Friday 5ive- September 4, 2020

Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly blog post about five things that caught my attention this week. I can't believe that it is September already, and yet this year seems to have lasted about five years. Does that make sense?

1)  While we were upstate, we ate at a fantastic Mexican restaurant, Armadillo, in Kingston NY. I had a frozen margarita, which was frosty cold and refreshing. For my entree, I chose the Taco Platter special, which is two tacos (I chose chicken) and a delicious side of refried black beans and rice. It was some of the best Mexican food I've had, and I highly recommend it. They space their tables more than socially distant,a nd they have a Taco Trailer in the parking lot for atmosphere. If you find yourself up that way, make this a stop. 

2)  Like the rest of the world, I was shocked and saddened by the death of actor Chadwick Boseman. He died at the age of 43 of colon cancer, which he had for four years, and his loss affected so many people, especially young children who saw him as their first Black superhero on screen in Black Panther. I first saw him as Jackie Robinson in 42, which the Paramount channel showed on Monday night. It's such a powerful performance that led him to stardom. 

3) I found a new podcast that I'm enjoying, it's called Smartless, hosted by friends Jason Bateman, Will Arnett and Sean Hayes, three very funny actors. Each week, one of the three invites a guest who is a surprise to the other two and they have a free-wheeling discussion. There are seven episodes up so far, with people like Kamala Harris, Neil deGrasse Tyson, and my favorite so far, Melissa McCarthy. It's funny, irreverent and relevant. 

4)  This week BookReporter.com celebrated its 24th anniversary with a special Zoom featuring nine of their fantastic team of book reviewers talking about the books they loved most. It was an interesting discussion led by Carol Fitzgerald, the founder of Book Reporter. You can watch it on YouTube, and if you don't get their weekly newsletter on Fridays, you don't know what you're missing. 

5) I got in lots of reading this week. Ella Berman's novel, The Comeback, is about a young actress whose life has been destroyed by the man who was her mentor. It's a very strong first person narration, and it was a Read With Jenna pick for August. 

Historical fiction fans will love Jennie Fields' Atomic Love, about a female scientist who worked on the Manhattan Project and three years later is asked by the FBI to spy on her former lover, a fellow scientist they believe is a Russian spy. I could not put this one down. 

In addition to being a fantastic mystery writer, Laura Lippman writes wonderful essays, and she has a new book out, My Life As A Villainess, filled with her smart, crisp essays about life as an older mother, her first job as a reporter in Waco, Texas, and how the first few hundred pages of the seminal TV show, The Wire, ended up on her computer. (PS- she's great on Twitter too.)

Jude Deveraux and Tara Sheets team up for a romance novel, Chance of A Lifetime, that's The Good Place meets Outlander, about Liam, an Irish thief from 1844 who falls in love with Cora, the daughter of a wealthy man. Cut to present day when Liam is summoned by two angels to return to Earth to help Cora fall in love with Finn, the man she was fated to be with in 1844 when Liam came along and messed up the plan. Cora has lived many lives since 1844, but she has never fallen in love with Finn, which is her destiny. Can Liam fix this? It's the first book in a new series, Providence Falls. My full review publishes on September 14th. 

Stay safe, socially distant, wear a mask and wash your hands everyone. We'll see you next week.