Friday 5ive- August 8, 2025

Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly post featurng five things that caught my attention this week.

The weekend was so beautiful, perfect weather to sit on my balcony and catch up on my reading.

1) We went to see Just in Time, a Broadway show about legendary 50s and 60s singer/songwriter Bobby Darin. The show is fantastic, with the staging as a nightclub setting. (Darin performed a great deal in clubs like the Copacabana. My companions didn't know anything about Bobby Darin and they loved the show. I knew a little about him, but I didn't realize that Connie Francis (who recently passed away) was his first love. Jonathan Groff gave an astonishing performance as Darin, winning a Tony nomination for it. If you're in NYC, I highly recommend going to see Just in Time. 

2) You see a lot of interesting things walking around the city, but I've never seen anything quite like the sight of an ad for a handyman. On top of his little car. On top of a gigantic box where I guess he keeps his tools? 

3) I like to try new items at Trader Joe's and this week it was Dark Chocolate Covered Cashews (with a  hidden layer of sweet caramel confectionary coating). Need I say more? They are delicious!

4) I binge-watched the sitcom Leanne on Neflix. It's a throwback to the traditional network TV sitcoms starring standup comic Leanne Morgan, with Kristen Johnston as her sister. Leanne portrays a woman married for 30+ years when her husband leaves her for another woman. It's very Southern and funny (if you've seen Leanne's comedy act you'll get it.) Leanne has to deal with her ex-husband, wild child daughter (who's almost 30), a son who is the light of her life, a beautiful grandbaby, nosy neighbor, and her elderly parents. The chemistry between Leanne and Kristen is perfection, and Tim Daly as Leanne's FBI agent love interest is terrific. There's  16 episodes and I hope we see season two. 

5) I read Beck Dorey-Stein's fantastic new novel Spectacular Things in one day this week (on my balcony). It's about two sisters, one of whom, Cricket, is on her way to becoming an Olympic soccer star. Older sister Mia has sacrificed much to help her talented sister realize her dreams. When Mia has a serious situation arise where she needs Cricket to make a choice that could put her career in jeopardy, the sisters face a crossroads in their relationship.

I devoured this story of sisters, it hooked me from the very beginning. We see the challenges their single mom faced to give them a good life, as well as the blessings and curses of being a star athlete with so much potential. 

The writing and characters draw you in, and if you are a soccer fan you will love this story even more. I'm always intrigued by athletes who perform at a high level, particularly if they begin as young children. Even though I don't follow soccer, I was captivated by that storyline.

Fans of Taylor Jenkins Reid's Carrie Soto Is Back will want to read Spectacular Things. It was a Reeses' Book Club pick.

Have a safe and healthy week- until next time.

Friday 5ive- February 2, 2024

Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly post featuring five things that caught my eye this week. Can you believe that it is February already? Where did January go?

1) Tuesday evening we went to the Cutting Room in midtown to hear Steven Maglio and his 12 piece orchestra. Steven Maglio sings mostly Sinatra songs and he plays a tight set of about an hour and fifteen minutes. There was a nice mix of the usual Sinatra classics and a few more obscure songs. We arrived at 6pm when the doors opened, enjoyed a Caesar salad and strip steak dinner and a bottle of Oregon Pinot Noir. It was a good-sized crowd by the time Maglio ook the stage after an opening act of comedy by Chris Monte. The whole night had a Rat Pack feeling and we really enjoyed it. I'd love to return to the Cutting Room to see more live entertainment. They have a lot of tribute bands (Fleetwood Mac, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young) and original music. I highly recommend it for a great NYC evening out. 

2) We noticed that our neighbor across the way still has their Christmas tree up on February 2nd. I enjoyed our Christmas tree but I don't think I could have it up until February. What do you think?

3)  It was a week to watch documentaries. First we watched American Nightmare on Netflix like everyone else in the country. It tells the story of a woman kidnapped from her boyfriend's home in the middle of the night in California. The cops zero in on the boyfriend immediately after he tells them a crazy story of how the kidnapping happened. After searching everywhere for her dead body, the woman turns up 400 miles away at her father's house where she says the kidnapper dropped her off. The cops brand the incident as a hoax perpetrated by the couple, similiar to the movie Gone Girl which was popular at that time.

But it wasn't a hoax, it was a horrible story and this couple's lives were destroyed first by the kidnapper and then by the police and media who hung onto the story like a dog with a bone. 

A few years later, a female detective in another California town is investigating a sexual assault and she works hard to put the pieces together to solve her crime and the kidnapping from years ago. I wonder if anyone in the media apologized? (Nancy Grace). It's a riveting story and an example of how women who are victims of sexual assault are treated so poorly. 

 4) The second documentary we watched was much happier. The Greatest Night in Pop (also on Netflix) gives a true behind the scenes look at the making of the 1985 song We Are The World, featuring 40 of the biggest names in music gathering together on one night to create a song whose proceeds went to famine relief in Ethiopia. Michael Jackson and Lionel Ritchie wrote the song, and cassettes were sent to the hottest names in pop music inviting them to show up for one night to make the record in Los Angeles. They decided to do it the night of the American Music Awards when most of the performers would be there. Everyone was put in cars and driven from the awards ceremony to the recording studio. It was very hush-hush, they didn't want word to get out and fans to show up. 

Bruce Springsteen flew in from his last concert on his Born in the USA tour in Buffalo to perform. (Fun fact- I was at that Buffalo concert and it was amazing.) They all sang the chorus, and then the musicians who had solo parts stayed to sing their parts. Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon, Kenny Rogers, Daryl Hall, John Oates, Harry Belafonte, Huey Lewis, Cyndi Lauper, Dionne Warwick, Willie Nelson,  Ray Charles, Bob Dylan, my favorite Bette Midler- it was an astonishing group and Quincy Jones had to herd them to get them all together to complete the recording in one night. If you remember the song, you'll love this documentary and if you're too young to remember, watch it anyway. It's fabulous. 

 

5) Sticking with the theme of true stories, I read Lara Love Hardin's memoir The Many Lives of Mama Love.  Lara was a surburban mom to four boys, Little League coach, and PTA mom whose descent in drug addiction led her to steal pills, cash, credit cards and more from neighbors and cars in the school parking lot and eventually to jail. She ends up in county lockup where she becomes Mama Love to the younger prison residents as she tries desperately to work within the system so she doesn't lose custody of her four year-old son. Her husband, who was also arrested with her, is bailed out by his wealthy mother, and somehow he ends up with a better deal than Lara. Lara ends up on probation for nine years until she can make restitution and the labrynth of red tape that she goes through to get out from under her legal case is confusing. It's an honest look at addiction, and if she doesn't always take responsibility for her actions, that too is a honest look at an addict. Eventually Lara ends up working at a literary agency where she ghostwrites books for Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the Dali Lama because someone believed in her and gave her a chance. This is an eye-opening book and she makes a point of how the system makes it difficult for people to get a second chance. (And her point about using the female prisoners as cheap labor to clean the county jail and sheriff's office is enlightening.) I highly recommend this book.  

I hope you all have a safe and happy week. Until next time.

Friday 5ive- January 26, 2024

Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly blog post featuring five things that caught my attention this week. 

1)  It was a bookish week, with two events. It began with Zibby Media's New Year, New Chapter event at the Whitby Hotel on Saturday. There were over 40 authors speaking at several panels, including Rom-Coms, Your Deepest, Darkest (Thrillers), Advice for Debut Authors, and Don't Make Me Laugh among them. The great Anna Quindlen gave the keynote address (more on her later) and the discussions  and authors were so interesting. I got to connect with authors I've met before, like Jane L. Rosen (whose upcoming June novel Seven Summer Weekends is one I can't wait for) and Caroline Leavitt (her upcoming book Days of Wonder is on several lists of 2024 Eagerly Anticipated Books). I also got to meet in person Nancy Johnson, whose debut novel The Kindest Lie holds a place on my All-Time Favorites Shelf. That was such a delight! I met a few Instagram friends, and connected with some people I used to see at Book Expo (I miss that.). It was a great day and the turnout was so good I hope it encourages more bookish events in the future. Zibby Owens and her team did a wonderful job.

The authors

Meeting Nancy Johnson

Keynote speaker Anna Quindlen

2)  On Tuesday evening, the Book Cellar Book Club gathered at the Vanguard Wine Bar to discuss Helene Hanff's classic book 84, Charing Cross Road. The book consists of twenty years of letters written between Hanff, who lived in New York City, and the Marks & Co. Booksellers in London following WWII. Hanff was a freelance writer and literature lover who would order books from London to be sent to her. She struck up a friendly correspondence with the used book dealer and her letters were funny and a bit snarky at times. Eventually she got to know his family and others who worked at the bookstore, and she would arrange to have food and other items sent to them that were hard to find in post-war England. It's a lovely little book that restores your faith in humanity.

While on the way out, we ran into a group of women who were meeting for a book swap and we had a lovely chat with them. Apparently Vanguard Wine Bar is the literary salon of the Upper East Side.

Our new friends

3)  On Saturday evening, my husband and two of our friends went to see the fantastic Nick Fradiani portray Neil Diamond in A Beautiful Noise- the Neil Diamond Musical on Broadway. If you are a Neil Diamond fan this show is a must-see. The music will make you smile and dance in your seat, but please don't sing until the Sweet Caroline singalong at the end. Nick sang at the ArchCare gala in October and we went backstage after the show to congratulate him on an amazing performance. He graciously took a photo with us on stage. With so much bad news and chaos in the world, this show will leave you singing and smiling. 

4)  Somone suggested we watch Beef , a limited series on Netflix, and after it won several awards at the Golden Globes and Emmy Awards recently, we gave it a try. It is crazy good! Ali Wong and Steven Yeun play two people who have a road rage incident that spirals out of control. Both of them make one bad decision after the other that threatens their work, family, sanity and even their lives. Everyone involved deserves all the awards, especially Wong and Yeun who are just brilliant. 

5)  After hearing Anna Quindlen speak at New Year, New Chapter, I couldn't wait to dive into her upcoming novel, After Annie, publishing in February. From the first sentence- "Annie Brown died right before dinner", I was hooked.  Annie was a 37 year-old wife and mom to four young children who worked as a nurse aide in a nursing home. After she dies in their kitchen, her husband Bill, who owns his plumbing business, is lost and doesn't know what to do. Thirteen year-old daughter Ali becomes the caretaker to her dad and three younger brothers, and we see the story of what happens 'after Annie' through Ali, Bill, and Annie's lifelong best friend Annmarie's eyes. They bring Annie to life in this heartbreaking and emotional story. Annie was the glue that held the family together, and helped Annmarie through her addiction to pain killers. We watch these people as they grieve, which Quindlen likens to spring. "Grief was like spring, maybe. You thought you were getting out from under it and then it comes roaring back." After Annie is one of the most visceral novels about grief that I have read, and it will stay with me for a long time. I started reading it and five hours later I finished it because I could not put this book down. I give it my highest recommendation. 

 I hope you have a safe, healthy week, Until next time.

Friday 5ive- November 10, 2023

Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly-ish post featuring five things that caught my attention this week.

1)  Manhattan has its first Wegmans grocery store  (there is a Wegmans in Brooklyn) and it is a stunner! The 6 train lets you out right across the street from the store so it is convienent for me to get there, although carrying groceries back can be a bit tricky. The layout is beautifully done, and they have so much product in the store. The prepared foods section has something for everyone in packaging for one, two, or more people. I picked up a chicken francese, potato au gratin, and broccoli for my dinner and it was delicious. They have a wing bar, a huge charcuterie section with packages of sliced meats of all kinds, and an amazing cheese section stocked with products from their own cheese cave, overseen by their own Cheese Cave Affineur (that is a new term for me). The edible Chocolate Tea Cup in the bakery is adorable. I will be making many more trips to Astor Place to visit Wegmans.

Chocolate Tea Cup

Charcuterie as far as the eye can see

2) The NYC Marathon was this past Sunday and it's always fun to go cheer on the runners. It's a real team building exercise for New Yorkers and something we sorely needed this year, everyone on the same side, encouraging the brave souls running through all five boroughs. I love all the clever signs, like this one below.

3) I went to a live taping of Hillary Clinton's podcast You and Me Both at Symphony Space. Her guest was Broadway legend Patti LuPone and the conversation between this two iconic women was enlightening and intelligent. Amber Ruffin- comedian, author, actress, Broadway creative (she wrote the book for Some Like It Hot and the upcoming revival of The Wiz)-hosted and joined the ladies for a funny and interesting Q&A at the end. (Who knew Amber Ruffin and Hillary Clinton were such good friends?  It makes sense though, they are both accomplished and funny people. They should auction off dinner with these two ladies for charity,) Once again it was great to be among a community of people joined together for an activity. We even got to hear Patti sing Make Someone Happy. They did. (And Patti's red shoes were to die for!)

Hillary Clinton, Patti LuPone, Amber Ruffin

4) I watched all four episodes of Netflix's All The Light We Cannot See, based on Anthony Doerr's novel of the same name. I read the book when it published in 2014, and I think they did a good job with the miniseries. It tells the story of Marie-Laure, a blind French girl in WWII who, along with her uncle and aunt, work for the French resistance using her uncle's radio to send secret coded messages to the Allies to help them defeat the Nazis. Even though I knew how the story ends, I was on the edge of my seat as director Shawn Levy rachets up the tension, especially as Marie is being stalked by a Nazi who wants something he believes she possesses. Aria Maria Loberti does a good job as Marie, as does Louis Hoffman as Werner, a reluctant Nazi soldier who has an unknowing connection to Marie. Hugh Laurie is fantastic as Uncle Etienne as well. 

5) I finally read Toni Morrison's Pulitzer prize-winning novel, Beloved. I can't believe I never read this incredible novel. It was my October Banned Book read gifted to me by my daughter-in-law, and it is a novel that everyone should read. Taking place shortly after the Civil War, former slave Sethe and her daughter Denver live in Ohio and are haunted by spirit of Sethe's dead baby Beloved. No one in town will associate with them for reasons that become apparent. Another former slave Paul shows up to stay with Sethe and Denver, and soon a young woman appears who shakes up things in the household. Sethe is traumatized by her life as a slave, and Morrison shows the reader the horrors and dangers of treating people as less than human. It is brutal and eye-opening, and heartbreaking. This book should not be banned, it should be required reading. 

Stay safe and healthy all, and we wish all of our veterans who sacrificed for our country a Happy Vaterans' Day tomorrow.

Friday 5ive- November 18, 2022

Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly post featuring five things that caught my attention this week.   

1) The guys in my husband's family were on their annual golf trip in Florida this week and while they were at a restaurant at dinner, they ran into Frank Thomas, retired first baseman for the Chicago White Sox. While this is interesting enough, what makes it crazy is that Thomas is my younger son's all-time favorite athlete. Thomas is the reason my son's favorite team is the White Sox (instead of the NY Yankees or NY Mets, hometown teams). When he sent me a text saying that Thomas was in the restaurant, I thought he was pulling my leg until he sent a photo. The group hung out at the bar with Thomas and said what a nice guy he was. It's always wonderful when someone you've looked up to your entire life turns out to be everything you hoped. A million to one odds he'd be at the same restaurant as my son, a million to one odds Jerry. (Seinfeld reference)

2) Next weekend would have been my dear friend Lisa's birthday. She was my best friend during my college years, and we had so many unforgettable times (and probably some we did forget due to too much alcohol haha). One of those times was when I went up to stay with her at her family's camp on Hadlock Pond, and we went to see Tina Turner in concert at Saratoga Performing Arts Center. We danced and sang along, and had so much fun. Lisa's laugh was so contagious and her smile lit up a room. When I saw that Mattel was releasing a Tina Turner Barbie doll, I ordered it and  now it sits on my shelf. Every time I see it, it reminds of my friend and all of the great times we had. I really miss her.

3)  My Broadway tour continued this week with a trip to see the revival of Into the Woods. The cast for this amazing Stephen Sondheim show is a who's who of some of the most talented Broadway performers-  Stephanie J. Block and Brian d'Arcy James as the Baker's Wife and the Baker were perfection, Krysta Rodriguez played a plucky Cinderella, Kat Geraghty's take as Red Robin Hood was delightful, Gavin Creel and Andy Karl were flat-out hilarious as the Prince brothers, and Patina Miller was astonishing as the Witch. She had a real Eartha Kitt vibe in the first act, and her transformation in Act II was astonishing. The first act has so many laughs, and Act II's more somber turn is sobering. I loved this show, if you come to NYC during the holiday, you must see this show before it closes on January 8th.

4)  I binged all ten episodes of Netflix's The Crown. Imelda Staunton carries on in the fine tradition of brilliant actresses who played Queen Elizabeth in this series (Claire Foy and Olivia Coleman, who both won Emmys for their performances). Jonathan Pryce was wonderful as Prince Phillip, and I thought Lesley Manville's performance as Princess Margaret in episode 4- Annus Horriblis- was simply heartbreaking. She should win the Emmy for sure. There is so much of interest in this season, even outside of the royal family. I liked the episode about the Fayed family and Sydney Johnson, who was a valet to King Edward. Charles and Diana take center stage this year, and Dominic West as Charles and Elizabeth Debicki as Diana are excellent. I felt that each character was portrayed empathetically, you do feel for all of them, except for Martin Bashir, what an awful man. What did you think of The Crown? 

5) I read Silas House's brilliant novel Lark Ascending this week. Set in a not-too-distant future, where the United States (and the rest of the world) has been ravaged by fires, civil war and a government run by the Fundies (fundamentalists who impose their extreme beliefs on the citizens), Lark and his parents flee to Ireland on a boat with other refugees. Once there, Lark is the only survivor and he makes his way across Ireland on foot, where he meets up with a stray dog (dogs have all but disappeared) and a woman on her own. It's a dystopian tale, where Lark and his companions have to avoid other survivors who scrounge for food and shelter and the people who want to lock them up. The writing is simply gorgeous, and this is a book you will find yourself sinking into, as the world around you recedes. It has a similarity to Cormac McCarthy's The Road, but Lark Ascending seems more urgent given the realities of our times, and Lark continues to hold on to hope. It's one of the best books of the year. 

Have a safe, healthy and happy Thanksgiving.

Friday 5ive- August 5, 2022

Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly post featuring five things that caught my attention this week. It really is the Dog Days of Summer, this heat is crazy, even for August.

1) The Beach Club Book Club had our annual meeting at the beach club of one of our members. We read Adriana Trigiani's epic family novel, The Good Left Undone, and had a lovely luncheon. Our discussion of the book led us to talk about our own families, and the things we don't know about them but would like to.  Matelda, the protagonist of the novel, would have been pleased with us as one of the best quotes from the book is "Families are only as strong as their stories".  

Our host Kerry and her sister Kathy shared that their grandmother worked in vaudeville. She showed us photos and letters, and they even have a poster featuring their grandmother hanging on their wall. It was fascinating. We talked about the things our families have handed down, and many of those are family recipes, which we share in books, on printed tea towels, and wall hangings. Our desserts kept with the theme, with Italian cookies, cannolis and sfoglia (a nod to the Italian characters) and Scottish shortbread (in honor of Matelda's father, Scottish seaman John Lawrie McVicars).

Mary Beth printed two quotes from the book to inspire us, and she brought prosecco to toast to Matelda before we adjourned. Kerry even gave us each a lovely pin with our initials on it to commemorate Matelda's family business,  designing and creating jewelry. It was the perfect ending to another delightful Beach Club Book Club meeting.

Toasting to Matelda and Adriana Trigiani

Two of our favorite quotes from the book

Italian and Scottish-themed desserts

A jeweled initial pin was gifted to remember our discussion 

2)  As I was doing my laundry at 6:30am, it occured to me how much we depend on our phones for everything. The laundry room in our building now has an app (Hercules Mobile) that allows you to pay for your laundry without having to use a laundry card. You can start the washer and dryer with the app, refill the app with your credit card (and not have to worry if I have $20 in cash to refill the card), and the app will notify your phone when your laundry is done. It is also supposed to give a room status update so you can know if there any machines available for use, but this has not been working as of late. 

And speaking of a card I no longer need, you can use your phone to pay for subway rides. Every subway station now has Omni pay, so you can open your Apple wallet or credit card and tap and pay for your rides. This is all very convenient, as I hate digging around for cards in my wallet. However if I lose my phone, well I guess I won't be able to do laundry or go anywhere. 

When the app works, this is a great feature

3) I saw on our local news this morning that certain branches of the New York Public Library will be having a Dance Party on Saturday, August 6th. The Webster branch where the bookstore I volunteer is located is not on this list, however we at the Book Cellar will be having an all-day Dance Party while we sell books. Shall it be Disco, 70s, or 80s music tomorrow?

4)  I binge watched all eight episodes of the wonderful Uncoupled  on Netflix this week. Neil Patrick Harris is amazing as an almost-50 year old gay man who, on the night he throws a huge surprise 50th birthday party for his boyfriend of 17 years, discovers his boyfriend has moved out of their apartment. He is completely shell-shocked and turns to his friends (the fantastic Brooks Ashmanskas as an artgallery owner, Marcia Gay Harden as an Upper East Side divorcee, and Tisha Campell as his partner at a real estate firm) for help. Now that he is back in the dating scene, he finds it's a different story now that he is not in his twenties. If you liked Sex and the City, you'll love this. (It's created by Darren Star who did SATC.) It's poignant and funny and the New York setting is breathtaking. 

5) It was another busy week, but I managed to I read two books. Katie Gutierrez's novel, More Than You'll Ever Know, is one that true crime fans will want to read. Cassie writes about true crime for a website, something that she wishes paid better. When she comes across a newspaper story about a woman who was married to two men at the same time- one in Laredo, Texas, one in Mexico City- and one of the husbands killed the other one nearly thirty years ago, she wants to find out more. Lore was married to Fabian and they have twin sons. Lore has a good job at a bank, and she travels to Mexico for work frequently. Fabian's decorative ironwork business runs into problems as a recession decimates his business. He moves from Laredo to Austin to try and save the business while Lore remains home with their teenage sons. When she meets Andres in Mexico City, she is entranced by him and falls in love. How she ends up married to two men at the same time intrigues Cassie who manages to get Lore to agree to tell her story so Cassie can write a book about her. Gutierrez writes a compelling story, and she puts the reader inside the heads of these two intriguing women. It's a fascinating character study as well as a mystery, and the truth of what exactly happened the night of the murder consumes Cassie, as well as the reader. See if you can guess the ending. (Bonus- you'll be able to practice your high school Spanish.)

Jean Meltzer's new novel, Mr. Perfect on Paper, tells the story of Dana Rabinowitz, a third generation matchmaker. She updates her family's business when she creates the succcessful J-Mate, an app for Jewish people looking for a marriage mate. Dara has General Anxiety Disorder (GAD), and one of the only things that calms her is listening to a police and fire scanner app. When Dara and her bubbe (grandmother), 90 year-old Miriam, appear on Good News, a national afternoon show with a small audience, Miriam embarasses Dara by sharing a list Dara made called Mr. Perfect on Paper.  The list is an extremely detailed description of the perfect man for Dara. Their segment goes viral much to Dara's dismay. The host of Good News, handsome single dad Chris Steadfast, decides that the only way to keep his show from being cancelled is to set Dara up on dates to find Mr. Perfect. Dara reluctantly agrees, knowing the publicity will help her company. Dara dealing with her GAD elevates this romantic novel, and as someone who isn't very familiar with Judiasm, I appreciated learning about the history and culture. (I also liked Meltzer's first novel, The Matzah Ball.) My full review posts on Tuesday.

Have a safe, healthy, cool week. Don't forget, you can support independent bookstores (including the Book Cellar) by buying books on Bookshop.org.

You can find this post and other food-related posts on Weekend Cooking at The Adventures of An Intrepid Reader.  

Friday 5ive- September 25, 2020

Welcome to the Friday 5ive, a weekly blog post featuring five things that caught my interest this week.

1)  Last Friday night came the sad news that Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away. She was particularly beloved in New York City, her hometown, and it really hit so many of us very hard. I visited the new Women's Rights Pioneers statue in Central Park, featuring the likenesses of Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Sojourner Truth, and there were tributes to RBG that people had left as well.

2)   Also on my walk, I saw people working on landscaping at a large apartment building on the Upper East Side and it looks so beautiful, it really brightens up that street.

3)  This week I had my 500th ride on my Peleton bike. One of big treats is to take a live class and hope that the instructor will give you a shout-out. I thought I had a pretty good shot with 500 rides, but there are so many people who hit milestones riding now, it can be difficult. I was excited to get my shoutout from my favorite insructor, Jenn Sherman, and it was during a Yacht Rock ride (my favorite musical genre) and my favorite yacht rock song, She's Gone, by Hall & Oates. I took the class again today and laughed out loud when I saw the closed captioning had my name as Bye Chick Die- (it's really BikeChickDi, a play on my BookChickDi blog name). The scary name sounds like I belong to a violent biker gang.

4) I watched Unbeliveable on Netflix this week, an eight episode miniseries. Merritt Wever and Toni Collette play police detectives in Colorado who are the trail of a serial rapist. Kaitlyn Dever plays one of the first victims, a young woman who has come through the foster care system, and this attack and its aftermath nearly unravel her life. Merritt Wever is one of my all-time favorite actresses, she never hits a false note. The subject matter is very difficult, but the writing and acting are superb. It's based on a true story as well. The link to the trailer is here.  

5) I read three books this week. M.O. Walsh's novel, The Big Door Prize is about a small town that becomes mesmerized by a machine in the local grocery store that takes a DNA sample and gives you a reading on your potential- what you should be doing with your life (musician, magician, cowboy,
etc.). It turns the people in the town upside down, including Douglas, a schoolteacher, and Cherilyn, his wife. It's an interesting, unique premise for a novel. 

Darin Strauss' new novel, The Queen of Tuesday, is based on a family story. His grandfather once attended a party given by Fred Trump, and he met Lucille Ball at the party. Strauss' imagination takes off from there as he imagines a torrid affair between his grandfather and the most popular woman in television. We see a different side of Lucille Ball, and I liked the inside look at the creation and execution of I Love Lucy more than the affair. 

I finished the week strong with Yaa Gyasi's new novel, Transcendent Kingdom. Gifty is the daughter of two Ghananian immigrants who settle in Huntsville, Alabama. Her mother works long, hard hours as a home health aide, her father returns to Ghana when she is three years old. Gifty's brother Nana becomes a standout athlete at his school until he is injured and becomes hooked on painkillers. It's a beautifully woven story about family, faith, the life of immigrants, racism, and science (Gifty becomes a neuroscientist studying addiction). Anyone who has dealt with addiction in their family will recognize the pain of this family. I highly recommend it. 

Stay safe, socially distant, wash your hands, wear a mask, and make sure you are registered to vote.