I’ve been absent from my blog for a year now. In that time, I reverted to my low maintenance hobbies in the little free time I had between work and applying for school. Without further ado, here are a few recommendations from the last few months.

Shows I’m loving

Since I work late most nights, Shaun and I have really been focused on watching an episode of a show on the nights we’re home. Below are a few recommendations from our recent watches.

• Survivor – Season 42 just ended and it was honestly a great season. Great moves and great story-lines. If you haven’t watched Survivor before, this is a great season to get your feet wet with.
• The Challenge All Stars – We love MTV’s The Challenge! We’ve seen every season available online and All Stars brings back a lot of fan favorites from older seasons. There are some fan not-favorites too.
• Under the Banner of Heaven – If you like true crime, Andrew Garfield, and religious history, this is a fantastic show. I’m obsessed with it. Garfield is having a moment right now and it is well deserved.
• Severance: WATCH THIS. The characters in this show go through a process called Severance where they have no memory of their outside lives when they are at work, and no memories of work when they leave. It’s an absolutely wild concept and each episode ended with a ton of unanswered questions.

Must See Movies

If you asked me what one of my most useful purchases is, I would say AMC’s A List. I think I pay $20ish a month to see up to 3 movies/week. Post-pandemic, a ton of movies that were postponed came out, so I’ve been using my pass likely crazy. Here are just a few recommendations for recently released movies.

• The Lost City: Sandra Bullock, Channing Tatum, Daniel Radcliffe, and Brad Pitt in a cheesy romantic comedy. There are a few moments that were so funny that I actually screamed in the theater. This is one of the few movies that we went to see twice
• Top Gun: Maverick: Listen, I’m not an action movie fan, nor did I love the original Top Gun movie. This movie is GREAT. Even if you just go to see Miles Teller looking like an 80s hottie, it’s worth it. The plane stuff is also pretty cool. We’re actually seeing this one again this weekend in IMAX, after seeing it in Dolby Digital the first time. See this in theaters if you can!
• West Side Story: It would be silly of me to not recommend a musical. I was hesitant to see this remake. West Side Story isn’t necessarily one of my favorite movie musicals and I’m not a big Ansel Elgort fan. Steven Spielberg did a great job. The costuming and shots were beautiful and the actors gave a phenomenal performance.

Books I’ve Devoured

My friend Melissa has a podcast discussing YA/NA books, so I started reading a few books from it to support her. What I didn’t anticipate was re-discovering my love for romance and fiction books. I’m currently reading my 18th book this year. Here are a few book recommendations, all in the romance genre.

• From Blood and Ash (Series): This was the first series covered on the In Bed With Books podcast. I wasn’t sure that I would like a fantasy romance novel (even though that’s all I read in my early teens). I LOVED IT. I read the first 3 books within a month and immediately devoured the 4th when it was released in May. It was way steamier than I anticipated, so do with that information what you will.
• A Court of Thorns and Roses (Series): I read this series for the IBWB book club. The first book is a modern retelling of Beauty and the Beast with faeries. I liked the book a lot, even with its faults. I love what Sarah J Maas does with the following books. There’s one specific choice that she makes that differs so much from traditional romance novels (but I don’t want to spoil it).
• Emily Henry (Author): I am OBSESSED with Henry’s books: Beach Read, People We Meet on Vacation, and Book Lovers. Book Lovers just came out a month or two ago and I finished it the day it came out. Book Lovers looks at the Hallmark trope of a man leaving his awful city girlfriend for a simpler life in a small town through the perspective of the city girlfriend. It felt so creative and I ate it up.