Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly blog post featuring five things that caught my attention this week.
1) When you get up at 6am to do laundry, sometimes you are greeted by this gorgeous red sky over the East River. It almost makes it worth getting up so early. Almost.
2) Living in New York, surrounded by concrete and highrise buildings, it's a treat to see pretty landscaping. I saw this in front of the Bristol apartment building while I was running errands.
3) Also while running errands, I listened to a fascinating podcast. On Next Question with Katie Couric, journalist Margaret Sullivan talked with Katie about her book, Ghosting the News: Local Journalism and the Crisis of American Democracy. Sullivan (now with The Washington Post and formerly with The New York Times) spoke about her work as the editor at The Buffalo News and how important local newspapers are to a community and our democracy. Local newspapers attend city, town council, and school board meetings, report on local arts scenes, and highlight community members. So much of today's media are now in the hands of politically motivated monopolies (Sinclair Broadcasting TV stations) and hedge funds that only care about profits (Alden Global Capital which now owns such prestigious newspapers as Chicago Tribune, Denver Post, Baltimore Sun), it's dangerous to our democracy. Young reporters from Report for America also shared their work in local communities underserved by media. As someone who grew up in a small community with a very strong local newspaper that still exists, I really appreciated this podcast and I will be buying Margaret's book. 
4) On Veterans' Day, MeTV ran the series finale of MASH, which is something that is rarely seen on TV. I've been on a MASH kick, as TV Land runs two hours of episodes in the morning from 9am-11am and I like to watch it while I'm doing my morning chores. I vividly recall watching the last episode in my college dorm, with dozens of us crowded around the television in the common room, and I'm not sure I have seen it since then in 1983. The MeTV broadcast also had interviews with cast members, writers, and producers during the three hour event. It was a powerful ending to a classic television show that artfully combined drama and comedy. You can see the interviews here. 
5) I read three books this week. The first is a super suspense thriller, All Her Little Secrets, a debut novel by Wanda M. Morris. When lawyer Ellice Littlejohn walks into her boss's office early one morning and finds him dead from a gunshot wound, she runs away to her office and tells no one. Why? Ellice, the only Black lawyer at Houghton Transportation Corporation, was having an affair with her now-dead white boss. She finds herself caught in a dangerous tangled web that includes her younger brother, along with the CFO of Houghton who clearly dislikes Ellice, the female head of HR, and the CEO who appears to be suffering from dementia. It's a twisty novel that combines the movie Get Out with the legal thrillers of John Grisham. It's a real page-turner. 
Now that Mariah Carey has declared it's time for Christmas, I read two holiday-themed books. Jean Meltzer's The Matzah Ball serves up a Hanukkah story. Rachel, the daughter of an esteemed rabbi, has a secret- she is also Margot Cross, the bestselling author of twenty popular Christmas romances. When her publisher tells her they want a Hanukkah-themed book this year, Rachel must get herself invited to the Matzah Ball, an NYC event that is organized by a man who broke her heart as young teen at summer camp. It's a delightful holiday story, full of heart and humor, and I so enjoyed learning about Jewish foods and traditions. My full review posts on November 21st. 
Stay safe and healthy all.
The second holiday-themed book is Susan Mallery's The Christmas Wedding Guest. The story takes place in the town of Wishing Tree, near Seattle. This town is all about Christmas, with Christmas-themed stores and restaurants surrounding a town square called The Wreath. Sisters Dena and Reggie's parents are renewing their wedding vows at a huge traditional wedding they didn't have when they eloped 35 years ago. Dena is a schoolteacher who also owns the town B&B, and is pregnant having decided to become a single mom when love has eluded her. Reggie left town last year after her boyfriend proposed to her on the Friday after Thanksgiving, hosted a huge engagement party on Saturday, and then dumped Reggie on Sunday. When Reggie's high school boyfriend returns to town with his young son, and rock star Micah is a guest at Dena's B&B, sparks fly and the road to true love is rocky indeed. It's the first book in a new series, and no one gets readers more invested in these charming towns and the people living there better than Susan Mallery. My full review posts November 22nd. 
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