The Friday 5ive- May 24, 2019 Edition

The Friday 5ive

This week's Friday 5ive takes us into Memorial Day weekend, and that means summer is right around the corner. These are the five things that caught my attention this week.

1) I finished one series on Netflix- Ricky Gervais' After Life, which I really liked. He plays a widower who cannot get over his grief of losing his wife. He's hostile to everyone but his young nephew George and his dog. It's six episodes and the last one is so beautifully done, but I wonder what season two will hold.
I started Dead to Me on Netflix, starring Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini as two young widows who meet in a grief support group. (There appears to be a recurring theme here....) Christina's husband died in a hit and run, and she is obsessed with finding his killer. She is earning critical acclaim for her portrayal. I think Linda Cardellini deserves praise as well, and the secrets that are slowly revealed are whoppers. 

2) While running errands, I came across this 'Chicken Bus NY' parked on a side street. I have never seen it before, but there was a group of young women, maybe college aged, who were taking their photo in front it. Apparently it's party bus that you can rent, and if you are interested, the link to it is here.

3) I went to hear actress Kate Mulgrew speak about her newest memoir, How to Forget, about the life and deaths of her mother and father. It's brilliant, honest and emotional, and I loved this book. She read two powerful pieces from the book- one about the time her father drove her to an audition when she was fourteen, and another about a neighborhood walk she took with her mother when her mother was suffering from Alzheimer's. This one is a must-read.

4) Lifetime TV channel is beginning a Books to Screen series of movies, and the first one is an adaptation of Adriana Trigiani's fabulous Very Valentine. They are starting a national book club ahead of the movie where we can all read the book together before the movie premieres on Lifetime on Saturday, June 8th.  The first trailer for the movie looks so wonderful, and Jacqueline Bissett as Grandma is perfection. I can't wait! You can join the National Book Club here. 

5) I started and finished Searching for Sylvie Lee by Jean Kwok, the story of Amy who leaves her home in New York City (where she lives with her parents) to search for her missing sister in the Netherlands. We hear the story from Amy, missing sister Sylvie, and their mother's perspective. There's a lot of family secrets going on here, and the mystery does eventually get solved. The book is on many lists of the best books of summer and deservedly so.

I'm in the middle of Mary Beth Keane's newest book, Ask Again, Yes about two NYC police officers who live next door to each other, and their son and daughter who have a relationship. I adored Keane's first two novels, The Walking People, about the men who built the NYC subways, and Fever, the fictionalized story of the woman known as Typhoid Mary, and Ask Again, Yes is shaping up to be her best one yet. This one is also on many best of the summer books lists for good reason.

Have an enjoyable holiday weekend!