The rain has arrived and the Emmy’s have announced Ted Lasso the perfect show, Fall is here…
The September weather transition is always interesting, shorter but still warm (hot!) days and a few rainy forced indoor days to keep us on our toes. Here’s what got me through…
Reading
Huzzah – I finally hit my Goodreads goal for the year! I’m ahead of schedule and super excited that I finally hit this arbitrary milestone!
After reading and then stopping reading, I finally listened to Michelle Obama’s Becoming. It was interesting, but slow to start and she’s a calm steady reader of her book, which can be too soothing to really pay attention sometimes. I liked it, didn’t love it…
I had read good things about Intimacies by Katie Kitamura, it’s about a woman who is an interpreter at The Hague. It was an interesting way to learn about a world I know nothing about. It’s a short book but I kept getting distracted by pups – I think I might have liked it better if I was on vacation. I also read The Singers Gun by Emily St. John Mandel. I LOVED Station Eleven and so thought I’d try one of her older books. Again, this book takes you to a different world (a tiny island off Italy) and I really enjoyed the mystery. A quick weekend read.
I am now making my way through Liane Moriarty’s latest – Apples Never Fall and so far it’s as good as most of her other books (I hated Truly, Madly Guilty, thus the caveat). I’ll let you know next month what I thought, but I can already picture the limited series adaptation, not sure where Nicole Kidman will insert herself yet though…
Listening
Earlier this month I went on my first girls trip in almost two years and it was AWESOME. We went to Bend and saw John Legend and he did NOT disappoint! If you get a chance to see him in concert, do it! And if you get a chance to see any show at the Les Schwab Amphitheater in Bend, also GO.
I finally discovered In God We Lust about the Jerry Fallwell Jr. sex scandal and it was FASCINATING. That lead me to The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill which I am still making my way through (the main subject’s voice is a LOT). Mars Hill is interesting since I was in Seattle at the height of this church and remember a coworker who fits perfectly into that category of young 20 something guy without direction that Driscoll LOVED to “take under his wing.” What’s also interesting (to me) about this podcast is that Christianity Today (a Christian magazine) is producing the podcast.
The Leslie Knope sized hole in my heart has been filled by the arrival of Parks and Recollection a rewatch/recap podcast of the show. I’ve only listened to the first episode so far but I LOVE IT and it will help me through LITERALLY any need for inspiration from Ron Swanson or Leslie.
Watching
I finished a lot of shows in September…
- Parts Unknown – I know this show came out YEARS ago but my husband and I wanted to savor them and then sort of forgot about them, and finally finished watching the series this summer and it was great. The closest we’ll get at this point is Stanley Tucci’s series, but man Bourdain’s voice was so important…
- Brooklyn 99 – Speaking of shows that stuck the landing, that was a nearly perfect finale. If you’ve loved the series (or forgot to watch it and need a fall binge) this was a great final season!
- Reservation Dogs – I loved this series! It was so hilarious and sweet and I liked how the final few episodes were focused on each kid individually. Plus it gave us the greatest rap song we didn’t know we needed.
- Nine Perfect Strangers – I remember enjoying the book but couldn’t quite remember how it ended. It was fine, a fun summer series of pretty people micro-dosing…
- LulaRich – If two podcasts about religion gone bad wasn’t enough – I needed a short docu-series to bring it home. Holy MLM meets mormons meets bad products and leadership. If you know anyone who’s ever sold direct sales or ever wonder why all your mom’s church friends sell stuff that no one really needs, this is the series that answers all of that for you…
I’m really enjoying Only Murders in the Building right now, and The Wonder Years is off to a strong start too. I need to finish The Other Two which has a GREAT religion episode I couldn’t stop laughing at. Ted Lasso continues to be perfect, even with that weird/fantastic Coach Beard episode. My husband and I are also really enjoying (that may not be the right word…) Impeachment: American Crime Story, I was in college during the Clinton sex scandal and really only caught some occasional headlines, so it’s interesting to watch.
What pop culture is getting you through the end of summer and transition to fall?
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