Category: Not Just Books

While we do love us some books, believe it not, we do have a life outside of reading. So to highlight our other pop culture interests, on the last Monday of each month, we each will highlight three other “happenings” from the last month. Big events on favorite TV shows, new movies we’ve watched, old movies we’ve “discovered,” etc. Pretty much whatever we found of particular interest outside of the book world during the last month. Share your own favorite things in the comments!

Serena’s Picks

Movie: “Oppenheimer”

I was sad that I missed this one in the theater, but it came out in the middle of the family vacation we had planned and it just didn’t happen. So I’ve been patiently waiting for it to come out on some streaming service, and finally it dropped on Peacock. I knew the broad strokes of this story, but it was impressive just how much Nolan managed to pack into this movie. It took a bit to accustom myself to the flashes forward and backward in time and the brief glimpses we get into scenes before jumping to another, but as the story pulled together, it became clear just how effective this choice was. We see the complicated nature of both the man and this point in history, and it was fantastic all around.

Video Game: “Hogwarts Legacy”

It took me a bit to get to this one, but it was one of my most anticipated games in a while! There were a lot of great reviews for it and the previews all looked gorgeous. And man, did it deliver! It was clear that this one was made for fans of the series, both books and the movies. The decision to retain the same castle and landscape design from the movie was especially exciting, as it was great being able to wander around exploring all of the nooks and crannies that we saw on the screen. The game also did an excellent job of incorporating pretty much every location and magical event that fans could want. The storyline itself was fun enough, but I think I probably would have been happy just wandering around the castle and landscape for the entire time. Indeed, I probably spent about 90% of my time doing just that.

Kate’s Picks

TV Show: “RuPaul’s Drag Race”

Okay, remember how last month I mentioned that I had been prematurely picking “Drag Race” in these lists with the past two iterations, and how it came back to bite me? Well good news! I did wait for Season 16 to make itself more known, and it’s a pretty good season. It probably helps that my friend David has been in town post- Ph.D studies, and we’ve been watching it together. This has been a stellar season thus far, with a great cast of queens (I’m rooting for Sapphira!), some pretty good twists to keep it fresh, and after a long time gone a solid villain who is making GREAT reality TV (we love to hate Plane Jane!). It was extra special that David and I (and other friends) were able to go see a few of the queens from this season perform at a drag brunch in Minneapolis to see their charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent in person!

Film: “The Iron Claw”

My husband and I had planned to see this one on a double date back around the New Year, as he is a pro wrestling fan and I too enjoy the performance art, but then he contracted COVID and we had to cancel our plans. But I finally watched it this past month, and my goodness, it was devastating. “The Iron Claw” follows the Van Erichs, a legendary pro wrestling family that was beloved in the wrestling community, but was plagued by tragedy. In that three of the four wrestling sons of Fritz Von Erich all died young, two of the deaths the result of suicides after trauma, medical ills, and mental health collapse (horrible fact: in real life there was actually another wrestling brother who ALSO died of suicide, but the movie cut him out because it was just too much). Zac Efron plays the Kevin Von Erich, who helplessly watches as his brothers die one by one, all while their emotionally abusive father Fritz pits them against each other and pushes them to the breaking point. Honestly, Efron was robbed when it comes to acting accolades, as he REALLY embodies the steady, reliable, and ultimately devastated last brother standing. I spent the majority of the movie sobbing and yelling about what a horrible father Fritz Von Erich was and how toxic masculinity wrecks lives.

Joint Pick

Video Game: “Pentiment”

We seem to bounce back and forth between disturbing cult documentaries and video games that we play together. So we’re back to video games at the moment (don’t worry, we have a super messed up cult story coming up next!), and this time we decided to try something new. “Pentiment” is definitely one of the most unique games out there. It’s essentially a murder mystery, but the visuals are really what makes it stand out, with a heavily-stylized art style that draws inspiration from its Medieval setting and illuminated Biblical texts. We’ve only just started, but we can’t wait to see where the story goes from here!

While we do love us some books, believe it not, we do have a life outside of reading. So to highlight our other pop culture interests, on the last Monday of each month, we each will highlight three other “happenings” from the last month. Big events on favorite TV shows, new movies we’ve watched, old movies we’ve “discovered,” etc. Pretty much whatever we found of particular interest outside of the book world during the last month. Share your own favorite things in the comments!

Serena’s Picks

Game: “Baldur’s Gate 3”

My husband wisely got me a video game gift card as part of my Christmas present. Wise mostly because even I couldn’t have necessarily come up with a game I really wanted if he had asked me before Christmas. But then afterwards, armed with free money essentially, it was easy to pull the trigger on this game. I had heard of it many times as a very popular game of 2023, but I also have no experience with this sort of DnD style game. Building/leveling characters, managing party dynamics, figuring out the whole dice thing. But now many, many (waaaay too many according to by husband, but really it’s his fault anyways) hours into this game, I’m pretty obsessed. I’m so late to the game that it’s barely worth me plugging it as a game to check out but, well, check it out!

Movie/TV Critic: Dan Murrell

I used to watch “Screen Junkies” fairly religiously, especially their “Movie Fights” videos, and it was here that I first was introduced to movie critic Dan Murrell. He was a truly excellent debater, but I also often found myself agreeing with his evaluations of much of the media landscape. So I was sad when he announced he was leaving a few years ago. But, luckily for me, he set up his own successful YouTube channel that I’ve been following pretty much from the start. For me, in an arena like entertainment criticism, the most important thing I want from a critic is a sound, steady point of view that can differentiate itself from all of the noise of whatever the trendy consensus is. Murrell does a great job of this, not only in his reviews for movies/shows, but also in his long-running shows where he evaluates trends and the successes and failures in the cinema landscape. He also has an entire show that is titled and devoted to charts; so, for an academic librarian like me, this is all I’ve ever wanted from reviewers!

Game: “Connections”

I’m not sure whether it was my mom or my sister who got me started on this, but it was definitely one of them while they were visiting over the holidays! (My mom plays like 10 of these games every day on her phone, so I’ll guess it was her). Either way, I’ve really been enjoying it! For me, I think this one requires a bit less mental energy than “Wordle,” which is incredibly important for something I’m probably trying to do while also managing tantrums from two small boys. This requires just the right amount of brain power and not much more! If you need yet another time-filler game, definitely check this one out!

Kate’s Picks

Film: “Society of the Snow (La sociedad de la nieve)”

Last Podcast on the Left did a series on the Uruguayan Rugby Team that crashed in the Andes mountain range in 1972 back in December, and hearing Marcus, Henry, and Ed (welcome, Ed!) tell the harrowing tale of survival really piqued my interest in the topic. And what do you know, shortly thereafter Netflix released the Spanish film “Society of the Snow”, a dramatization of the crash and the survivors and what happened on the mountain and how the people who got off of it survived. This movie is a gut punch with its realism, letting the audience really experience the horror and hope of this story, with every actor giving a fantastic and sometimes gut wrenching performance. I found myself sobbing multiple times, but was also taken with some of the truly beautiful moments, whether it was the cinematography, the characters themselves, or the way that it captures the despair as well as the resilience. Really wonderful, albeit heart rendering.

TV Show: “Canada’s Drag Race”

So while it is true that the 16th season of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” premiered this month, it’s still a LITTLE early, and I haven’t quite gotten a full feel for it and the queens yet to decide if I’m into it. I’ve been burned in the past where I post early and then I end up not liking the season as a whole (Season 13, All Stars 8). But that being said, I have REALLY liked watching the sister show of the Great White North, “Canada’s Drag Race”! For one, I like seeing the format of the voting on the judges panel, as the judgement is split between Brooke Lynn Heights, Brad Goreski, and Traci Melchor or Amanda Brugel (depending on the season and/or episode). For another, I really love seeing the drag cultures from Canada and how it differs from the U.S.. And finally, the queens themselves are all INCREDIBLY talented and INCREDIBLY likable! Even the edited ‘villains’ aren’t really villainous, just a little bit extra. It’s just been a breath of fresh air since the mothership show (as much as I love it) feels SUPER produced. Right now, “Canada’s Drag Race” doesn’t!

Podcast: “Radio Rental”

With one of my podcasts going on its seasonal break I was looking for another one to listen to to fill that void. My friend Mark came through for me, as he recommended an episode of real life horror podcast “Radio Rental”, which immediately hooked me. It’s a quirky premise with some seriously scary true stories told by those who experienced them, as listeners can write in with the unexplainable or just realistic scary things and experiences that happened to them. What sets it apart from other podcasts like this is that it is build around the idea that it is being provided by a retro video rental store as run by an eccentric owner named Terry Carnation and his cat, his niece, and a store mouse. Oh and Carnation is played by Rainn Wilson. So it’s kind of like “Let’s Not Meet” meets “Welcome to Nightvale” with creepy tales and a goofy and at times sinister/intense host. Some of the stories are hit or miss, but the ones that hit REALLY hit. I’m tearing through the back catalog and overall enjoying it. I’m thinking this will enter my podcast rotation of reliables.

While we do love us some books, believe it not, we do have a life outside of reading. So to highlight our other pop culture interests, on the last Monday of each month, we each will highlight three other “happenings” from the last month. Big events on favorite TV shows, new movies we’ve watched, old movies we’ve “discovered,” etc. Pretty much whatever we found of particular interest outside of the book world during the last month. Share your own favorite things in the comments!

Serena’s Picks

TV Show: “Fringe”

My mom and sister were visiting over Thanksgiving and the week following, and, of course, we decided that that was a prime time to start an entire new TV series! Just watch a movie? No, we needed something that was seasons long! My sister had already watched it, but somehow my mom and I had never seen it. Kind of surprising given how we all loved “X-Files” and “Supernatural.” So, of course, it was no surprise that we both really enjoyed it! I haven’t finished the entire thing, but I’m into season 3 and things are so crazy and great! Hard to imagine how everything will get wrapped up, but I guess we have a few more seasons to unravel mysteries of the world…worlds…whatever.

Board Game: “Hogwarts Battle”

I love complicated board games, and luckily for me, the rest of my family agrees! Something that I think my sister took into consideration when she got me this game as an early Christmas present. So, when we weren’t watching “Fringe,” we were all playing this co-op deck-building game. And it was a blast! I loved all of the attention to detail with the character cards, villains, and various spells and artifacts that you can collect as you build up your deck. And it becomes quite complicated fairly quickly, to the point where it takes sometimes upwards of two hours to complete one of the seven levels (the early ones go more quickly). It can be played with two people, but I think it improves when you have the upwards limit of four. So I’m pretty sure this will be a staple for future family visits as well.

Kate’s Picks

TV Show: “Dark Side of the Ring”

My husband is the one who introduced me to the over the top dramatics of pro wrestling, as he used to love the sport (perhaps ‘performance art’ is a better phrase) and still has a nostalgic enjoyment of it. I enjoy it too, but also find a lot of the aspects about it tragic. So I really fixated on “Dark Side of the Ring”, a documentary series about the various tragedies and scandals that have plagued the wrestling industry and community over the years. Told with interviews from people who were there as well as news and wrestling clips from the time of each story, we get a deep dive into some pretty dark stuff, as well as a dissection of how the wrestling culture could have contributed. Some stories I was familiar with (Owen Hart’s tragic death due to a stunt gone wrong, the horrific story of Chris Benoit murdering his wife Nancy and son Daniel), but there were others that I had never heard of, and really affected me (such as that of Luna Vachon, a very talented woman wrestler who was plagued by mental illness and the horrible misogyny towards women wrestlers during her heyday). It’s a well done and very sad series, and just solidifies my opinion that Vince McMahon is a monster.

Film: “Insidious: The Red Door”

When I realized that “Insidious” came out thirteen years ago, I first had to reflect on the fact that it has, in fact, been that long. I came to this realization when I saw trailers for “Insidious: The Red Door”, which picks up ten years after the events of the first two films. Terror Tuesday finally sat down to watch it, and while I was apprehensive revisiting the story after it had been so long since this particular storyline, I was actually pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it! After nearly becoming victims to a demonic entity after they dabbled in astral projection abilities, father and son Josh and Dalton had their memories suppressed for their own safety. But now ten years later, Josh and Dalton have a strained relationship as Dalton heads off to college. While at school Dalton has his subconscious unlocked, and starts to have scattered memories and visions of his astral projecting abilities, and father and son will have to team up one more time to put the demons away once and for all. This movie is not only filled with really scary moments, it also is a really bittersweet examination of father/son relationships and generational trauma.

Joint Pick

Netflix Series: “Escaping Twin Flames”

We have this fun ongoing hangout session where we get together and watch cult documentaries over wine and snacks, undoubtedly being horrified as well as enthralled by the stories of high control groups, the people who leave, and the damage that is done. Our newest watch was “Escaping Twin Flames”, a docuseries about a social media based cult that is built upon the promise of matchmaking and leading its members to their true love, or ‘Twin Flame’ as they call it, while also teaching them self improvement courses and strategies. As you can probably imagine, it is not only a big multi-level marketing scam, it is also INCREDIBLY abusive, coercing members into obedience and control in absolutely mind boggling ways. We both sat their watching this series with our jaws on the floor, yelling “OH MY GOD” over and over again. Which is how you know it’s a good cult documentary. When we thought it couldn’t get any worse, it got worse. Super disturbing, but also super interesting to the two of us!

While we do love us some books, believe it not, we do have a life outside of reading. So to highlight our other pop culture interests, on the last Monday of each month, we each will highlight three other “happenings” from the last month. Big events on favorite TV shows, new movies we’ve watched, old movies we’ve “discovered,” etc. Pretty much whatever we found of particular interest outside of the book world during the last month. Share your own favorite things in the comments!

Serena’s Picks

TV Show: “Friends”

I’m sure I’m not unique in this, but it was terribly shocking to hear of Matthew Perry’s death, and the only natural reaction there seemed to be was to immediately begin re-watching this show. I tend to re-watch it sporadically. It’s the kind of comfort show that I would guess a lot of us simply stop at when scrolling around in a hotel or the like to have something on in the background (it helps that it seems to always be on some channel or another pretty much 24/7!). Familiar, low stakes, and always good for a laugh. But I hadn’t re-watched it in order from the beginning in some time. We’ll see how far I get, but I’m enjoying seeing some of the older episodes I haven’t watched in a while. And, of course, Matthew Perry is as charming as ever, and will be dearly missed by all fans of the show!

Documentary: “Beckham”

Even for those who aren’t big sports fans or soccer fans, “David Beckham” was definitely a household name during much of the 90s and early 2000s. Not only was he an incredible athlete, but he was also a good looking guy who married a famous woman (Posh from the Spice Girls). He had it all! But this was a great documentary in that it really dived into a lot of what was going behind the scenes during his tumultuous career. I knew most of the bullet points, but it really fleshed out a lot of his story. It also really hit-home just how rare Beckham is, not only as an athlete, but also as a man who, despite huge amounts of fame and media attention, still seems to be stand-up guy, both then and now. It’s a well-done documentary and definitely a must-watch for anyone who enjoys sports mini series!

Movie: “65”

I can’t remember what movie I was actually in the theater to see, but I do distinctly remember watching the preview for this one on the big screen, and man, was it effective! I know that this film wasn’t beloved by critics, but I’m honestly a bit surprised it didn’t find an audience! Personally, I had a great romp of time watching this film. It delivers on everything it promises: essentially Adam Driver vs. dinosaurs. It’s also incredibly tense at times and also had some nice (required) call-backs to the most famous dinosaur movie of them all, “Jurassic Park.” It wasn’t doing anything incredible on the writing front, but also, it barely has any dialogue, so I’m not sure why that should matter. Honestly, it’s just a fun, tense, action-packed thriller type movie, and if you go in looking for that, you’re sure to be happy with the experience!

Kate’s Picks

Film: “Talk To Me”

Right before Halloween (but after our October Not Just Books list was finalized) my friend Mark came over to hang out and watch a scary movie for the holiday. I asked him if he would be interested in taking a chance on one neither of us had seen, and I presented “Talk To Me” as the contender, and he was sporting enough to say ‘sure’! So we sat down to watch, and yeah! It was pretty freaky! Mia is a teenager who is still grieving her mother, who overdosed on pills not so long ago. When she hears about a strange party trick involving an embalmed hand and possession which has become viral in their school social media circles, she convinces her best friend to go to a party with her to see it in action. Mia tries it out, and is completely elated by the rush of a supposed spirit entering her body. But then strange things start happening. And she thinks that perhaps she is able to talk to her mother. But when something goes horribly wrong, it becomes less and less clear that she is seeing what she thinks she’s seeing. It’s intense and has some really gnarly moments!

Podcast: “Dateline Presents: Murder In Apt. 12”

When I took my solo trip to Duluth at the beginning of the month, I pretty easily ran through my usual podcasts during my travels. So by the time I was going to be driving home and had two and a half hours to spare, I needed to listen to SOMETHING. So I randomly picked one of Dateline’s special limited series, “Murder in Apt. 12”, figuring it was a case I wasn’t familiar with, and that Keith Morrison is always a gem to listen to. But what I thought was going to be an interesting but run of the mill case was actually far more about police incompetence, the court of public opinion, and how sometimes the legal and justice system are more inclined to double down on falsehoods rather than be embarrassed by the truth and their screw ups. When Nona Dirksmeyer is found dead in her apartment, police focus in on her boyfriend, convinced that he did it. But there was another man who lived in her vicinity, with a history of violence towards women, and filled with lies and deception when questioned about the case. But the police were positive they had their guy, no matter what evidence did come forward as time went on. It’s a very interesting, and disturbing, podcast, and it had me yelling at my radio as I drove home. But also hooting and hollering as Morrison matter of factly calls out one particularly smarmy cop on his bullshit. Man I love Keith Morrison.

TV Show: “The Gilded Age”

I enjoyed “Downton Abbey” when it was at its peak (for the most part; some things were a bit much but I won’t go into it here). I’m not certain why it took me so long to finally check out Julian Fellowes’s new historical drama “The Gilded Age”, but I finally did it this month and was pretty much sucked in right away, much like “Downton”. It follows two wealthy families during the Gilded Age in New York City, one of which is old money from familial wealth passed down, the other new money whose wealth has been obtained through ruthless business, robber baron tactics. While examining class and race divides as well as the social politics of the time, we see people trying to maneuver through a time of great wealth and opulence, as well as great hubris. And the cast is stacked! You have Christine Baranski, Audra MacDonald, Carrie Coon, Michael Cerveris, Taissa Farmiga, and more. SO MANY MORE! I am really enjoying the soapiness and the examination of the time period (I used to work in a historic house that was very much within the Gilded Age in the presented narrative), and the way it explores so many issues that still feel relevant today.

While we do love us some books, believe it not, we do have a life outside of reading. So to highlight our other pop culture interests, on the last Monday of each month, we each will highlight three other “happenings” from the last month. Big events on favorite TV shows, new movies we’ve watched, old movies we’ve “discovered,” etc. Pretty much whatever we found of particular interest outside of the book world during the last month. Share your own favorite things in the comments!

Serena’s Picks

TV Show: “Great British Bake Off”

Yes, it is that time of year again! Time to sit back and relax and enjoy some cozy baking fun watching others making master pieces you’ll never accomplish yourself and scoff ridiculously when they fail as if you could ever do better. As you can see from the poster, this year there is a new host. You never quite know how new hosts will work out, but Alison Hammond has quickly won me over, bringing a high-energy spunk to the show. Of course, my husband and I have picked our two guesses for the winner, and I’m pleased to say that one of his is already out so I’m that much closer to making a come back from my failure last year! We have exciting lives, if you haven’t noticed.

Podcast: “Talkville”

I’m currently re-watching the last few seasons of “Smallville” as I do every few years it seems. I just don’t have it in me to put myself through the 7 seasons of Lana drama, so I always start on season 8 where Lois becomes a main character. That said, I do sometimes wish there was a way of re-visiting those older episodes without having to commit to the long haul. And luckily for me, there’s a re-watch podcast currently running hosted by Tom Welling and Michael Rosenbaum which is the perfect fix! I don’t have to actually re-watch the series, but I do get to revisit the show in this way. I do wish the hosts remembered a bit more about their experiences on the set, however, but I think I’m now just spoiled by the super high quality that is “Office Ladies.”

Paramount+ Show: “The Stand”

Yes, I’m late to the game, but when I was looking around for something appropriately creepy for the Halloween season, I figured now was the time! Somehow I remember my mom letting me watch the 90s version of this story way back when I was fairly little. I only have a few memories of the story, but I do remember being fairly creeped out. I also haven’t read the book, so in a lot of ways, this was completely fresh for me. I definitely enjoyed it (as much as you can for a creepy show like this) and thought the acting was phenomenal, especially Alexander Skarsgard as Randall Flagg. The success of a series like this really lives and dies by the performance of this character, and Skarsgard hit it out of the park, as far as I’m concerned.

Kate’s Picks

Netflix Show: “The Fall of the House of Usher”

There of course needed to be some spooky content on my media consumption agenda for the month of October, and we horror fans were blessed with the premiere of Mike Flanagan’s newest (and probably final) Netflix series, “The Fall of the House of Usher”. Flanagan is such a genius because in his mind he basically said ‘what if I combined Edgar Allan Poe with “Succession” and “Dopesick”?’, and from that we get this incredibly dark, disturbing, and bleak series that I just tore through. Meet the Ushers, the family at the head of Fortunato Pharmaceuticals, which has come under fire for producing one of the most most addictive and deadly painkillers that has fueled the opioid crisis. As the trial starts, patriarch Roderick Usher’s six unscrupulous children start dying gruesome and perplexing deaths, perhaps because of a mysterious woman Roderick and sister Madeline met on a fateful night decades earlier. All of these new versions of the Poe tales, from “Tell Tale Heart” to “Murders in the Rue Morgue” to “The Black Cat” are SO damn creative. It’s great seeing some of Flanagan’s usual suspects (Carla Gugino, Kate Siegel, Bruce Greenwood to name but a few), but it’s Flanagan newcomer Mark Hamill as intimidating Usher lawyer Arthur Pymm that really stood out to me. This is such a clever reimagining of Edgar Allan Poe’s stories, and it ends Flanagan’s Netflix collaborations on a high note.

Max Show: “Our Flag Means Death”

It felt like it took forever for some of my favorite queer pirates to come back, and when “Our Flag Means Death” Season 2 premiered there was much rejoicing in our house. This is one of the shows that my husband and I try to watch together, so we let a few episodes build up so we could binge them once our daughter was asleep for the night. Which led to a lot of impatience on my part because I just wanted to consume any episode as soon as possible. When we left off at the end of Season 1, Captain Stede Bonnet had separated from Blackbeard, leaving the latter heartbroken and then murderous with grief and rage. Now Stede has reconnected with his crew, and finds out that Blackbeard has gone completely crazy and kidnapped Frenchie, Jim, and others to serve under him. Stede hopes for a reconciliation, but Blackbeard may be too far gone. This show is still filled with lots of humor and lots of pathos, and with new characters like Chinese Pirate Queen Zheng Yi Sao and Irish Pirate Anne Bonny we have new faces along with the familiar ones. Interestingly enough, the character who has REALLY stood out for me is Izzy Hands, Blackbeard’s first mate who was portrayed in Season 1 as conniving, but has since gone THROUGH IT and is on a bit of a redemptive arc (and honestly, after seeing how Blackbeard reacted after Stede left, he may have had a point….).

Web Show: “Dimension 20: Dungeons and Drag Queens”

Recently my high school bestie Blake reached out and asked me if I wanted to join an online Dungeons and Dragons game with him and some of his friends, and while I had never played D and D in my life I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to spend time with him. But going in with little to no experience was daunting. Luckily, my close friend David is back in town, so our Sunday night LGBTQIA+ media tradition has started up, and he suggested we watch Dimension 20’s “Dungeons and Drag Queens” series, which would give me an amusing crash course! This limited series joins drag queens Jujubee, Bob the Drag Queen, Monet X Change, and Alaska Thunderfuck as they play D and D with Dimension 20/Dropout regular Brennan, and given that they are all amateurs it makes for informative and HILARIOUS content. Brennan is a very supportive and creative dungeon master who is helping these queens go on a quest to the underworld, and it leads to many fantastic moments of triumph and joy… as well as panic and chaos when things go wrong… sometimes because of very bad decision making on the queens’ parts. I don’t know how much I’ve LEARNED, really, but I do know that I haven’t died yet! So thanks, questing queens!

While we do love us some books, believe it not, we do have a life outside of reading. So to highlight our other pop culture interests, on the last Monday of each month, we each will highlight three other “happenings” from the last month. Big events on favorite TV shows, new movies we’ve watched, old movies we’ve “discovered,” etc. Pretty much whatever we found of particular interest outside of the book world during the last month. Share your own favorite things in the comments!

Serena’s Picks

TV Show: “Jack Ryan”

While I really loved the first season, I was not a fan of the second one. I felt like it lost all of the cleverness of the first season, reducing Jack Ryan to every other gung-ho action hero, without the notable intelligence and uncompromising morality that made Ryan stand out from the pack. But while I was on vacation, I watched both the third and the fourth season with my mom, who really enjoyed both. I still thought the third was a bit lacking, but I really enjoyed the fourth and final season. So, if you’re a fan of the show, it’s nice that it went out on a high note at least!

TV Show: “Hijack”

Idris Elba is one of those supremely talented actors where you just look at the films/shows that he’s chosen to do and think…why? Seriously, name the last really high quality thing you’ve seen him in! Not the quality of his acting, which is always good, but the quality of the show/movie on its own! But thankfully, I’m here to report that his latest project was noticeably not cringe-worthy! “Hijack” is at times incredibly suspenseful and it manages to pull off its concept (every hour of the 7 hour flight is one episode of the show) very well. Elba is, of course, very good, but the surrounding cast of characters all hold their own as well. Definitely check this one out if you like action/suspense limited series!

Card game: “Bridge”

I’ve mentioned before that my family is a big card-playing family. We mostly stick to pinochle, but after 20+ years of that, I think we’re all feeling like we’ve mostly mastered it. So on our weekly online card nights, we’ve started to experiment with learning bridge. My mom and aunt (who we often play with) both played bridge a lot when they were younger, so now they’re training the younger generation up. Guess I’m ready and able to embrace my oncoming middle aged years!

Kate’s Picks

TV Show: “Only Murders In The Building”

This cozy mystery show is back and is still filled with all the hijinks that we can only expect from the likes of Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez. It may seem crazy that this show is still sustainable given that our three podcasters/amateur detectives keep finding themselves in the thick of a murder, but it’s still so fun and charming it doesn’t even matter. After Oliver has tried to relaunch his Broadway career with a brand new show, his main star is murdered the night of the opening performance. Now Charles, Oliver, and Mabel are once again on the case, trying to solve the murder and to put out a new podcast season, WHILE ALSO trying to salvage Oliver’s show by making it into a musical? I still adore the chemistry between the three main players, but then you add in Paul Rudd as the murder victim and Meryl FREAKING Streep as a meek cast mate (and yes, she DOES sing) and you have a delightful new season.

Film: “Renfield”

I didn’t get to this one in the theaters even though I REALLY wanted to see it, so when it was on a flight during my August vacation I was amped to finally watch it. I mean, what’s not to love? A new and original story of Dracula’s henchman Renfield is already great, but casting Nic Cage as the Count himself? BRILLIANT!! Renfield has been working as Dracula’s familiar for centuries, but as time has gone on he’s started to feel like he wants out of this toxic and codependent relationship. When they find themselves in New Orleans, and Renfield is caught up in local crime drama and finds himself on the side of the hero, he really wants to change his purpose. But will the Count let him go? Nicholas Hoult is an enjoyable Renfield, but Cage is SO FUN as Dracula, chewing all the scenery in this funny and weird gore fest.

YouTube Show: “I Like To Watch”

If it’s a Not Just Books post, it’s pretty likely there is going to be some kind of drag content on my list, and this month it’s the meta web series “I Like To Watch”, a show in which drag queens Trixie Mattel and Katya Zomolodchikova watch Netflix programming and comment and banter about it. Pretty straight forward. I tore through a bunch of these over a few days because they were so addictive and hilarious, in a Mystery Science Theater 3000 kind of way with Trixie and Katya delivering lots of commentary and candid moments. From Christmas love stories to Netflix series to the newest “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” (linked above, as it had me rolling with laughter), these two just keep the laughs up and are sometimes taken completely by surprise. Also, consider watching it with subtitles because whenever they cackle and howl with laughter, the descriptions are FANTASTIC.

While we do love us some books, believe it not, we do have a life outside of reading. So to highlight our other pop culture interests, on the last Monday of each month, we each will highlight three other “happenings” from the last month. Big events on favorite TV shows, new movies we’ve watched, old movies we’ve “discovered,” etc. Pretty much whatever we found of particular interest outside of the book world during the last month. Share your own favorite things in the comments!

Note: We are going to the American Library Association annual conference in Chicago this coming weekend. So we’re posting our “Not Just Books” post a week earlier than usual so that we can take next Monday to highlight that event.

Serena’s Picks

Apple TV Show: “Slow Horses”

You know, sometimes all it takes to sell you on a concept is a famous name. And show producers know it! My husband and I started watched watching this one based only on our love of Gary Oldman and our mutual appreciation for BBC dramas of any kind. But I think we were both surprised by just how much we enjoyed this spy thriller. All of the acting was superb, and it was also surprisingly funny, something I wasn’t expecting going in. Apple+ is one of those streamers that we subscribe to for soccer game access, but it turns out they have some actually good shows?

TV Show: “The Crowded Room”

I really knew nothing about this show either and was again drawn in by the big name actors headlining it. While Tom Holland is obviously best known for his role as Spiderman, I’ve seen him in a few more serious dramas, and it’s clear that he’s quite talented beyond the superhero stuff. This was a very interesting show. I feel like one of my few superpowers is the ability to quickly predict twists and surprises in shows and books, so I was able to guess this one’s main conceit within the first 15 minutes. But that still made it an interesting experience for sure! If you’re looking for something different to watch, this is definitely a unique show.

Activity: Trivia Mafia

Back in the days before we had kids, Kate and I and our husbands and a few other friends had a weekly trivia night at a local pub. Obviously, this has been out of the cards for some time. But this year, my husband and I decided that now was the time to figure out this whole babysitter thing. So now that we have a great person who comes and watches our boys, we’ve been able to slowly get back out into the world. And one thing we’re doing over the summer is trying out trivia again. Obviously, now being reduced to only the two of us, we don’t do nearly as well. But it’s still fun, for sure!

Kate’s Picks

TV Show: “Empress Ki”

This is a bit of a crazy swerve for me, as I literally stumbled upon a clip from the South Korean historical drama “Empress Ki” on social media during one of my frequent meaningless scrolls. But I was so intrigued by the ornate costuming, the dramatic moment at hand, and the very dramatic but also very compelling acting by the people on the screen, that I went on a hunt to find this show. Ha Ji-won plays Seung-nyang, a Goryeo (a state of Korea during the time period) woman who was sent as a tribute to Yuan (a Mongol controlled state of China) when she was a child. After escaping her captors, she disguised herself as a boy and became a thief and warrior, and eventually finds herself in the court of Ta Hwan, the son of the Yuan Emperor. As Seung-nyang does everything she can to survive, she climbs the ladder, and positions herself as one of Ta Hwan’s consorts, though she still thinks of her first love Wang Yoo, who is in line to be king in Goryeo. This show is soapy, beautiful, and the time, place, and plot has me hooked.

Film: “The Birdcage”

This isn’t a film that is by any means new to me, as I’ve been a fan of the comedy of errors “The Birdcage” for a very long time. But this month our local Alamo Drafthouse had a special screening as one of their ‘brunch’ films, so some friends and I decided to go and see it on the big screen. And for being a movie that is almost thirty years old, it still holds up really well and has numerous laugh out loud moments. Robin Williams and Nathan Lane play long term partners Armand and Albert, who run and are the star of a Miami drag club called The Birdcage. When Armand’s son Val comes home from college and announces that he’s engaged, and his fiancée is the daughter of a far right Senator, he asks Armand to pretend to be straight and conservative to meet the girl’s parents. Hilarity ensues. I still have a VERY hard time dealing with the ungrateful weenie son (how DARE he be SO MEAN to his parents, especially Albert, who is basically his mother?!?!), but Nathan Lane, Robin Williams, and Hank Azaria as flamboyant house keeper Agador always have me in stitches. Seeing in on the big screen with friends and a brunch spread was perfect.

TV Show: “Shiny Happy People”

We’re ending on a bleak and upsetting note, but I would be remiss if I were to leave the docuseries “Shiny Happy People” off my list for June, as Serena and I got together to watch it and binged it all in one distressing night. “Shiny Happy People” is a documentary series that looks into Bill Gothard and the Institute in Basic Life Principles, or IBLP, a fundamentalist Christian organization (though I’d argue cult) that is part of the mainstream consciousness thanks to TLC and the Quiverfull Duggar Family, whose show on TLC put their large family and conservative Christian values on cable TV. They presented themselves as moral and loving and perfect within their Christian led lives. Well, as it turned out their oldest son Josh is a sexual predator, and abused his sisters in childhood with no consequences and whose acts were covered up by his family. And he was eventually sent to prison for violent CSAM. But the docuseries, while using the Duggars as a jumping off point for the hidden violence and abuse, more so examines the IBLP as a cult and movement, and gives platform to numerous survivors who are now speaking out against the horrendous abuses, as well as the group’s ultimate mission to make the United States (and also the world) a society driven by far right Christian values and doctrine. It’s well done and enlightening, but it’s a rough ride.