Fall has arrived in the northwest, and this year that includes some nice end of the month sunshine and cold weather (perfect for trick or treating!). With the Diamondbacks in the World Series it’s baseball, the return of SNL and staying warm anyway possible around here. Check out a few things that have kept me going this month…
Reading
When the weather changes and brings us inside, my reading habits dwindle. Luckily more audiobooks in my life are helping me push towards exceeding my Goodreads goal for 2023. I had really enjoyed Anderson Coopers book Vanderbilt a couple of years ago so was excited when he was going to write a book on the Astor’s. Astor was almost as interesting (Cooper is a Vanderbilt so he had a bit more of himself/family in it) but I still really enjoyed the storytelling style and learning about this fascinating family that had drama up in till very recently. I had no idea.
I finally read Yellowface which I wanted to enjoy more than I did. It was great and deserves all the praise it has received. The incredibly vain and self absorbed main character was a bit abrasive for me. Still a great story even if I might have liked it better in third person than first person.
I just finished We See Each Other: A Black, Trans Journey Through TV and Film on audio and loved it. Tre’vell Anderson is on a podcast I listen to regularly so I know their voice well and was excited to check it out. The book was a great way to learn more about trans visibility, and my favorite part were the recommended viewing list at the end of each chapter (see more notes below!)
I get on an airplane and a train in November which should lead to some good reading time, I promise. And I’m hoping that Britney’s memoir is finally ready for me from the library on audio…
Listening
I am devastated that Into It has wrapped up as a podcast. I talked about the pod a lot in my roundups, I checked out so many books and shows thanks to Sam Sanders. I’ll continue to listen to Vibe Check which he hosts with two friends but I really enjoyed Sam Sanders in my ears three times a week and now I’m down to one.
I plowed right through Grapevine which was a fascinating podcast about what happens when conservative Christians are elected to school boards in Texas. Teachers leave, kids aren’t allowed to be who themselves and communities are torn apart. You know my feelings on getting involved in local politics (do it! I’ll help!) and this podcast is a microcosm of what’s going on in towns all over the country. Read it, be scared, get involved. It’s only 6 episodes.
Multiple friends have sent me Say More with Dr? Sheila and I have it saved but haven’t started it yet. I promise it’s up next, getting through an audiobook first.
The new season of The Dream came out last month and a newsletter I subscribe to reminded me of it. I enjoyed the first season on MLM’s and this season is all about coaching, which I find fascinating (fun fact, a lot of my clients are coaches/consultants) but this… this is different.
Watching
Thanks to We See Each Other, my to watch list is out of control at the moment with shows and movies I missed over the years. A great starting place however, was the Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness episode on the binary. I found it fascinating and helpful.
I really enjoyed the ridiculousness of the latest season of Only Murders in the Building. Paul Rudd can do no wrong in my book and he was all in with his character this season which I loved. We finally binged the final season of The Wonder Years reboot. I loved the reboot concept for this and think it could have played for years in different iterations, I’m bummed that the strike (and BTS drama) caused it to end early.
I took my friend to see Little Shop of Horrors in the theater this weekend, she’d never seen it before and it’s one of my favorite musicals. It was the directors cut which I hadn’t seen before and WOW is it different! The directors cut models the musical ending, which test audiences HATED so they completely changed the ending. The original version is currently on MAX so I came home and had to rewatch those last 20 minutes to remember what happened. If you haven’t seen it in a while, or have never seen it both versions are great.
I really liked the Pete Davidson episode of SNL, especially this. However, the Nate Bargatze episode is one that I will happily rewatch on a regular basis, it was fantastic.
What pop culture is consuming you these days? What are you looking forward to?
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