they combat disinformation. It was fascinating.

Besides podcasts and audio books, I started listening to more music. Thanks to SNL, Dua Lipa has come into my rotation more frequently this year. EVERY song from the inauguration concert was fantastic, especially the new Justin Timberlake and Ant Clemons song – Better Days. That’s on heavy rotation here.

Watching

For the full report you can take a peak at my Google Sheet which I plan to keep updated throughout the year. A few of my favorite shows included The Flight Attendant on HBOMax. I was skeptical about this show but a friend encouraged me to give it a try and I am SO glad I did. It is a GREAT mystery with some excellent twists along the way!

I am LOVING Mr Mayor, I read that it was written as a spinoff from 30Rock for Alec Baldwin and I am so glad that it was reimagined in LA with Ted Danson. He’s PERFECT and quirky and I love it.  Speaking or Mr. Steenburgen, I am so happy that Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist is back! This was such a fun and needed discovery in 2020 and I am thrilled it’s back for another season which so far is off to a great start!

My husband is a huge Tiger Woods fan so of course we watched Tiger on HBO earlier this month. I knew pieces of his story but not all of it, and it was great to have it all in one spot. For as big of a pop culture nerd as I am, my husband remembered a LOT of very specific things about Tiger’s life.

While at the coast on vacation we watched a couple of movies and also caught Death to 2020 on Netflix which was funny until the Lisa Kudrow stuff started to come true recently. If you wanted a reminder of just how much insanity happened last year in a lighthearted/snarky tone – check it out. You’ll be surprised at what you forgot about!

Okay, that’s a good wrap on the month. What pop culture have you been consuming to kick off 2021? Do you have any good pop culture goals for 2021? Excited for any new/returning shows or books or albums? I’d love to hear it!

I am thrilled to say goodbye to 2020 and see what 2021 has in store for all of us! The cold and rain made it easier to stay inside and binge a few shows this month, AND I even got some reading done (finally!)

Reading

I finally finished Wow, No Thank You from Samantha Irby and it was SO DAMN FUNNY. I started the book this summer when I picked it up from the library. The problem (for me) with essays is that it’s also easy to put down and then forget about for months on end. I finally finished it this month and it did NOT disappoint! I also discovered she wrote a short story ebook about her new years resolutions which I devoured over the weekend (trying to hit that Goodreads goal!) New Year, Same Trash was funny and a great quick read!

I am almost done with Ready Player Two and was hoping to count it towards my Goodreads goal for the year, but luckily it’ll be a good start for 2021!

I listened to Such a Fun Age which is a book I’d read great things about and have had on my list for a while. It was GREAT, good story, great characters and some story tropes that I often enjoy.

Listening

This year I discovered that Ana Gasteyer has a Holiday Album called Sugar and Booze (the best part of the holidays is…) It’s delightful and makes me laugh and is also great background music!

Besides news podcasts I’ve been on a podcast slump lately, which is what led me to get on the audiobook train which I jumped off years ago when podcasts got big. I am hoping for more audiobooks in 2021…

Watching

My husband and I discovered The Pack on Amazon – it’s basically The Amazing Race (which we have often enjoyed) but WITH YOUR DOG. Yup – 12 dogs and their human travel the world and it is SO FUN. It’s sweet and positive and everyone gets along and it would be a great holiday break binge if you need it.

I binged right through Big Mouth’s new season on Netflix the weekend it came out. It’s so funny and ridiculous and it makes me laugh, a LOT.

I finally watched The Undoing on HBO. Two observations… first, I couldn’t get past the fact that a family with THAT MUCH MONEY used manual toothbrushes. No way they wouldn’t have fancy ass electric ones. Second, evil Hugh Grant is good stuff…

I have rewatched Bad Moms Christmas and had my annual White Christmas viewing. I thoroughly enjoyed this years SNL Christmas episode with Kirstin Wiig.

A friend of mine upon learning my love of Real Housewives of Salt Lake City demanded that I watch Selling Sunset on Netflix and it is ridiculous and over the top and a great background show while you’re baking or making dinner or doom scrolling…

My dad & I are both big Star Wars fans, so I was surprised when he didn’t like the early episode of The Mandalorian with Timothy Olyphant – who I LOVE. It felt like an episode of space cowboy Justified and I was up for it! However, as the season went on I felt it got a little ridiculous and I didn’t love how it ended. Dad disagrees (and I am sure some of you do too) but while there was some great stuff this season, I wasn’t in love.

Supermarket Sweep continues to be a fun show to watch if you need something else light hearted. And I’m enjoying the new season of The Unicorn. I am almost finished with Bridgerton and it is so great. I hadn’t planned to watch it but I keep seeing people tweet about it and after about 10 minutes, I was hooked.

We watched Wonder Woman 1984 on Christmas day and it was about 45 minutes too long. The opening scene made me realize that we aren’t done with theaters – it would have been AWESOME to watch it on a big screen. Kristin Wiig was easily the best part of the movie.

Alright, what pop culture have you been consuming to get through the end of 2020? What pop culture are you excited for in 2021?

We are in the rainy season here in Oregon, which means more time inside watching TV and bundled up for walks with the pups. Add in a state wide social freeze order from the Governor, it’s been a great time for some good pop culture.

With the election earlier this month I never got around to reading a book, which is a surprise even to me. I couldn’t get into it no matter how hard I tried. I am however SUPER excited for Ready Player Two which I am hoping to devour as soon as it arrives. Here’s the pop culture that I HAVE consumed over the past month…

Listening

Right before the election I was a bit overwhelmed with news podcasts. I kept up on What a Day and then mostly listened to Think Out Loud and OPB Politics Now to keep on top of local news and COVID updates around the state. The Nov. 23rd episode of Think Out Loud featured Dr. Maxine Dexter who is a COVID-19 doctor, a new state Representative, AND a fellow Emerge graduate from my class! She did an excellent job of talking about what this is all like from a doctor’s experience here in Oregon. I’m excited to have her input in Salem.

From the music side of life, I’ve been listening to a LOT of Billy Joel lately, not totally sure what brought that on, but it’s working for me.

Watching

I needed distractions this month, and thankfully Netflix was there for me. I did a re-watch of Big Mouth and I am super excited for the new season this month. I tried to savor The Crown, but it was so fantastic I couldn’t. Both the NYT and Entertainment Weekly had great write ups about what story lines were historically accurate and what “maybe” happened. The 7th episode with the cousin revelation was my favorite episode. I noticed The Iron Lady is on Netflix so will watch that at some point this month to unfairly compare Meryl & Gillian.

My husband and I loved Eater’s Guide to the World. If we can’t travel, let’s watch food shows about travel. Maya Rudolph narrates the show and she is as perfect at it as she is at this. Speaking of food shows, I discovered Selena + Chef (HBOMax) and it’s good! It does depend on who the chef is (Just start with Roy Choy, he’s amazing! then watch Breaking Bread on Hulu and prepare to be overwhelmed with how awesome he is.) If you need a new food show in your life, this is a fun quarantine version.

I did find time to watch the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Reunion. If you wanted to know the story behind two Aunt Viv’s then you should watch it. It was a fun and mostly happy reunion. The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City is a show that now exists and I am HERE for it! It’s as ridiculous as the rest of the franchise and it’s the perfect winter escape.

Over Thanksgiving there was a lot of mindless TV and movies happening over here. We watched both Christmas Vacation and Happiest Season on Thanksgiving. Christmas Vacation is a Case family rule on Thanksgiving that after 17 years of marriage I can fully quote with my husband. We aren’t putting up a tree this year and my friend is VERY concerned we’re turning into Margo & Todd… Happiest Season (Hulu) was a GREAT holiday movie for 2020. I’m not a huge Kristin Stewart fan but this movie brought her a long way up in my book. I want a sequel with more Aubrey Plaza and Dan Levy obviously! Somewhere in the last few years I totally missed Bad Moms Christmas and thankfully it’s on Netflix so I could laugh way too hard at this trio of burnt out moms at the holidays. We also found time to binge Saved By the Bell on Peacock (there are officially 100 too many streaming services out there these days!) and the reboot is fun and unnecessary and exactly what you want to watch over a long holiday weekend after lots of pie.

What pop culture got you through the holiday weekend (and longest election ever)? What are you excited for in December?