Here is a look back on the entertainment I consumed last year:

Books (if I recommend it, it will have an *, my 5-stars have **)

1. *Fourth Wing (re-read) – Rebecca Yarros
2. *The Frozen River – Ariel Lawhon
3. *Rental House – Weike Wang
4. Same As It Ever Was – Claire Lombardo
5. *James – Percival Everett
6. *Eddie Winston is Looking for Love – Marianne Cronin
7. Ordinary Grace – William Kent Krueger
8. In the Unlikely Event – L.J. Shen
9. *Back After This – Linda Holmes
10. *We All Live Here – Jojo Moyes
11. Binding 13 – Chloe Walsh
12. *Deep End – Ali Hazelwood
13. Great Big Beautiful Life – Emily Henry
14. Ask Not: The Kennedys and the Women They Destroyed – Maureen Callahan
15. *Every Summer After – Carley Fortune
16. All We Lost Was Everything – Sloan Harlow
17. *Problematic Summer Romance – Ali Hazelwood
18. The Tell – Amy Griffin
19. *This Summer Will Be Different – Carley Fortune
20. *It’s a Love Story – Annabel Monaghan
21. *Atmosphere – Taylor Jenkins Reid
22. *Say You’ll Remember Me – Abby Jimenez
23. *Silver Elite – Dani Francis
24. Sounds Like Love – Ashley Poston
25. *The Satisfaction Café – Kathy Wang
26. *Rose in Chains – Julie Soto
27. *All the Colors of the Dark – Chris Whitaker
28. The Art of Vanishing – Morgan Pager
29. **Project Hail Mary – Andy Weir
30. *These Summer Storms – Sarah MacLean
31. *One Golden Summer – Carley Fortune
32. **Heart the Lover – Lily King
33. **Theo of Golden – Allen Levi
34. *The Correspondent – Virginia Evans
35. *The Compound – Aisling Rawle

Of those, here are my faves:

1. Project Hail Mary – Andy Weir  The movie comes out in March – read it now!!!
2. Theo of Golden – Allen Levi  If you live in the south, you’ve probably already read this because everyone is talking about it. If not, go get it. Levi self-published this novel about kindness.  Read with tissues nearby, I teared up throughout the whole thing. Two of the sweetest/kindest people I know both gave it to me which about says it all.
3. Heart the Lover – Lily King  I absolutely loved her Writers and Lovers. If you did not, you probably won’t like this either. I read half on a flight to Boston and finished it on the flight back.
4. Atmosphere – Taylor Jenkins Reid
5. The Correspondent – Virginia Evans  A beautifully written story told through letters which I’ve been told is also a wonderful audiobook.
6. Frozen River – Ariel Lawhon
7. Rental House – Weike Wang  I adored her previous book Chemistry so maybe start there. If it’s not your thing, this won’t be either as the writing is quite deadpan. A tiny book that covers a lot of ground; complexities of marriage, the immigrant experience, and parental expectations, just to name a few of the themes addressed.
8. James – Percival Everett

And to round the list out – these are my 4-star romances: 

1. Deep End – Ali Hazelwood
2. One Golden Summer – Carley Fortune
3. Problematic Summer Romance – Ali Hazelwood
4. Back After This – Linda Holmes
5. Say You’ll Remember Me – Abby Jimenez

Movies/Documentaries

 I had a tough year with movies this past year. The only one I gave even an A- to was Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning and it was ridiculously far-fetched but I don’t care because I love those movies so much. I did like a bunch of docs (Charles Grodin, Yacht Rock, Billy Joel, Eddie Murphy) but the best, hands down, was Taylor Swift: The End of an Era. This 6-episode docuseries is on Disney+ and is fantastic. If you didn’t see the The Era’s tour or just don’t think you are a fan, give this doc a go. I teared up in EVERY episode. As someone in her crew says, the “tour cultivates good energy.” How she learned the kindness, empathy, work ethic, to really see people, etc., I don’t know, but she is a gift to us all.

TV

I think I’ve covered everything I’ve loved in my past posts, so I’ll just list them one more time:

1. The Pitt
2. Severence
3. The Diplomat
4. High Potential
5. Ghosts
6. Nobody Wants This
7. Will Trent
8. Matlock
9. Hacks
10. CBS Sunday Morning – weird to put it here probably but it really is so so good.

I’m eagerly awaiting Shrinking, currently near the end of Pluribus (so I’ll talk about it next time), and hoping to watch a few on my list this weekend, so more to come!

Instagram

I was watching a post from a Dr. who specializes in dementia prevention (no idea how legit he is but I watched anyway) and he recommended a couple things. I do my word games/puzzles and try to eat berries and salmon because all of that supposedly helps my brain, and these seemed kinda harmless so I’ve added them to my nighttime routine. While brushing my teeth, I use my left (non-dominant) hand (encourages new neural pathways) while standing on one foot – I do one foot for my top row and the other for the bottom (balance is very important for everything apparently). I don’t know if any of that helps with anything, but it can’t hurt so I thought I’d pass it along.

We are empty nesters now. If I’m being honest, I don’t love it. I was very active at the kids’ school and went to their activities, etc., so I’m feeling a bit like I got laid off. My days are still busy(ish) but I do miss them. Don’t worry about me, I’m fine, and I will figure out my next thing. I’m more telling you because if you’re in the same boat, I just wanted you to know you aren’t alone.

Happy new year!