💬 Friday Thread: What Have You Read, Watched, Enjoyed These Last 3 Weeks?
And what are you reading now?
Hello! I’ve missed our Friday discussions so much! I mentioned a couple recent reads and enjoyments in last Sunday’s Links & Lit newsletter, in case you missed it you can read it here. Today, I’m going to share the book I just finished, as well as the Netflix documentary I binged last weekend. I can’t wait to hear what you’ve been reading, watching, listening to, and enjoying- or maybe not enjoying:)
Meet you in the comments….
Question Time
The questions I ask in weekly threads are meant to be fun and help us connect, so please know you don’t have to answer each question, if you only have the time/desire to answer one, great! Please put book titles IN ALL CAPS for easy reading:)
What have you read, watched, listened to, enjoyed these last 3 weeks?
What are you reading now?
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Have a great weekend📚
Renee
I just finished listening to….
Love Forms by Claire Adam - This new release is on The Booker Prize Longlist which is an awards list I follow closely. This story about motherhood, family, and enduring bonds of home centers around main character Dawn who, at the age of fifty-eight, is newly divorced. Her two grown sons are busy with their own lives, so she feels she should be trying to settle into a new future for herself. But she keeps returning to the past and to the secret she’s kept all these years. At just sixteen, Dawn found herself pregnant, and—as was common in Trinidad back then—her parents sent her away to have the baby and give her up for adoption.More than forty years later, Dawn allows herself to explore the possibility of finding her long lost daughter.
My thoughts - the audio narration was excellent. The narrator brought Dawn to life and did a great job with accents, names, and places in Trinidad. From the start when we meet 16 year old Dawn, I liked her. What I really loved was 58 year old Dawn. So many times I felt so connected to her thoughts, worries, hopes etc when it came to growing older and having raised two boys. I love when I can experience a story or character that feels like the author has a glimpse into my own experience. The writing leans heavily literary fiction. I love a character driven story, but I do have to note that I felt that there was an abundance of details, whether it was the kitchen aesthetics, the type of food being served etc, that I personally didn’t care about. I understand why these details were in the story, but for this reader it led to me feeling bored and my mind wandering.
My biggest criticism and what keeps this from being more than a 4 star read is the ending. I can’t say more than that, but I didn’t like it. I’m glad I read it and I’m glad I got to know Dawn. More midlife characters like her!
TV Show I Binged
Fit for TV (Netflix) - This is the new 3 episode documentary about The Biggest Loser tv show that ran for many years. I used to watch the show when it was on and I thought the documentary provided a balanced look at people who were on the show and their wildly differing opinions about what they thought about it then and now. I will say, I don’t think Bob Harper did himself any favors if he was trying to come across as a caring trainer./person.
I am finally reading Larry McMurtry’s Lonesome Dove! Texas Monthly magazine and Texas Book Festival created The Texas Book Club and this is their first selection. Maybe because I had watched the series years ago, or just the books size, for whatever reason I own the book, but had put it off. It is so good. I think the schedule they posted helped get me going. I love a schedule for a longer book. Watching Blood of My Blood. I thought I could not watch anything without Jamie and Claire. For anyone that is not into Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander, they are the main characters. This is a prequel to the Outlander books (there are 9, she is working on the 10th and final book) and the stories of Jamie and Claire’s parents. Turns out I can watch it! And lastly, my daughter brought me back a can of chickory blend coffee from New Orlean’s Cafe Du Monde. So yummy served with milk and ice. I watched Untamed, thanks for the recommendation! The only thing that bothered me was the rangers speaking with American accents (they are Australian). 😬