I always look forward to November as a bonus pop culture consumption month, and although I didn’t read much this month, I did watch a lot of holiday movies over the long weekend and consumed some great pop culture to help you get through the end of the year…
Reading
I have one book left to make my goal for the year of reading 40 books. I’ll make that goal this month, somehow… November wasn’t a great reading month for me – quantity wise, but it was great QUALITY wise. A few people online recommended Awake by Jen Hatmaker, which I hadn’t really though I’d be interested in. I was wrong, it’s incredible. Hatmaker is a well known Christian author and pastor’s wife who discovers he’s having an affair, so she gets divorced and continues raising her kids on her own (all through the pandemic). The story is fascinating and if you grew up evangelical (like me), this is one you’ll want to read. I did the audiobook and she was great.
I have had The Compound on my list for a while, and it finally came up at the library (along with 7 other books I wanted to space out over time but here we are…) and it was GREAT! Beautiful people sequestered in a compound and are being filmed for a popular reality series. If you enjoy reality TV (or honestly, if you hate it too) this was a great read.
Listening
I had been waiting for the second season of Hush to build up so I could binge the series, and it was excellent! Leah Sottile and the OPB team did it again. This time it’s an unsolved murder of a girl in Columbia County (within an hour from where I live). If you like true crime, and appreciate good journalism, this story really tells both stories, and why not having local news media is a problem in our country. I loved it (I love everything Leah does!)
I’m almost done with The Preventionist from Serial Productions and it’s really wild, as Serial podcasts tend to be. Ina Garten on Amy Poehler’s pod was my favorite interview this month for sure!
I am also really looking forward to Rachel Maddow’s new pod – Burn Order about what lead to Japanese internment camps during WWII. Okay, “looking forward to” is probably the wrong phrase, but I know I’m going to learn a lot and it’s a story I think we need to hear right now.
Watching
There’s a lot going on in the world, and here in Hillsboro right now, so my TV watching tends towards the light and frivolous. I am always grateful for the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City and shows like Loot and Palm Royale. However, we watched Death by Lightening and it was FANTASTIC! It’s only four episodes about the death of President Garfield. The cast is incredible, and the story is one that I didn’t know. I wish there were more easily digestible history lessons like this, we started The American Revolution and I do not have the mental capacity for that series yet..
I watched The Roses on my flight home from Thanksgiving and it was hilarious and exactly what I needed on a plane ride, although my seat mate (husband) wishes I’d watched it at home with how much (and loudly) I laughed. Over the holiday with family I watched a few Christmas movies and A Very Jonas Christmas was exactly the over the top ridiculous holiday movie we needed to kick off the season!
I hope you were able to eat leftover pie for breakfast and binge TV shows, or podcasts, or hide in a closet and read over the holiday weekend. What pop culture are you excited for as we wrap up 2025?
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