I love reading just about everything (okay, you won't see any mystery or sci-fi picks on here), watching things that make me think and especially if they make me laugh, and wholeheartedly embrace the podcast. I also enjoy hearing about what other people are reading, watching, and listening. Here's my two cents worth.
READ
Modern Love: True Stories of Love, Loss, and Redemption
This book was a delight. I’d read some of these pieces before, (Modern Love is a column in the New York Times, this book is a compilation of many of them), and it was so fun to revisit some of my favorites. Even better to read so many I hadn’t seen before. The perfect cozy-up-by-the-fire read.
The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World
I am here for Melinda Gates. I am here for everything she stands for: raising up women and girls through education, access to healthcare, and workplace equality. It was also interesting to read about her work (much of it behind-the-scenes) with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. That said I got about two-thirds of the way through this book and then put it down. While the stories were inspiring, it got repetitive, and I had other books to dive into!
And Your Daughters Shall Prophesy: Stories from the Byways of American Women and Religion
I found this while browsing through a bookstore and was intrigued. Especially when I picked it up to find it was an NPR Best Book of 2017. It was beautiful and interesting. Each chapter gives a vivid portrait of a different American woman and her theology, from Eliza Snow of the LDS church (one of my favorite chapters) to Marie Laveau, a 19th-century Voodoo priestess from New Orleans. Highly recommend.
Southern Lady Code
This book is a light, quick read of essays. I realized while reading that it was written by the sister of a host of one of my favorite podcasts (One Bad Mother). This book skims through how the author navigates New York City despite being a girl raised in the south. Helen Ellis is funny - I initially thought the book was going to be more serious. It kind of left me wishing there were more moments of thoughtfulness to balance the (sometimes forced) levity.
Thick and Other Essays
Tressie McMillan Cottom is unapologetically “thick where I should have been thin, more where I should have been less”. (And that’s just in the first essay!) I’m not sure there’s a topic she doesn’t touch. These essays are packed full of original cultural analysis. And just like Tressie McMillan Cottom herself, they are full of “more” - but I certainly don’t want them to be less. I definitely had to lean into my discomfort, in the best of ways. (If that’s possible!)
Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion
I literally read this right after Thick and I wish I could write like these women. They give new meaning to the term “essay”. This book is so much more than that. It’s thought-provoking, insightful, and sometimes explosive. Jia Tolentino tackles our culture in much the same way as Thick - this is a book I will be coming back to for sure. Her analysis on the Internet and modern America - especially for us Millennials - is intriguing, relatable, and sometimes hard to swallow.
The Book of Separation
This. Book. One of my top reads of the year. A memoir by Tova Mirvis that covers one year, from Rosh Hashanah to Rosh Hashanah - a year that happens to include her divorce from her husband as well from the Orthodox Judaism she’s spent most of her life in. For anyone who has found themselves wandering the wilderness of religion - religion of any sort - this book is for you. Five million stars.
Consider the Women: A Provocative Guide to Three Matriarchs of the Bible
I stumbled upon this one in my library’s collection of ebooks. Written by a local (St. Paul-based) pastor, Debbie Blue, the book walks through the narratives of three women in the Bible: Hagar, Esther, and Mary. She explores the three women through the lenses of the Abrahamic religions: Hagar as the mother of Islam, Esther as a Jewish heroine, and Mary as Christianity’s matriarch. I thought it was timely and fascinating - all the more so because she mentions local resources for organizations to help connect me with neighbors of other faiths.
Grace and Power: The Private World of the Kennedy White House (re-re-read)
I’ve read this book a handful of times and love it. It’s one of the most well-done biographies I’ve ever read. Sally Bedell-Smith takes a look at the Kennedys through the lens of their friends and private residencies, hobbies, etc. It’s full of rich detail and an intelligent look at what might be our most famous First Couple.
Holy Envy: Finding God in the Faith of Others
This was a beautiful look at other religions from the lens of Barbara Brown Taylor, who was inspired to write this book because of a class she taught on world religions. While she never loses her own Christian faith, she finds much to admire in the traditions of others. The book goes back and forth from the classroom to various field trips, and her students are by turns illuminating and horrifying in their reactions. It wasn’t my favorite BBT read, yet I so appreciate her giving a (Christian) voice to other traditions around us.
The Matriarch: Barbara Bush and the Making of an American Dynasty
I think we could solve the divisiveness in our current political climate if we just made people read biographies of people from the other side of the aisle. This biography was well done - I found much to love about Barbara Bush (though I like her already, TBH). I especially appreciated the work done to dive in and truly humanize her - especially through some episodes in her life such as the death of her three-year old daughter, an episode of depression in the ‘80’s, and detailing her true thoughts on abortion (read: that it should be legal).
Three Women
This book was hard for me to get into at first. It’s written in a detached, clinical way. But the stories of these three women - real-life stories following women and sexual desire - were riveting. I thought about putting it down a couple of times (some of it is hard to read), yet I couldn’t stop wondering how things all turned out. It’s easy to judge; I often found myself thinking what I would or wouldn’t have done in their different situations, yet that’s not the point here. These are their stories - mostly the bare-boned facts, and regardless of how you feel about them, this is what and how they’re living with their own individual choices.
WATCHED
Inside Bill’s Brain: Decoding Bill Gates
It was all we could do to not binge watch these three episodes back-to-back-to-back. (Note: staying up until 1 am is not a good look for us anymore.) I’m fascinated by Bill Gates - and Melinda, who features fairly prominently here, too. This was a fantastic look into both the history of Bill Gates and Microsoft, but also to feature the philanthropy they’re involved with as a couple now. The thoughtful, innovative approach they take to tackling the world’s problems is so encouraging.
American Factory
Tyson suggested this one - I was skeptical but ended up riveted. (Also I discovered it’s the first documentary produced by Barack and Michele Obama’s production company, so that was recommendation in and of itself.) (Do I trust their instincts better than that of my own husband? The answer is yes.) This documentary followed an American auto factory which is taken over by a Chinese manufacturer. There’s no overarching narrative here - not once does this documentary ever tell you what to think. It just plays out the events of about a year in the life of this factory and leaves you to think about it all for yourself.
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
We’re not big movie people but I absolutely had to get to the theater to see this. Such a delight. I am here for the Fred Rogers moment our country is having right now.
Frozen II
So I just said we’re not big movie people and yet I saw this not once but twice with the kids. Mostly because I wanted to see it a second time. Disney: please keep doing THIS. Give women good (i.e. non-romantic) storylines, get political, keep giving us these SOUNDTRACKS. I’m here for it all.
The Crown (season three)
Hi. We love this show and yes I am a basic American bitch who also loves all things royalty. What of it?
LISTENED
Dolly Parton’s America
Hi, in case you’ve been living under a rock (or just don’t frequent the same corners of the Internet I do) I’m here to tell you that this podcast is fan-freaking-tastic. Who knew Dolly Parton - and everything she (or what people think she) stands for - could be so nuanced? This podcast is FASCINATING. I love everything about it, maybe Dolly’s own refreshing, uncompromising honesty most of all.
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