What are you up to this weekend? Will’s going the homemade route for Friday pizza night (one of our cherished family rituals I wrote about in Don’t Overthink It). I’m trying to take it easy and get over some weird respiratory thing that’s been plaguing me since before Christmas, so can you do me a favor? Will and I just have a few episodes left of Younger, so please send me your best indulgent comfort watching suggestions in comments!
I hope you have something to look forward to this weekend, and that this collection of interesting reads and favorite things helps ease you into that weekend frame of mind.
Get ready for Quick Lit!
Get your posts ready! In our monthly feature Quick Lit, I share short and sweet reviews of what I’ve been reading lately, and invite you to do the same. Since the 15th falls on a weekend, this month’s edition will take place on Monday, January 16. See you there!
What Should I Read Next turns 7!
Our independent literary podcast hit a big milestone this week! We started our birthday month celebration with a special episode devoted to my favorite books of 2022, and this week we kept the party going by welcoming pals Knox McCoy and Jamie B. Golden of The Popcast to the show to talk great books, hated books, pivotal moments, podcasting loves and hates, celebrity book club shade and more. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.
If you haven’t yet, now is a great time to support the show through our WSIRN patreon community. Whether you sign up simply to contribute to the tip jar or to gain access to bonus content like our special extra segment with Knox and Jamie today, we’d love to welcome you in patreon. You’ll also get access to this week’s Spring Book Preview. Sign up right here, and thank you!
My favorite finds from around the web:
- When the Writing Demands Talent and Discretion, Call the Ghostwriter. (New York Times gift link) Everyone is abuzz about Prince Harry’s memoir out this week. This is a great profile of the ghostwriter behind it, as well as others in the field.
- This attractive countertop turntable is the answer to my bathroom counter storage woes.
- Claire Keegan: ‘I think something needs to be as long as it needs to be’. (The Guardian) Fascinating interview from the author of Small Things Like These.
- A not-intimidating guide to meal planning. (Vox) Great tips.
- What You Don’t Know About the HarperCollins Strike. (Culture Study) “These pain points result in an absurd amount of turnover, with most employees—people who love books, who enjoy the work, and who want to stay—leaving within their first five years.”
- I just renewed my Curology subscription for easy prescription retinol and other skincare. I’ve been a happy customer for years now.
- Tipping Is Weird Now. (The Atlantic) Will and I were just talking about this!
- We filled our freezer with fresh cranberries just so we could make these meyer lemon and fresh cranberry scones all winter.
- TikTok Figured Out an Easy Way to Recommend Books. The Results Were Dubious. (Slate) “There is something thrilling about watching how a book will meet—and sometimes surpass—your expectations, even when you know what tropes it will explore. But that familiarity has its downsides.”
- How to Make the Best Homemade Pizza—According to the Pros. (Real Simple.) Will got a pizza stone for Christmas so we’re ready to hear all your homemade pizza tips!
- 17 Books About Cities We Read This Year. (Bloomberg) I just loaded up my TBR.
- Do you need a one more chapter tshirt? This Etsy shop has so many bookish shirts I love!
- 8 inspirational books to read to start the New Year right. (LuxeBook) Great to see Don’t Overthink It here!
Good for right now:
- 16 books to cozy up with this winter. It’s the perfect time of year to get lost in a good book.
- Revitalize your To Be Read list with this simple method. A game-changer!
- 15 propulsive literary mysteries that balance plot and prose. It’s hard to beat an unputdownable mystery combined with a beautifully written literary novel.
- 5 favorite recipes for soup season. Soup is a go-to for our family on chilly, busy nights. I reference this post—and your comments—all the time.
Have a great weekend!
62 comments
Anne I hope this respiratory illness clears up for you soon. As for TV, I have really been enjoying Julia on HBO.
I agree Julia is wonderful. I will add Gilmore Girls, The Great British Baking Show, and Derry Girls. Get well soon!
You and I could be friends! All faves of mine. I’ll recommend (as I did to Ann), Miss Scarlet & the Duke. I bet you’ll love it! Have a great weekend!
Second Miss Scarlet & the Duke! The 3rd season is just starting (not familiar with the others…)!
Not really comfort but hard to not binge-watch is the Timeless series, and Will would enjoy it too.
And yes, I hope it (finally!) clears up for you, Anne. Something going around among friends and acquaintances that seems to take a very long time for the coughing to clear here.
Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.
I love Miss Scarlet and the Duke. Also the new All Creatures Great and Small and Sanditon is fun too.
I have just finished Ian Buruma’s memoir “A Tokyo Romance,” and have started Elizabeth Strout’s new novel “Lucy by the Sea.”
I’m sorry you’re not feeling well. I have a sinus infection that seems to have taken up permanent residence in my head. If you have a social justice TBR pile I highly recommend Lindsey Krinks’ “Praying With Our Feet: Pursuing Justice & Healing on the Streets”
Oh no! Andrea, sending get well wishes your way.
Personally Never have I ever, Awkward and Brooklyn Nine Nine were all recently good fun. Ofc there’s classics like New Girl, Big Bang Theory, Black-ish, Golden Girls, Friends, Gilmore Girls & Grey’s Anatomy. I’d add The Goldbergs, One Tree Hill, O.C. House, Bones, NCIS, Elementary, Mentalist, Scorpion. I’ve recently started watching The Good Doctor which has been good so far but I’m only a few episodes in. For light fun, Hart of Dixie was good. Lie to me is great. Sherlock’s early seasons were good. Hustle is good. Fawlty towers, Open all hours, Only fools and horses & Blackadder if you like British comedy. Fresh prince of Bell air & the nanny if you like 80-90’s family sitcoms. Simpsons and Futurama if you like animated. Feel better soon Anne! 🤗
Love, love, love, LOVE Never Have I Ever!
So looking forward to S4 of Never have I ever!
Oh yeah and I loved Jane the virgin. I enjoyed Young Sheldon, Castle, Glee, Revenge, Brothers and sisters, Suits, Scrubs, Make it or break it, Melissa & Joey, 8 Simple rules, Being Erica, Good wife, Veronica Mars.
Yes, Love Hart of Dixie! I forgot all about that one!
Emily in Paris is also created by Darren Star, so logical follow up after Younger. If you missed Bunheads on ABC Family/now Freeform, it also stars Sutton Foster and was created by Amy Sherman Palladino of Gilmore Girls fame. Bunheads is only one season, Emily in Paris is 3, on Netflix. Absolutely love both!
Bunheads is great I agree!
Bunheads was FANTASTIC! Sad that it only had one season. But if we’re riffing on Amy Sherman Palladino, I have to suggest Marvelous Mrs. Maisel if you haven’t seen that one! 😉
I saw an episode or two of Bunheads a long, long time ago. I’ve been thinking of circling back!
Also agree! I circled back to Bunheads recently after watching Marvelous Mrs. Maisel because I wanted to be a Amy Sherman Palladino completist. Highly recommend.
Jane the Virgin!
Emily in Paris, Yellowstone, and Partner Track are all series that I’m enjoying.
Get better soon!
If you haven’t watched it yet, I like Firefly Lane on Netflix, based on the Kristin Hannah books. I think they did a great job turning the book into a TV series. 2 seasons.
Firefly Lane TV (and book) is not great IMHO.
I love All Creatures Great and Small and season 3 just arrived. 🐑🐖🐄
Yes to this!!!!
I just finished season one of Doc Martin and am really enjoying it. Kind of All Things Great and Small meets The Office but with a doctor instead of a vet. If you haven’t watched Durrells in Corfu, that’s also a favorite of mine.
Such a sweet show! Like watching comfort food 🙂
I’m a period piece girl so “Emma” either the BBC one or the one with Gwenyth Paltrow, the old “Persuasions”, “Pride and Prejudice” with Colin Firth and for more recent ones…..”Bridgerton” Season 2, and just watched “The Empress” when I had a nasty respiratory bug before Xmas and LOVED it!! Can’t wait for the next season!
I had a long-lasting respiratory thing too (September to December). I finally went to my ENT and she did a culture, which showed a rare bacterial infection. Almost three weeks of antibiotics later, I’m so much better. Your primary doc may be able to do a culture if you haven’t gotten one yet.
Oh yikes, that is a long time to be ill! So glad that is in the past now.
Big, fat YES to Never Have I Ever! Also love Trying (Apple) for its great heart and British wit. The Aussie show Offspring about a neurotic Melbourne obstetrician and her family, friends and love life was 7 seasons worth of entertainment. Especially loved the first season finale.
I’m not sure if you would consider tv shoes with subtitles to be indulgent, but if you watch “Crash Landing on You”, you won’t regret it! It’s a Korean drama/romance that is great even for people that normally don’t watch those. And bonus: the two main character are married in real life, which is just too cute!
I would try that!
Yes to this – “Crash Landing on You” is SO great! Not only are the two main characters married in real life (newly dating while filming this show) but they recently had their first child! My husband and I both enjoyed this show and in fact he was the one to say at the end that soon there would be a sequel with them married with a baby! (He knew nothing about their real story but the chemistry is so obvious, and sweet.) This made us a fan of seeking out Korean shows and we also enjoyed The Extraordinary Attorney Woo.
Yes to Attorney Woo — so charming and addictive.
Ditto- just read the subtitles. English translation just sounds like someone is reading and it’s monotone. On Netflix, The Mindy Project recently arrived. Please go see a Dr, you may have pneumonia and not know it -happened with a member of my family. Trader Joe’s pizza dough with spices is great to pick up and use on your pre-heated stone. Enjoy streaming.
I am on the last 2 episodes of Ozark, and while I really enjoyed it, it’s just so darn dark… my happy viewing has been Abbott Elementary. I live outside of Philadelphia, so there’s that connection, but it’s also just good watching.
Sorry you are under the weather. Nasty cold season. Have you tried on Netflix either the series Virgin River or Sweet Magnolias? Just finishing an excellent fiction novel from 2016, The City Baker’s Guide to Country Living by Louise Miller. There is an apple pie recipe at the conclusion that looks amazing. Take care.
I haven’t watched either one of those yet!
Not sure if you’ve seen it or not, but Miss Scarlet & the Duke is an amazing show! It’s PBS so you know it’s good. The costumes, the clip-clop of the horses, the accents, the acting, it’s superb! I guarantee you’ll be hooked. Hope you feel better soon!
Hi Anne! I hope you feel better soon! Check out Virgin River on Netflix.
Happy Reading! Katie
Try the three seasons of the Australian show Bump. Feel better soon!
We have been loving All Creatures Great and Small on PBS.
I’m currently watching “Heartland.” So good! Other favorites would be Gilmore Girls, Friends, How I Met Your Mother, The Great British Baking Show.
Extraordinary Attorney Woo (Netflix) is great. I watched it initially with subtitles and Korean audio. I thought it may be awkward but I really enjoyed hearing the original voices. I think you may be able to watch dubbed in English now. It has a great storyline and has been picked up for season 2.
Hey, gang out there….try on Netflix. The extraordinary attorney Woo.
It’s just delightful. My book club recommended it.
I recently binge watched Heartsick on Netflix. It was a sweet show.
Great suggestions above, and I think Last Tango in Halifax on Netflix is just what the doctor ordered. Four seasons I believe, the last one didn’t live up to its predecessors but it’s delightful fun. Feel better!
I just finished season 3 of “My Life Is Murder.” It’s on Acorn, and it is really fun. It stars Lucy Lawless as an ex-cop who still helps the cops but as a consultant. She also bakes bread. The first season was set in Australia, and the last two seasons have been in New Zealand.
Another show set in New Zealand is “800 Words.” It is about a father and two kids who move from Australia to New Zealand after his wife/their mother dies. The title of the show comes from a weekly column he writes that is always exactly 800 Words.
Check out Somebody Somewhere on HBO Max.
This show was soooo good!
Loved younger! When I finished it the last season only was on a totally different channel FYI – not sure it’s still like that but watch for a potentially “hidden” season!
We binged Standing (the one about comedians, not the Phoebe Waller Bridges one!) and LOVED it. Somebody Somewhere is so sweet and heartfelt. Y’all may also like Life Is Beth even if you’re not a fan of Amy Schumer’s comedy. I also loved Firefly Lane but the hubs thought it was a touch too girly.
Sorry I meant “crashing” not standing
Oh and definitely virgin river!!!
Thank you for sharing the article on the Harper Collins strike. As a community of readers, we have a great deal of collective power. It is our responsibility to leverage this power to support the workers who help bring the books we love written by the authors we love to our bookshelves. Paying college educated staff working in Manhattan less than $50k is ridiculous. And if we truly want diverse books, publishers need to support workers whose identities and experiences reflect the world we want to live in.
Admittedly, I skimmed through the suggestions….but I am shocked that I didn’t see The Offer (about the making of The Godfather)—so good!!! Also Dead to Me. Both shows were thoroughly entertaining (in very different ways!)
I’m going to look at the link for pizza making, but I haven’t yet. We’ve been making homemade pizzas with a pizza stone for years and love them. I wouldn’t say we do anything fancy. I think adding minced garlic and parmesan (before adding cheese) to the pizza is a favorite of mine. I also add a couple of teaspoons of King Arthur’s Pizza Seasoning to my dough (we make the dough the day before so it gets a long rise in the fridge.) If I don’t have any on hand, I substitute an Italian seasoning blend. Have fun!
Hi Anne! I’m currently sick with Covid so feel your pain – I hope you feel better soon! I’ve been binge watching Ginny & Georgia on Netflix, easy to follow stories and great fashion!
Caroline, I’m sending all the healing vibes your way!
I loved Ted Lasso and Welcome to Wrexham! Ghost is also enjoyable!
The whole family enjoyed watching Chuck and I will never pass up an episode of Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries.
Hope you are feeling better soon. I also will put in a shoutout for Ted Lasso! Such a feel good show!!!
It is sometimes hard to watch, with storylines including such topics as abortion, poverty and disability, but Call the Midwife is one of the best shows on television. I have been a fan from start, and never want it to end.
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