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.
P.s: I got rid of the Amazon links and instead have linked to local bookstores. Consider this a gentle nudge to support indie. :)
READ
Kitchens of the Great Midwest
This was so good. I already want to read it again. It took me a little bit to get into—and keeping the characters straight was somewhat complicated at first—but I got one-third of the way through and could NOT put it down. J. Ryan Stradel has a gift at making people come alive on the page. Also I just love the shootouts to things in the Midwest. It doesn’t happen very often in novels and I just adore that Stradel has embraced the Midwest and made it an actual PLACE in his books, instead of some flyover space.
Burn it Down: Women Writing About Anger
This was…fine. Like most essay collections from multiple contributors, some were better than others. Some I skimmed, some I skipped entirely, others left me cheering. I feel like the topic is so important and I wish I could give it a better recommendation, but honestly I could take or leave it.
Once More We Saw Stars: A Memoir
Trigger warning: loss of child. This was a beautifully-written memoir for the most tragic of events. I literally have no other words to describe it than that.
The Dutch House
True confession #1: I am not an Ann Patchett fan. (In literary circles, this is akin to saying you like to murder puppies.) True confession #2: I loved this book. My love for family dramas is well established so maybe that was this one’s saving grace? Each of the characters had their own flaws, but I love a character with good, believable flaws. I also love that this was set around a house. It gave new meaning to the idea of writing about place.
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
This was a fascinating, if somewhat dense, read. I didn’t think I was all that into it, and even thought about putting it aside a few times, but something kept bringing me back. I had to read more. The attempt to tackle the whole of human history in a single go is certainly audacious, yet the large brushstrokes Yuval Noah Harari paints with are thought-provoking and sometimes eyebrow-raising—in a good way. I should say that overall it wasn’t dense in a technical sense, more dense in that it is a lot of subject matter to pack into a single book, though he does it amazingly well.
Untamed
I have followed Glennon Doyle for a solid decade now. I remember reading her blog when she had less than 1000 followers. (How do I remember this fact? I guess I was enthralled from the very beginning.) To watch her journey from wife and mother to viral essayist to published author to social activist has been fascinating. This book is the culmination of her past decade’s work. Maybe her life’s work. I found something to cheer on virtually every page. Women need this. Hell, men need this. Buy it. Read it. The end of my fangirling. (For now, not forever.)
Anne of Green Gables series
As soon as social distancing hit (9 weeks ago? 10? I don’t even know anymore.), I ordered this from one of my favorite local children’s bookstores. For myself. I actually began by reading Rilla of Ingleside as an ebook from the library because I needed to read about someone else going through an absolutely insane time in history. Also because that book is comfort reading at its absolute best. Then I got hooked and decided I needed to start all over with the series, with the logical conclusion being that I needed my own set. I have no idea where my own original set went, but these are the exact same books I had as a kid. This has been my pandemic comfort reading. Here’s my quick review of each book (Warning: I’m sure there are some spoilers here.):
Anne of Green Gables
An absolute delight. It’s a classic for a reason. 5 stars.
Anne of Avonlea
A decent follow-up. 4 stars.
Anne of the Island
A decent follow-up to the follow-up. And I love Anne and her friends as college students. 4 stars.
Anne of Windy Poplars
The worst of the entire series, as far as I’m concerned. It feels like it’s just a placeholder until she marries Gilbert and I just don’t care. Stil, it’s Anne. 3 stars.
Anne’s House of Dreams
I adore this one. The new characters, her early married life, the house of dreams itself. 5 stars.
Anne of Ingleside
The whole time I read this one I couldn’t help but think, “THIS IS MY LIFE RIGHT NOW." Anne is surrounded by small children, and motherhood looks good on her. I saw some reviews moan that there was too much about her kids in this book and not enough about her, but I a.) disagree and b.) that seems right to me. These are still children’s (or at least YA books) after all. Kids aren’t going to want to read much about the struggles of parenting and marriage, though that shows up, too. 5 stars
Rainbow Valley
A decent continuation of the Ingleside chronicles. 4 stars.
Rilla of Ingleside
Hot take: I’m torn between whether this or Anne of Green Gables is the best in the entire series. Maybe I lean toward this one just because it’s more adult? This follows Rilla (Anne’s daughter) as a teenager living through WW!. Despite the heavy subject matter, it is a delight through-and-through. I’ve probably read this one more times in my life than AofGG itself. 5 very enthusiastic stars.
WATCHED
Tiger King
I mean, did you even quarantine if you didn’t?
The Good Place
We got addicted to this show and then watched three seasons in a matter of weeks. That’s basically unheard of for us. Kristen Bell is a gift to humanity.
McMillions
True crime stories with blood and murder and crime scenes: hard pass. True crime that’s all white collar? I’m ALL IN. This is SO. GOOD. You know you want to see how the McDonald’s Monopoly game was scammed in the late ‘90s early 00’s. It may also make you disappointed to discover that no, you were never actually going to win, no matter how hard you tried for Boardwalk. Also also: you may crave some of those Mickey D’s fries every time you watch. (No? Just me?)
Hillary
This documentary. It’s so good. It’s also depressing. It’s vulnerable. It’s full of what-ifs, especially in the midst of our current pandemic. (And let’s not forget that right before all this COVID stuff hit we had just the chance to have Elizabeth Warren, the last woman standing, get the Democratic nomination.) Sigh. Still, it is so very worth the watch.
LISTENED
There are two podcasts giving me life lately. One is The Daily from the New York Times. They do such a good job at breaking down the news into digestible segments. The other is the Nightly Nuance from Pantsuit Politics. Usually, these are only available at certain tier levels through Patreon, but given the current situation they’ve opened up their Nightly Nuance episodes to all supporters. Their Nightly Nuance coronavirus check-ins help me feel a little less alone, a little less crazy, and have become essential to my nightly routine. Also Beth’s regular Nightly Nuance episodes are so helpful at parsing out individual news stories and tangents. (P.s. they’re scaling the coronavirus check-ins back starting next week. I’ll be eagerly awaiting each one.)