Between cataract surgery (you’re right, I look amazing for 87) and a snow storm, my pop culture habits this month included two of the best audiobooks I’ve listened to in a very long time AND seeing Springsteen in concert, despite the weathers best efforts to cancel the show. Here’s what else I enjoyed this month.
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.
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!
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