The One With The Recommendations!
The One With The Recommendations!
Good things to watch, read, listen to, and laugh at, for February 2023
Hello! How was your week?
I hope you made it unscathed through Galentines & Valentine’s Days!
Instead of an essay, this week’s dispatch is a download of all the good things I’ve read, watched, and listened to lately. Enjoy - and have a wonderful weekend!
xo
Amelia
For your viewing pleasure…
Our family discovered the joys of HGTV during our December vacation, and have not looked back.
My current favorites are Fixer to Fabulous, where a husband and wife team renovate houses in Bentonville, Arkansas (I feel like I know every street in that town!); and My Lottery Dream Home, where people who’ve come into windfalls get to buy the kind of home they never thought they could afford. Both shows are inspiring, easy to watch, and weirdly addictive.
Switching gears: if you happen to be in the mood for a good cry, look no further than Dear Edward, a tear-jerking series based on the bestselling book of the same name. It’s about the aftermath of a plane crash, and the effect the tragedy has on various people’s lives, including a widow, played by Connie Britton, who I would watch in anything.
For some good old-fashioned eye candy, I’ve been dipping into the latest series of Emily in Paris. The outfits, scenery, and dialogue have definitely departed from reality and I don’t always keep the sound on, but it’s fun to watch, and requires zero mental effort! Perfect with a glass of wine at the end of a long day.
Speaking of amazing sets and costumes, did you ever see Down with Love? Very appropriate for Valentine’s week, it’s a movie with Renee Zellweger, Sarah Paulson, and Ewan McGregor, set in a stylized version of 1960’s Manhattan, with a clever storyline that sends up classic rom-coms. Watch for the fun twist at the end!
Back to reality: Teddy and Jim have become huge fans of competition shows, and are currently into both Survivor and The Amazing Race.
And as a family of racquet sports fans, we loved the Break Point documentary on the emerging stars of the professional tennis tour.
Have you heard about The Menu? If you’re in any way interested in fancy restaurants and food, social commentary, or Ralph Fiennes, you should see it! It’s something of a thriller, and there are some gruesome scenes (I had my fingers partly covering my eyes for the second half), but it’s worth watching…
And then there’s The Fabelmans, Steven Spielberg’s latest movie, based on his own family life, where Michelle Williams stands out as the mercurial, passionate mother. It’s beautifully filmed and incredibly well done.
Can a serial killer by charming? In the latest season of You, Penn Badgley walks this fine line masterfully! If you haven’t read the books or watched the previous seasons, you should start at Season One and work your way toward the current season, which is based in London and might be my favorite so far. Warning: it’s gory! But also oh so clever and fun!
Too scary for you?
Here’s the antidote: my favorite show for a cold night, wrapped in a blanket, in front of a roaring fire: All Creatures Great and Small. It’s based on a series of memoirs about the life and times of a country vet in 1930s England, and it is the most comforting, cozy thing on TV - it’s a television show that feels like a warm hug.
In each episode, the vets encounter a dilemma - like the cow who’s having trouble giving birth, a cat that scratches too much, or a dog that’s swallowed something they shouldn’t - and without fail, the problems are resolved by the end of the episode; so that everyone may have a cup of tea (or pint of beer!) and congratulate each other on a job well done. I’m up to Season Three, but for the full effect, go back and start with Season One - the Christmas episode at the end of Season Two is truly adorable.
For your nightstand…
I cried my way through comedian and actor Rob Delaney’s memoir about the life and death of his toddler son, A Heart That Works, in just two nights. The writing is honest and raw and it’s impossible to put down. You will hug your loved ones after reading this. If you don’t know of Rob, he’s the star and co-writer of Catastrophe, a clever and hilarious sitcom set in the UK. Highly recommend.
I’m finding The Good Life, the book based on the world’s longest happiness study, very interesting. The Cliffs Notes? It all comes down to the strength of our relationships…
In a lull between books a few weeks ago, I dipped back into Happy All the Time by Laurie Colwin, one of my trusty fallbacks when I’m looking for something new to read. Her novels are excellent - another great one is Family Happiness.
And then I found something new to read, in the form of a British whodunnit series. I believe the genre is known as “cozy crime” and the books I’m reading, the Thursday Murder Club, are set in a retirement home in the English countryside; believe it or not, they’re a rollicking good time!
For your earbuds…
I am hopelessly addicted to the How I Built This podcast: the stories of entrepreneurs who created successful businesses from scratch. If you don’t know it, it’s seriously inspiring!
On a search for funny podcasts - I want to laugh more! - I discovered Beach Too Sandy Water Too Wet where a brother-sister team read out (mostly) one-star reviews of various establishments.
Your jaw will drop at the amazing breadth and depth of human behavior - and opinions…
For a few more laughs…
And the sexiest kind of puppy love…
Yikes! This is scarily realistic: