We’re coming up on a long weekend, where sitting on a patio or beach with a good book, an excellent playlist, and movies/tv to help sooth the sunburn are needed. Here’s a few of my top recommendations from the past month!

Reading

I finally finished The 5th Wave, and it wasn’t great. If you liked The Hunger Games (which I did) you might enjoy it. But whiney girly 14 year olds aren’t my favorite.

But then, I read Night Film in just a few days while on vacation earlier this month. It was exactly what I wanted it to be. Scary, interesting, pop culture infused, it was great. I loved the author’s first book, Special Topics in Calamity Physics, and this was right up my alley!

Hyperbole and a Half – wow, I haven’t laughed so hard at stories that reminded me way too much of myself in a LONG time. This graphic novel-ish book is so funny and quirky and easy to pick up and put down. A perfect fun summer read!

Watching

Orange is the New Black – Season 2 was somehow better than Season 1, I devoured this season and am so sad I have to wait another year to see what happens next. Good grief this show is fantastic!

Fargo- I know I mentioned this show last month, but that series finale was INCREDIBLE. Hurry up and watch it before FX hides it from us (seriously FX, can you help a fan out? on demand, on your site, netflix, amazon instant? I’d take ONE of these!). The fact that it was a self contained story was so wonderful, and Colin Hanks continues to be one of my favorite underdog actors!

Game of Thrones- Best Fathers Day episode ever.

Coming up on my DVR…Tyrant, The Bridge, The Leftovers, Masters of Sex, and finally binge watching Friday Night Lights this summer…

Listening

The Black Keys- I love this band, and their new album is a great for a road trip!

This American Life: The Radio Drama Episode– WOW, the first “drama” wasn’t amazing, but the 21 Jump Street Musical, new Mike Birbiglia & Sashir Zamata radio play were all fantastic!

May is always a great time for Pop Culture! Summer Blockbusters, Season Finales, The Song of the Summer, and sunshine means sitting outside on a patio with a beer and a good book, I love it! Here’s a few Pop Culture pieces keeping me entertained this month…

Watching

The Americans- The smartest and greatest show on TV, I LOVE this show and can not wait for Season 3 next year, WOW this is great!

Fargo- WOAH, FX is doing a great job with this series! I love everyone on the show, but there’s always a special place in my heart for Colin Hanks, even after what he did this week.

Mad Men – does that win trippiest finale ending yet? I can’t wait for the final 7 episodes in 2015, and think it’s really lame they split it into 2 seasons, big fail AMC!

Dollhouse- yes this show was on TV in 2009, but thanks to Netflix I finally watched it over the past month. With a sick dog at home, I’ve spent a lot of time snuggling on the couch, and this series was best watched marathoned I thought.

Much Ado About Nothing– I think this was the only movie I watched this month actually. I was missing Joss Whedon after finishing Dollhouse. This movie, a fabulous version of one of my favorite Shakespeare comedies, made me very happy!

Listening

Fitz & The Tantrums Radio – I recently took the time to play with iTunes Radio while I’m working. I created a Fitz & The Tantrums radio station and I can’t get enough. It’s a lot of great 60’s R&B that makes cleaning up my inbox a lot more enjoyable.

Dinner Party Download (Podcast) – my sister in law turned me on to this FANTASTIC podcast! Each Friday you get an hour podcast to make you a hit at your weekend dinner party. There’s always a couple great interviews (Jon Favreau! Steve Martin!), a themed cocktail of the week, and interesting food/party information (I really want to try Switchel now!)

Reading

I have 20 pages left in The 5th Wave– and we have a weekend trip to the Washington Coast where I am hoping to get some reading caught up on comics and books. The summer means warm afternoons on the patio and a lot more books being read!

Summer Short List

Here’s a few things I’m looking forward to this summer…

Chef – I love Jon Favreau and can’t wait to see this movie!

The Book of Mormon- Yup, it’s coming to Seattle & I have my tickets!

The Bridge- I loved the first season of this show!

Orange is the New Black- You know you’re excited for this amazing prison drama!

What’s on your list this summer? What pop culture are you currently consuming and loving (or loathing)?

Thanks to recent travels and a boom in Season finales and season premiers, there’s a lot to discuss here this month…

Books

Veronica Mars: The Thousand Dollar Tan Line– I’m not saying this is high art, BUT if you’re a fan of the TV show (and maybe backed the movie and went on opening day…) then you’ll love the book. It reads just like an episode of the show, and does a good job of making sure new to the world folks know who’s who. A very fun airplane read last week!

The Fifth Wave– I’m still reading this book and really enjoying it. They jump around through a few characters dealing with a post apocalyptic kind of world. My dad claims it’s his favorite YA Post-apocalypse book after The Hunger Games…I’m sold!

Music

Nickel Creek – wow I didn’t realize how much I missed this band! I saw them in concert years ago, and loved their previous release. Their new album A Dotted Line is pretty fantastic great work music.

I still can’t get enough of the new Pharrel album and every time I hear Fitz and the Tantrums I like them more and more…

TV

The Americans- good grief this show is great. You need to be watching it. I’m loving this season!

Mad Men – It’s Back! While some are complaining that they don’t care about the office drama, I trust Matt Weiner that as with every other season, this will end up that every random thing we see has its place.

Game of Thrones- This season is off to a great start! The final scene in Episode 2 did exactly what you always want a show to do, but they won’t do. It’s pretty fantastic. My only request? More dragons!

Parks & Rec- Hands down my favorite show on TV. I like the pregnancy twist this season, triplets are a little unnecessary, but I’m curious for the season finale this week that includes Michelle Obama and my bet is that job in Chicago comes back into play…

Alright- what’s are you reading, listening to and watching this month? The sunshine on Easter made for a great excuse to sit outside and read, I’m looking forward to summer!