summer recs: books, movies, music
Hi friends—
How've you been? A lot has been going on behind the scenes publishing-wise (a few blurbs have come in! I finished copyedits in both countries! I'm getting my photo taken for the book jacket tomorrow!), but not a ton I can share just yet. Yes, that means waiting another month to see the covers—womp.
Since I have less book news to share, I thought I'd make this month all about recommendations: books, TV shows, movies, music, podcasts, and plays. With summer comes travel days or pool days or backyard days or I'm-sick-of-being-outside-so-I'm-staying-on-the-couch days, which means plenty of opportunities for entertainment. Below are some of my favorites from the last several months. Going forward, I'll make this a regular part of the newsletter.
Books
After devouring Taylor Jenkins Reid's two most recent books, I've become a superfan. Her characters are flawed and fascinating women, and I love a walk through history. I don't usually go for sex/drugs/rock & roll stories, but Daisy Jones was so much more than that. Karen and Graham, a couple minor characters, were the two I was most invested in, and they were a good reminder for this writer to give the supporting cast their own needs and storyline (harder to do than it sounds). And Evelyn Hugo! Ah, Evelyn. No matter how many terrible things she did—of which there were many—I only loved her more with every page I read. I highly recommend both of these titles.
TV Shows
Two very different suggestions here. Sex Education is one of the funniest, best-written TV shows I've ever watched. I could go on all day about it, but you can watch the trailer or the first episode and see for yourself. Chernobyl is—obviously—not the place to go for laughs, but this five-part miniseries is SO well done. If, like me, you knew next to nothing about the disaster, you'll learn a lot here while also being riveted. A hundred stars to both of these shows.
Movies
I'm generally not someone who gets nostalgic about days gone by. I don't really miss high school or college or even my early twenties. But this movie made my heart ache in the best way for those days. It made me miss the friends I don't get to hang out with all the time anymore. And it's one of the most realistic portrayals of female friendship that I've seen onscreen. (Finally, no pillow fights! No refusal to discuss anything but diets!) Just writing this paragraph is making me want to watch it again.
Music
I know, I know—I'm the last person to hear about Lizzo. I am woefully lacking in knowledge when it comes to music. But after enough people raved about her latest album, Cuz I Love You, I decided to give it a shot. I haven't stopped listening since. Nearly every song on the playlist feels like an anthem for women (great for guys too!). When I'm nervous about an important meeting or event, I've started listening to Lizzo on my way to said event, and I get an instant confidence boost.
Podcasts
Sorry to take things back to Depressing Town. If, like me, you watch a documentary, biopic, etc. and immediately turn to Wikipedia/Google to find everything you can on a person or topic, then the Chernobyl podcast is for you. After I finished watching the HBO miniseries, I wanted to know more. I wanted to know which elements of the show were true (most of them, it turns out) vs. where creative liberties were taken. This five-part podcast, one for each episode, takes you behind the scenes of filming and teaches you even more about the disaster itself. I wish every movie/show based on true events made a limited-series podcast!
There's no shortage of podcasts in the true crime genre, but Cold—about a cold homicide case in Utah—is a stand out. I can't even say exactly why. If you need your true crimes to be solved and neatly wrapped up by the end, this is not your podcast. But if you're looking for an enthralling deep dive (read: 18 hour-long episodes) into a kind-of unsolved murder, look no further. I listened to season 1 while deep into marathon training, when the runs were so long, music would no longer suffice, and it made the training fly by. Now I'm just waiting for season 2.
Plays
Last but certainly not least is the Lehman Trilogy. I know it's only available in certain cities (before: New York; now: London; soon: Chicago? other places?), but if you are in one of those cities, you have to see it. At 11AM on a Monday if necessary. I assumed it was going to be about the 2008 financial crisis, but it's not really (or not only, anyway). It tells the story of the three Lehman brothers who immigrated to the US in the 1850s and their journey to becoming this massive bank. Three actors—Adam Godley, Simon Russell Beale, Ben Miles—perform the entire show, and my god, I don't think I've ever seen more talented people take the stage. It's so different from my other favorites (Les Mis, Hamilton, and The Book of Mormon), but it's at least as good—hilarious, somber, surprising. I think the same actors—for now, anyway—are traveling between cities/countries to perform the show, so you'd get to see these three stars. If humanly possible, get yourself to the theater.
That's all I have for this month! If you have recs of your own, I'd love to hear them. In the meantime, I'll be weeping on my couch as I watch season 3 of The Handmaid's Tale.
Thanks for reading—